learners experiences of e-learning

Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008

Learners Experiences of e-Learning

Rhona Sharpe, Oxford Brookes UniversityEllen Lessner, Abingdon & Witney CollegeGreg Benfield, Oxford Brookes UniversityEta DeCicco, NIACEHelen Beetham, Independent Consultant

mw.brookes.ac.uk/display/JISCle2


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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Methods for collecting data

Initial profile: All e.g. E4L Surveys: Lead, Thema, PB-LXP Interviews (plus): PB-LXP, LexDis, BLUPs Focus groups: Lead, E4L (Video) diaries: Lead, STROLL Audio logs: E4L, PB-LXP ‘Penpals’: Thema


Issues in data collection

Elicitation techniques

Participatory methods

Ethical considerations

Recruitment and retention of participants


Dealing with data

Quotes, quotes and more quotes (coding with mindmaps and nVivo)


How do students use and make choices about

their time?

The Internet reduces the amount of time, just physical

time you spend gathering information really. Process of

going to a library, tracking down a book, taking it off the shelf, scouring through the

pages and then having to go and find another book, and having to order a book. 42

And on average, I probably spend four to six hours a day studying. Yeah, I generally

don’t really do that much personal stuff during the day. I

tend to work during the day and keep the evening is free. 4

Sometimes it is easy to get carried away with one or the other and it is really hard to strike a

balance sometimes. Sometimes I do find myself studying more than I spend time with friends or even just by myself doing something different.

Sometimes I try and combine them like studying with friends, and afterwards we go out for a meal or something. But I just find that, I set a goal for

myself and when I studied for a certain amount...But yes, it is really keeping in touch with

yourself and monitoring yourself. 43.

As to dividing my studying personal time as a mature student with a husband I have a

family I’m not sure that I divided as well as I ought to. I’m not very rigid in my planning. Certain things are fixed such as lectures,

and I usually allow a couple of hours to drive to college. So that takes up a fare wack of

time. Evening Meals are very rigid, because they need to be done and things after that

fitted in around that. 9

I don’t really get any personal time at the moment as I am in university every day and often I am in 9-6, by the time I get home its 7.30pm and I leave my house

at 7.20am everyday to get to 9am lectures (which I have most days!) – This

is the joy of physiotherapy! I work Saturdays and occasionally Sundays so I have very little spare time for anything

else. I am a mature student and therefore uni comes first. 24

Most of the time I will make personal time to take priority over studying. And will often leave things until the last minute, which isn’t a very good idea,

really...I do try and keep some sort of balance. And at the end of the day if I manage my time correctly,

they shouldn’t really be a problem. 23

I have to work three shifts a week. So I work on Saturday morning and Monday evening and

usually a Friday evening. I also have commitments on a Tuesday evening.

Fortunately on the course we get all of Wednesday off which is great. It is just a really

good chance to knuckle down partially with essays. I find I don’t work brilliantly at home,

so I go into college and in the learning resource Centre, where it is usually fairly quiet

and you can always get computer and you have all the resources that you need, so that is good. I make the most of personal study time

within the day. 42

I don’t miss the necessary lectures to use that time for personal time. Always try and make sure that I’d do necessary preparation for the lectures and things,

especially the seminars, because you can contribute or at least follow the discussion that has taken place in the seminar. So my studying times comes over personal

time...But I made that flexible between personal time, so I have some personal time during the day and then do some

studying at night, so I am quite flexible in the way. 37

Three days a week I’m expected to complete eight working hours and two hours of travel,

which is about 10 hours a day plus eight hours and sleeping, which has not really eight hours

sometimes. The rest I do try and study, unless i have to go to church or something, then I will go to church. But most of time I would say I don’t

have a lot of personal time. I think I just accepted the fact that I don’t have a lot of time for myself,

really. That is the demands and the nature of the course, really. 46

Personal time is usually worked around study time except, from Saturday and

Sunday as which are usually days where I like to

do something to get my head off it and to chill out

in the evenings 7

The way I divide my studying and personal time is as

opposed to all the other years I guess this year it is study first and then friends and personal

time second. 21

Well, a priority at the moment is studying so I don't really have a loss of personal time. So I tend to try and get done what I need to get done. And then have the personal time after that. I probably try

and take a bit of time off in the weekend. So I might work a bit harder in the week and treat it a bit more like a job. So try get the majority done between Monday

and Friday. 17

That is how I do it pen, back of the hand, sticky notes and

computer. And big giant posters with to do lists on it and giving

myself a deadline. 18

I just take each week as it comes

and divided out that way. 34

When it comes to the weekend, I try and keep those for myself but Sunday evening in general the time I do my work. When it comes to things like revision for exams I normally try to squeeze in an extra bit of time and I normally try and do about two

hours studying extra a day for re searching and revising for exams. 31

I just tend to try and make sure that I’d study hard when I’m not

going out and stay out late. And make sure that my work is done before I go out and if not stay up late the next night and

make sure it’s done. 44time I have an assignment due personal time goes out of the

window...But how I divide out My personal time depends on when

the assignment is due from month or something, then I will spend more personal time than

studying time. 20 USA

I have a timetable I use this timetable to help me spread out

my time and organise myself better, I always do my work first

and then go out. 51

And if I had managed to find and do what I have decided to for the day.

