Developing student learning online in History: research, approaches and

their broader implications

Dr Jamie WoodUniversity of Lincoln

History UK, 16th November 2013

Digital T&L at Lincoln: http://makingdigitalhistory.co.uk Twitter: @woodjamie99

This talk1. Survey of e-learning

in History HE: student and staff opinions

2. Digital literacy, active online learning and disciplinary identity

A. Social bookmarking and the questioning historian

B. Making Digital History @ Lincoln

Part 1: e-learning in History HE

• 2012-13: survey and desk research of staff and student experiences and perceptions of e-learning in History teaching

• HEA report, co-authored with Dr Antonella Liuzzo Scorpo, University of Lincoln

E-learning and History teaching survey

• What are benefits of e-learning for student learning and staff teaching in History HE?

• What are the challenges

and drawbacks of e-learning?

METHODOLOGY

• Survey (http://tinyurl.com/8kkz524) administered to 1st and 2nd year students at 5 UK History departments– 38 students responded (11 x 1st years/ 27 x 2nd years)– Mainly History, but also joint degrees

• Interview with 1 member of teaching staff at 5 UK History departments

RESULTS (from students)

Virtual learning environments 37

Discussion boards 24

Video (YouTube etc.) 19

Audio (podcasts etc.) 12

Social networking (Facebook etc.) 8

Blogs 5

Collaborative document creation (Google docs etc.) 5

Document sharing (Dropbox etc.) 3

Wikis 2

Twitter 1

Photos (Flickr etc.) 1

Other 2

TYPES OF TECHNOLOGY USED

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100

2

4

6

8

10

12

HOW IMPORTANT ARE TECHNOLOGIES TO YOUR LEARNING?

(between 1 and 10, where 1=not at all; 10=essential)

Freq

uenc

y

Rating (1-10)

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY FOR

LEARNING?

• Virtual learning environments (31

responses); used as:– repository (21 responses)– site for assessment and

feedback (5)– means of communication (5)– site for enhancing learning (3)

• YouTube/ online library resources/ databases/ university portal (2 responses each)

Reported uses of technologyUses Percentage of

students using technology for this

purposeLooking up lecture slides and handouts

100

Communication with other students 55.3

Discussion 36.8

Communication with lecturers 31.6

Sharing materials with fellow students and teachers

31.6

Constructing resources for myself or with other students

18.4

Virtual learning environments: benefits and drawbacks

Discussion boards are useful because they make visible ‘the skills of other

students’‘they also helped develop my interest and

independent inquiry around the subject, as certain side topics were highlighted in the

lecture notes in that they were more featured’

‘with some modules, all readings were provided on blackboard so improved ease of access, and decreased the amount of time

wasted looking for them.’

Repositories ‘helped me to become more independent as the access to the slides meant that I did not necessarily

need to attend all lectures.’

‘The ability to hear historical speeches by the original speechmaker, or to see

original newsreel clips is an essential part of research of contemporary history.’

YouTube provides access to ‘better lectures’ and enhanced learning

‘tremendously’

‘YouTube was more beneficial than writing reams of notes or revision prep and even

attending lectures. The resources available on YouTube are vast and specific. I could easily find a video that was more specific if I want to delve

into a particular area of study.’

EXTENT TO WHICH TECHNOLOGIES ENHANCED

LEARNING IN FOLLOWING AREAS...

(students provided rating from 1-5: 1=not at all; 5=a great deal)

• Preparing for class: 4.26 (staff: 8.3/10)

• Preparing for assessment: 4.26 (6.6/10)

• Working independently: 4.05 (6.9/10)

• Reflecting on learning: 4.03 (5.9/10)

• Subject knowledge: 3.79 (6.9/10)

• Skills development: 3.03 (5.2/10)

• Collaborative working: 2.45 (3.1/10)

NEGATIVE IMPACTS• Technical issues• Too much reliance on repositories?

