About SCROLLA
The Scottish Centre for Research into On-Line Learning and Assessment was initially funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council for three years from 2001. Its administration was physically located in the Faculty of Education, University of Edinburgh. The Centre also had a geographical presence at each of the three directing institutions: the University of Strathclyde (from 2005), the University of Glasgow (2001-2004), the University of Edinburgh, and Heriot-Watt University.
Its three branches were:
Rationale and Objectives
To date much of the educational investment in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been for development, rather than research. Yet ICT is now 'mission critical' for educational provision in schools, universities, colleges, industry and corporate agencies, providing and resourcing learning across the community at large. The need for research to underpin educational development and the need for a wider forum to inform and support good practice is clear. This young but expanding field is in urgent need of co-ordination, spanning all levels and sectors in a way that single research projects are unlikely to do.
SCROLLA provides a focus for multidisciplinary research into the use of Information and Communication Technologies in education concentrating on on-line learning and assessment. It draws upon educational, psychological, socio-cultural and computing science research traditions to provide a strong infrastructure to support development and practice across the Scottish educational community and beyond. This new Research Centre will:
- build on existing strategic alliances in Scotland and beyond, drawing together major research activity from different disciplines to inform further research and resource the development and delivery of on-line assessment and learning;
- generate new research activities by providing a focus for collaboration between staff in classroom settings, in policy agencies and in commercial organisations, providing a critical mass of effort by linking activities which are disconnected at present;
- create a funding magnet to attract further research finance from outside Scotland into our economy;
- establish a permanent forum for the wider research community to combine in the formation of policy for developments in the use of ICT in education;
- provide a one-stop service for agencies within Scotland to access information on the use of technology in learning and to commission research and studies relevant to their needs;
- produce regular reports on current developments, futures analyses, research findings and a newsletter in a form which is accessible to all and hence to offer a point of access to research findings, materials and resources for staff in all levels of the Scottish education system;
- organise multidisciplinary seminars on current developments and research implications;
- coordinate national activities and act as counterweight to substantial foreign research in this area thus providing a focus for a range of new and exciting learning and assessment software products from a Scottish base; and
- foster further links with Scottish software industry to market products worldwide.
Research
On-line learning and assessment is a broad category. It includes pedagogy of use of ICT; computer-mediated communication (CMC); training; core ICT skills; ICT infrastructure; cost-effectiveness of new learning tools; computer-aided assessment; development and deployment of new tools, and the quality of networked learning support. In partnership with colleagues across the Scottish educational community, the Centre is focussing on three major threads, to be expanded as resources permit. These are:
- evaluation of the approaches used at policy and strategic levels for the implementation of ICT in education, to be directed from Edinburgh University;
- basic research into technology-assisted assessment led from Heriot-Watt University;
- pedagogy of networked learning—staff development and learner support—coordinated from Glasgow University.
