My name is Jen Ross, and I am an associate lecturer, researcher and PhD student at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland. I teach on the MSc in E-learning programme at the University, and conduct research in the areas of online learning, digital identity, reflective practices and cultural and educational institutions online.
My research and teaching is based in the School of Education at the University of Edinburgh. I am part of the Digital Cultures and Education research group.
on this page:
research projects
2009-11 – principal investigator, Principal’s Teaching Award funding for “Student Writing Online: innovative online strategies for assessment and feedback”.
2009-10 – co-investigator with Z Williamson, Roberts Funding for Researcher-Led initiatives, “Research Perspectives: discussion, debate and dialogue” series for doctoral students and early career researchers in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh.
2007-09 – research associate, National Museums Online Learning Project.
2005-06 – principal investigator, Principal’s E-Learning Fund supported ERDEE project: E-portfolio Research and Development in Education at Edinburgh.
PhD research
Online reflective practices and performances in higher education.
Supervisors: Dr S Bayne, Dr H Macleod.
Expected date of completion – 2011.
My project is exploring how students and teachers in Higher Education settings in the UK negotiate issues of identity, authenticity, ownership, privacy and performativity in high-stakes online reflection, by which I mean online reflection (for example in blogs or e-portfolios) which is summatively assessed, or which serves a gatekeeping function in terms of entry or progression into a profession or professional body. By researching the experiences and reflective artefacts of those who are engaged in these practices, I am exploring how the goals of self-regulation, authenticity and personal development are connected with governance, the market, and the creation of professional identities. I am also investigating how working online complicates notions of the ‘true self’ in useful or perhaps troubling ways, and what implications this has for emerging educational practices across higher education.
publications
Ross, J. (forthcoming in 2011). Traces of self: online reflective practices and performances in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 16/1.
Ross, J. (2010). Was that Infinity or Affinity? Applying Insights from Translation Studies to Qualitative Research Transcription. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 11/2. http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1357
Bayne, S. and Ross, J. (forthcoming in 2010). The Myth of the Digital Native. In forthcoming Digital differences: perspectives on online education, eds R Land and S Bayne. Rotterdam: Sense.
Macleod, H and Ross, J (forthcoming in 2010). Structure, authority and other noncepts: teaching in fool-ish spaces. In forthcoming Digital differences: perspectives on online education, eds R Land and S Bayne. Rotterdam: Sense.
Ross, J., 2009, Review: Making Digital Cutures: Access, Interactivity and Authenticity, http://rccs.usfca.edu/bookinfo.asp?BookID=444&ReviewID=643.
Bayne, S., Ross, J. and Williamson, Z. (2009), Objects, subjects, bits and bytes: learning from the digital collections of the National Museums, Museum and Society 7/2.
Bayne, S., Ross, J., Williamson, Z. (2009) National Museums Online Learning Project final report. V&A/University of Edinburgh.
Macleod, H., Ross, J. and Bayne, S., 2009, Co-creating a programme: the MSc in E-learning at the University of Edinburgh, proceedings from Learners in the Co-creation of Knowledge. Edinburgh: Napier University.
Ross, J., Bayne, S., and Williamson, Z. (2008). Reach, Relevance, Relationship and Recontextualisation: The 4 Rs of Inclusive Online Museum Learning. International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, Vol 1.
Ross, J., 2006, Review: Handbook of Research on ePortfolios, http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/publications/book_reviews/full_review.php?id=421
conference & seminar presentations
“Museum education for the 21st century: online learning and social media”. Museum Studies in the XXIst century: issues of studies and teaching. 19-21 May 2010, St Petersburg, Russia. (with Dr S Bayne)
“Just what is being reflected in online reflection?: new literacies for new media practices“. Networked Learning, 3-4 May 2010, Aalborg, Denmark.
“Reading Screens: a critical visual analysis“. Networked Learning, 3-4 May 2010, Aalborg, Denmark. (with Z Williamson, Dr S Bayne)
“Reflective practices as masks: thinking about online reflection in higher education”. University of Glasgow Learning and Teaching Centre seminar series, 13 January 2009, Glasgow.
“Reflective practices as masks: a new way to think about reflection in higher education”. Society for Research into Higher Education conference, 8-10 December 2009, Newport.
“Personal, professional and academic voices in online reflection: new literacies for new media practices”. Invited talk in the research students session of the ESRC-funded Literacy in the Digital University seminar: The relation of new media practices to traditional literacy practices in the academy and the professions. University of Edinburgh, 16 October 2009.
“Was that infinity or affinity?: qualitative research transcription as translation” [PDF]. Invited seminar at the Translations, Adaptations and Modalities seminar series, Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities, University of Edinburgh. 10 February 2009, Edinburgh.
“Co-creating a programme: the MSc in E-learning at the University of Edinburgh”. Learners Involved in Co-Creating Knowledge, Barcelo Carlton Hotel, 30 October 2008, Edinburgh: Napier University.
“Traces of self: online reflective practices and performances in higher education” [PDF]. Association for Internet Researchers conference, 16-18 October 2008, IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen.
“’This is their stuff’: The role of social media in museum learning online”. Association for Internet Researchers conference, 16-18 October 2008, IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen.
“Participation, possessability and power: multimodal learning in online museum education”. Multimodality and Learning: New Perspectives on Knowledge, Representation and Communication, 19-20 June 2008, King’s College London, London.
“Reach, relevance, relationship and recontextualisation: the 4 Rs of inclusive online museum learning”. International Conference on the Inclusive Museum, 8-11 June 2008, National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden.
“The ‘digital native’ and ‘digital immigrant’: a dangerous opposition” [PDF]. Society for Research into Higher Education conference, December 2007, Brighton (with Dr S Bayne)
“Structure, authority and other noncepts: teaching in fool-ish spaces”. Ideas in Cyberspace Education symposium, March 2007, Loch Lomond (with Dr H Macleod).
“Beyond assessment: building an ePortfolio for orientation, community and reflection”. E-portfolio 2006 conference, October 2006, Cambridge.
“Next Generation Learners: do they speak the language? non traditional students and their engagement with e-portfolios”. ALT-C 2006, September 2006, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
teaching & technology
In my role as associate lecturer and technical co-ordinator on the MSc in E-learning at the University of Edinburgh, I teach on “E-learning and digital cultures” and “Digital futures for learning” courses, and am a guest tutor on the core “Introduction to digital environments for learning” course. I also have a combined strategic and support role co-ordinating the programme’s extensive use of innovative web-based tools and environments.
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