‘sort of dumbing down or levelling out

[...] these things might encourage a bit

more spoon-feeding’ (staff)

• Some skills not developed‘hasn’t really developed skills that I

believe are essential part of uni

process. i.e. teamwork, discussion and

developing your own interest of study’

(student)

Staff perspectives: positive impacts?• Enhancing communication due to (most) students’

familiarity with technology + expectations about use• Improving engagement by (1) supporting students

intimidated by more conventional academic environment; (2) enabling reticent students to contribute outside class; (3) providing fora for creating, sharing + commenting

• Increasing flexibility, independence + self-directed learning as students can access materials away from campus, aiding preparation, enabling students to learn at their own pace

• Enriching the learning experience by providing access to multimedia resources + reducing pressure on hard-copies

Staff perspectives: some warnings • Students not necessarily ‘digital

natives’, esp. within discipline

• Researching using Internet is

challenging

• Over-reliance on e-learning can

reduce independence

• ‘Narrowing’ effect, esp. among L1

+ weaker students (VLE contains

‘everything’)

• Some resistance to learning +

interacting outside class

SUMMARY• Virtual learning environments predominate

and are viewed positively by students and

staff

• BUT danger of ‘miscommunication’

• Independent learning + research skills vs. access to resources

• Limiting features• Consistency? ‘Getting all lecturers to embrace technology would be a step

forward’ (student)

• Staff AND students think that it doesn’t help much in certain areas (e.g. team-

working)

• Narrowing/ a closed body of knowledge? Esp. for weaker students perhaps

• Can promote transmission approaches (even when not intended)

Part 2: Digital literacy, active online learning and disciplinary identity

• How to overcome some of shortcomings of over-reliance on VLE? – Use social media to facilitate engagement and

collaboration– Design activities that require active work/ thinking

by students= a constructivist approach, actually making stuff

Caveats• Not about replacing classrooms with digital spaces• Not about changing from developing historical

knowledge and skills to ‘generic’ skills and knowledge• Not about largely passive consumption of history (so,

no MOOCs)• Is about considering how technology can enhance

student learning in/ about history as apprentice historians

• Is about augmenting face-to-face time with online work

• It is about doing and making history online

PART IIA: Social bookmarking and the questioning historian

Social bookmarking

• Internet users manage bookmarks of web pages online

(not an individual browser) using tags/ descriptions, not

folders• Active engagement – students

have to do something• Online/ social element –

enables collaboration, sharing and visibility

See Taha and Wood (2011) for more on this

•Diigo education edition•Private, separate logins•Sharing•Highlighting •Sticky-noting

Basic weekly activity

• Students find online resources relating to the weekly topic

• Students ‘tag’, describe and share resources

• Then post questions based on reading to discussion forum in diigo

• Resources + questions = my seminar plan

• For some of resources see: https://www.diigo.com/user/pagansxtians

But variety is key...Locating and bookmarking source(s)• Find and bookmark primary/ secondary source• Add description and tags

Essay writing• Respond to feedback on essays by bookmarking a relevant site • Revise thesis statement from first essay and post to discussion forum

Non-written sources• Find and bookmark a non-written source (YouTube; Flickr)• In description, explain why this source is relevant to the seminar

Highlighting • Highlight and comment on relevant sections of a pre-selected document

Questioning • Post a (specific kind of) question based on reading to the discussion forum

...otherwise it gets boringSee appendix to Wood, 2011, for more on this

What happened

• 19 students• 147 posts to the forum

(over 11 seminars) • 314 bookmarks, using

590 different tags

STUDENT FEEDBACK1. Practical: for preparing

essays2. Independence: enjoyed

opportunity to find sources

3. Freedom: ‘There is more freedom of choice about what to read’

4. Variety: ‘it is much more interesting, and because you are not only reading, it is easier to absorb information’.

Setting questions – 3 conceptionsBy tutor: reassuring; makes sure what you are doing is relevant +

useful; student questions might not be challenging enough; more likely to lead to a ‘good’ answer; helps with new areas of study

Mixture: “A mixture is best to make sure key themes are not overlooked

by setting your own questions gets yourself and others thinking more.”

