This paper describes the design, implementation, evaluation and further refinement of an ELGG‑based social networking site to support professional development activity, project group and special interest groups, and the discussion and sharing of educational experiences and resources across Edinburgh Napier University in the United Kingdom. Beginning with a short overview of what online institutional communities might offer in sustaining good learning, teaching and assessment practice in‑house, this paper then describes the rationale for and development of Edinburgh Napier Education Exchange (ENEE). The subsequent evaluation undertaken employed a mixed method approach involving online questionnaires and individual interviews with users of ENEE, and took place between January and April 2011. The evaluation had a twin focus on use and perceptions of ENEE in general, and how ENEE was beginning to be used to provide additional support opportunities for a diverse group of educators studying on Edinburgh Napier’s online distance learning MSc Blended and Online Education (MSc BOE). Overall the evaluation highlighted a range of ways in which ENEE was proving effective particularly in helping users to ‘keep abreast’ of educational practice across the institution, as well as in supporting small groups dedicated to specific purposes and activities. On the less positive side, the evaluation highlighted a number of issues and challenges around ease of use, engaging in ‘multiple spaces’, and achieving ‘critical mass’ in meaningful use. These findings pointed towards a number of enhancements that were implemented over summer and autumn 2011, and the nature of these recent post‑evaluation changes to ENEE and the MSc BOE group space are detailed in this paper.

Abstract. This paper presents the findings of a mixed methods study conducted in the context of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). More specifically, it focuses on the staff development needs of tutors who teach in blended and online environments, th e ways HEIs in the United Kingdom (UK) address these needs and institutional issues around the deployment and support of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) by campus‑based institutions. The informants in both phases of this research were the heads of e‑learning in various UK HEIs. Using an online questionnaire, quantitative data were gathered on the various ways that the staff development needs of the lecturers in blended and online learning have been addressed by UK HEIs. During the second phase of t his research, eight semi‑structured interviews were conducted. The findings from both phases are integrated in the results section of the paper.

Abstract: This paper outlines the research design, methodology and methods employed in research conducted in the context of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and focuses on the Heads of e‑Learning (HeLs) perspective about Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) by campus‑based UK institutions. This paper aims to expand on the research design and the research methodology that was followed as part of this research, making a justified argument for mixed methods approaches in e‑learning contexts. The background of this research and its research questions is outlined first to provide the context of this research. Following a review of the literature on TEL that informed this research, this paper provides an explanation of the researcher’s worldview before discussing the chosen research design. The status of the findings and their generalisability based on the chosen methodology are then discussed. The research findings show that most universities represented in the survey offered various staff development opportunities to their academic staff in the effective use of TEL and that examples of innovative use of technology are evident in some areas in all participating institutions. Staff’s digital skills and competencies coupled with a pedagogical underpinning as well as a supportive institutional culture were found to be the enablers for the effective implementation of TEL, according to the HeLs’ expert informed responses. The paper is summarised and concluded making a case for the adoption of Mixed Methods Research (MMR) in e‑learning settings.

This paper primarily discusses the methodology of a case study into interactions and working practices of an e‑learning team, on and offline. Although several ethnographies have been published on online learning, there are apparently none involving communities developing courses. This is a unique insight, bringing a new view of course and staff development. The e‑learning team develops courses in the Faculty of Medical Sciences Graduate School in a UK higher education institution. Interactions occur online and offline, the team’s workplace ‘setting’. The ethnography is to inform future staff development by analysing interaction outside the team with the subject specialists, generally time‑poor clinicians and research scientists who have varied experience of e‑learning, but are required to provide course content and to teach their subjects in online distance learning courses. Records kept by team members were enlarged upon via weekly interviews and collated by a team member who developed a narrative, subsequently coded into content themes. The main themes were technology, pedagogy and communication. Conversation analysis provided theories on methods useful in staff development for later action research. Consideration was also given to issues of power within the interactional relationships. The paper discusses challenges and strengths of this collaborative self‑ethnography as a research methodology in this e‑learning setting. It was concluded that collaborative self‑ethnography is a highly suitable research methodology for this type of study.