Then I can have the evening off. But If I don’t do that. Then I am quite harsh on myself and make myself do it in the evening until I found I have done what I

needed to do. 33

Generally uni time is study time and when I am at home it is personal time, but this is not always the case because usually I have some assignments or test to revise for or something like that in that

case I’ll a lot a set amount of time for that activity. And the rest the time is my personal time. I tend to plan ahead so I am able to divide my personal time and

study time equally. 19

I have quite a regimented timetable that I use which outlines when I am going to be in lectures I tend to spend time in college during the day until it’s time to collect my daughter from school and I can snatch

some time in the evenings I tend to have my weekend free for family time 49

I go to the lectures I need to, because they are fixed...So I work, about 90

minute cycles most time and I take a break before coming back to it. I try not

to work for more than an hour half because I think my attention span in

terms of focusing on something and any other time between. I just do something to relax and make sure I do something

fun to break the mould of it. 32

I think all work and no play makes a good girl cry. I think you just have to be

sensible really. I think as much time you spend studying spend a bit about equal time may be a bit more...So I divide my

time, roughly equally probably more time on leisure if am 100% honest. 13

It is very hard, because right now I should be studying but I’m getting really lazy, which is really bad, but good thing about this stroll thing is keeps me in track and makes me

see how much I’m doing. 40

My general plan is that I work nine in the

morning until five Monday to Friday. 10

I know a lot of students preferred not to attend

lectures, but instead watch it via study net and that is

okay for them, that is a students choice. 43

I do divide my studying time I worked late at night when the children have gone to bed during the day I do

various other activities. 47

I’ve come to a decision of drawing up a timetable, which I’d go by now. I try and stick by it. Where, I have the time in Uni and The Times I got to work and I divide my time up around this time so. Three

days a week I’m at Uni and three days a week I’m at work so around those

times, I will divide up when I’m actually going to do my reading for my seminar

questions and it’s working out. 22

I think I study more than have, a social life. I go to the cinema now and then. Or I might go home once after two or three weeks. But when I am in the LRC with my friends doing my

work I use that time to socialise. But personal time with me in my own time. I don’t really have that

much. Probably on Sundays, that’s when I probably relax and

have personal time. 38

Mindmap from STROLL at https://mw.brookes.ac.uk/display/stroll/


How do students use e-learning tools to support

their learning?Favourite tech

MLE / Hardware /Software

My phone, to be honest, because I record lectures...I am more likely to watch what I have recorded than to

log on to the study net and to go through the long procedure of finding

something that could have easily been put in a simple method. 28

My favourite piece of technology that aids learning.

The journals are helpful, I think, the online journals. They are much better than going to have to go and look them up.

44

My favourite piece of technology is my pen tablet because it basically does

away with the need to use a mouse to draw images onto a computer, and this helps me mainly because I can input images to a computer with analogue pressure, and very efficient accuracy

rather than using a mouse, 32

Television and computer. I am a visual learner are likely to have colour, and I can definitely understand when I get that sort of thing ...Again, the computer is exactly the same. You can Google it and you’ve got

what you need in a second. 22

My favourite piece was Voyager finding journals and

books to find my literature searching and stuff so that was

my day. 40

The voyager research or study net because it simply enables us to access j store and other online

databases were we can get articles 4 work which has really really

useful and I think that has helped me most over the last two years 36 Pod casts...just bought the

car over the summer and I’ve got a radio which rigs

up to my MP four player so I am able to put it onto my MP4 and play it when I’m

driving 7

It used to be the MiniDisc recorder, where I would record notes on, but now I quite like the pod casts, so I

use them quite a lot. 17

Wikipedia. And I don’t mean it in a bad way and I certainly

don’t use it to reference any of my essays or assignments or anything like that but it’s very good if you are starting out on

the subject. 10

My little memory stick, which I can carry about in my handbag and I can get things from home to Uni

and vice versa. 9

Study net, it is my favourite just because of how useful it is really...all my course notes are

put on, and any assignments ...and class discussions with your own little e-mail account,

private messages as well...It has lots of features for my course and just fully supports

me when I’m not in class. 23

My favourite piece of technology that aids my learning is possibly a voice recognition software and the reason I would like to say that is because I have a physical disability

and because I am a studying at level 3 computer science degree and I have an awful lot of reading to do, so rather than reading and making notes, I am reading

and speaking my thoughts about what I’m reading into a Word document and then I

save it and print it. 8

MLE

Software

Hardware

Mindmap from STROLL at https://mw.brookes.ac.uk/display/stroll/


Dealing with data

Quotes, quotes and more quotes (coding with mindmaps and nVivo)

Effective strategies created by learners e.g. Lexdis website


More ways of dealing with data

Editing collections of videos e.g. STROLL

Case studies e.g. PB-LXP, Thema

Developing taxonomy of patterns of use, BLUPs

‘Day in the life of’ e.g. Thema, BLUPS

+ analysis of survey and profile data


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



“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)


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


Themes

Access

Preferences, choices, patterns of use

Personalisation

Beliefs and expectations


Social software

Change and transition

Specific learners & contexts

Institutional level practices

Course level practices


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


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


Activity


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."


Bridging the gap?

“We must have been shown Blackboard, but I can't remember. And we went round the library.”


What are the implications for institutions 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


Activity

What institutional changes are needed to bridge the gap?

Which of our proposed outputs would help? How do we get

people’s attention?

learners experiences of e-learning

Documents