By students:“I like the fact that we've got to set our own questions as it

means that we focus on areas that I or other members of the group are unsure about. I think I've learnt more from it.”

LEARNING FROM OTHERS• ‘it has been good to see what

other people have put and there was probably more variation in the questions than if the tutor was to set them.’

• ‘it allows you to see a wider range of issues that come up from sources - some that you may not even have thought about.’

+ 12 out of 15 students felt that their research skills had improved

POSING QUESTIONS AND SOURCES• ‘it forces you to think

about the source material and be analytical in response to it’

• ‘it […] opens up the area of reading to different paths of thought.’

‘I used to prefer having the questions set for me but I think it has been more useful setting them myself as it has made

me think about the reading more.’

• Models disciplinary processes (= what historians do)– [+ it’s realistic and honest]

• Develops – Disciplinary skills:

summarising; using sources

– Knowledge: students have to read AND think

– ‘Generic’ skills: technology; information literacy; research

For more on this see Wood, 2011 and Wood and Ryan, 2010

PART IIB: ‘MAKING DIGITAL HISTORY’ AT LINCOLN

• Enable students to make digital resources using the Xerte online toolkit– Online learning design tools have been

around for a while – But they have generally been used to

present information to students in a linear fashion

– Interactive elements are limited– And not much room for ‘open’,

student-led activities

Generative learning objects

http://makingdigitalhistory.co.uk/resources/learning-design/generative-learning-objects-glos/

Xerte• Online editor (not based on specific PC/ laptop) in which

users manipulate content– Text– Images – Video, audio– Questions and activities– From other online sources (e.g. YouTube, GoogleMaps)

• Many different page types, levels of activity and presentation

• Possibility of collaborating (sharing, reviewing)• Publishes online and generates code to enable embedding

– More information: http://www.xerte.org.uk/index.php?lang=en

Context

• Student as Producer– Underpins T&L strategy at Lincoln• http://studentasproducer.lincoln.ac.uk/

• Digital Literacies in the Disciplines – Higher Education Academy– Student as Partner approach– Mandatory use of Xerte toolkit• http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/learnin

gandtech/ELT-DLinD-SP

Making Digital History: students as partners in online learning, teaching and research

• Students learn by making Xerte learning objects that instruct others about historical topics

• Based on independent research (group and individual)• Replaces ‘traditional’ element of assessment• Assessment criteria stress historical skills/ knowledge, not

‘bells and whistles’ • Adds variety + develops skills, esp. digital literacy • Thinking about form of presentation/ audience/ register• Summarising and explaining learning

For more see: http://makingdigitalhistory.co.uk

5 modules• Y1, Y2, MA– East meets West: primary source report– Representing the Past: student research questions

inform museum visit or analysis of a film– Urban Life in Middle Ages: student defined

topic/question on a primary source– Gender in 19th century Britain: primary source

analysis– MA Research Methods (Medieval Studies):

reflection on previous research project

An example

• Friendship: Medieval Perspectives

• For more examples (student work coming soon…!), see:

• http://makingdigitalhistory.co.uk/resources/learning-design/xerte-gallery/

Concluding thoughts• VLEs support learning and are viewed positively• But remaining gaps may be addressed by

thinking more about online pedagogies and technologies– Active online learning and user-generated content

• Not about replacing the classroom, but about augmenting it– Also, develops useful skills and knowledge that are

NOT necessarily opposed to developing historical skills and understanding

– …and it’s fun…

More about me

• http://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/jwood (homepage at

Lincoln)

• http://ulincoln.academia.edu/JamieWood (L&T

and other presentations/ papers)

• jwood@lincoln.ac.uk (email)