joint information systems committee learners experiences of e-learning rhona sharpe, oxford brookes...
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Joint Information Systems Committee
Learners Experiences of e-Learning
Rhona Sharpe, Oxford Brookes University
Ellen Lessner, Abingdon & Witney College
Greg Benfield, Oxford Brookes University
Eta DeCicco, NIACE
Helen Beetham, Independent Consultant
mw.brookes.ac.uk/display/JISCle2
Joint Information Systems Committee
Aspirations of the Learner Experience strand
Our original aims
– Investigate how learners experience and participate in learning in technology rich in environments
– Make recommendations based on our findings
– Develop methodologies for eliciting the learner experience, promoting learner centred evaluations
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LEX Methodology report, Mayes (2006)
“the mainstream approach…. Largely neglects a genuinely learner centred perspective:
that students experience formal learning in emotional terms,
that their motivation to learn is only understandable by looking at their lives holistically,
and that technology is embedded in their social experience.”
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Research questions
How do specific groups of students experience learning with technology?
What is the experience of skilled online communicators and networkers?
How can learners' skills be developed and exploited more effectively?
How do learners' experiences change through their learning journey?
What are the critical choices that learners make about when, where and how to study and how do these influence their experience of e-learning?
How do learners make use of technology for learning in ways that are not expected or supported by their institution?
How are learners personalising and adapting tools and environments?
How do students conceive of the role of technology in their learning?
What is the impact of institutional strategies and course level practices?
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Phase 2 Projects
LEaD University of Edinburgh Learner Experiences across the Disciplines
BLUPs Warwick and Northumbria Students' Blending Learning User Patterns
PB-LXP The Open University Learners’ experiences of blended learning environments in a practice-based context
LExDis University of Southampton Disabled Learners’ Experiences of e-learning
THEMA Oxford University Exploring the experiences of Master’s students in technology rich environments
STROLL Hertfordshire and Hertford Regional College Student Reflections on Lifelong e.Learning
E4L University of Northampton, Northampton College, Norths Adult and Community Learning e-Learning for Learners
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2008 projects timeline
Lead
PB-LXP
Blups
Thema
e4L
LexDis
STROLL
FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN09
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CSAStudy
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Recommendations for learner experience research
Longitudinal studies
Investigate actual use
Purposive sampling of learners
Data collection techniques which use guided recall or at-the-time techniques to obtain rich data
Research designs which use a variety of data-collection techniques
Research which conforms to good, explicit ethical principles
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Methods for collecting data
Initial profile: All
Surveys: Lead, Thema, PB-LXP
Interviews (plus): PB-LXP, LexDis, E4L
Focus groups: Lead, E4L
(Video) diaries: Lead, STROLL
Audio logs: E4L, PB-LXP
‘Penpals’: Thema
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Issues in data collection
Sampling
Elicitation techniques
Participatory methods
Ethical considerations
Recruitment and retention of participants
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Elicitation
e.g. E4L project’s product card sort
The names of technologies used in their learning are put on individual cards.
Learners sort through and choose the ones they use.
Then learners sort the cards in order of usefulness
These are discussed with the interviewer.
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Elicitation
e.g. STROLL project’s diary prompts
Day 1: technology you enjoy
Day 2: difficulties with technology
Day 3: social networks
Day 4: staff improving learning
Day 5: inspiring learning?
Your task: Write a set of 5 prompts for the next data collection round
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Themes
Access
Preferences, choices, patterns of use
Personalisation
Beliefs and expectations
Effective e-learners
Social software
Change and transition
Specific learners & contexts
Institutional level practices
Course level practices
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Expected outputs
Methodology wiki mw.brookes.ac.uk/display/JISCle2
Collections of videos
Case studies of individual learners
‘Day in the life of’ narratives
Database of strategies used by learners
Analysis of survey data
Recommendations for managers
Dissemination workshops from November 2008
Joint Information Systems Committee
Themes
Access
Preferences, choices, patterns of use
Personalisation
Beliefs and expectations
Effective e-learners
Social software
Change and transition
Specific learners & contexts
Institutional level practices
Course level practices
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Social software
86% use social networking sites (Lead)
How are they using it?
1. Chat room/ forum for discussion
2. Transferring of existing groups into Facebook
3. Specific groups to talk about courses - led by enthusiastic students
But, extreme views from Thema & PB-LXP
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Change and transition - from STROLL
"I wouldn't say it's changed as much as I have developed using it...I am becoming more dependent on it I suppose and I'm using it more. "
"Over the last year I spent more and more time looking for journals and reading articles which are online and finding websites pertinent to my study rather than relying on reading written literature."
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Effective e-learners“effective learners tend to be skilled networkers and
often use the technology to pull in support when needed....[and have] the capacity to network with others through a variety of communication channels and networking.”
(Creanor et al, 2006, LEX Study Final Report)
Effective communicators (e4L)
Agile technology users (LexDis)
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What are the strategies, beliefs & intentions of learners who are effective?
Use much of what they know and have to hand (e.g. mobile phones, ipods)
Use their knowledge and networks to enhance their environment.
Multi tasking (music / chat / MSN / Skype / Email / Multiple work windows)
Setting up alternative forums
Exploring less well known software to help them
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Preliminary, tentative findings
Many arriving students are relatively conservative in their approach to study, preferring to work at home or in the library and to use books and lecture notes as the primary resource, supplemented by online sources “on demand”. (LEAD)
Many students, but by no means all, make extensive use of social networking sites for recreational use. However, there appears to be a clear separation between online learning and online social activities. (LEAD, e4L and STROLL)
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Preliminary, tentative findings
Students report an increased use of technology as they mature in their studies and a broader use of available technology. They also have become more careful about their use of time as they have matured in the project (STROLL
LEXDIS suggests wide individual variety in personalisation of tools and in strategies for using tools.
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Proposed output types
Analysis of learner profile and survey data
Case studies: of learners and courses
Literature reviews
Guidelines
Methodological report & critique
Analysis of learner preferences, social software, effective learners
Others: videos & database of strategies
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Learners’ expectations
efficient and flexible access to learning materials, experts and communities
to locate and download relevant resources for their study.
frequent and responsive communications in relation to their study.
personalisation and choice in where, when and how to study
to support study through informal learning and social networking
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What are the implications for you of..?
High levels of ownership of computers, esp. laptops in HE
Expectations about using personal devices on and off campus
Prior experience of learning socially & informally
The wide range of confidence and competence in using technology in learning
Predominance of use of online social networks by some groups of students
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The role of learner experience research
Provides a window into the lived world of pervasive, personalised, mobile technology use.
Discovering the ways in which learners are creatively appropriating technologies to support their study
Developing research tools which will help us better understand the patterns and relationships between elements of this complex, multifaceted phenomenon.
Supporting the development of skills and strategies appropriate for learning in the digital age.