ob3 media-rich documents with embedded discussions lifting … · 2019. 4. 11. · practice that...

: working paper series working paper #3, November 2018

Suggestedcitation:Gomez,G.,Daellenbach,R.,Davies,L.,Kensington,M.,&Petsoglou,C.(2018).OB3media-richdocumentswithembeddeddiscussions:liftinglearningperformanceandengagement.OB3WorkingPaperSeries.Research.OceanBrowser,Ltd.Dunedin,NewZealand.Retrievedfromhttps://www.ob3.io/OB3_working_paper_series/gomezetal_OB3workingpaper_November2018.pdf

OB3 media-rich documents with embedded discussionsTM: lifting learning performance and engagement GloriaGomezOceanbrowserLtd&UniversityofSydney;ReaDaellenbachARAInstituteofCanterbury;LornaDaviesARAInstituteofCanterbury;MaryKensingtonARAInstituteofCanterbury;ConPetsoglouUniversityofSydney

OB3media-richdocumentswithembeddeddiscussionsTMareadevelopmentineducationalpracticethatenablesacademicstafftopreparecurriculumcontentandenhancestudentengagementinasynchronousdiscussions.Thisadvancementliesintwoinnovationsininteractiondesign.Thefirstenablesstudentsandacademicstafftoauthormedia-richdocumentswithevenbasictechnologicalskills.Thesecondfacilitatestheprocessofembeddingdiscussionsinsidecurriculumcontent.Theseinnovationshaveliftedlearningperformanceinthreeways.Firstly;theyremovetheneedforatechnologist(e.g.coursebuilder,multimediaconsultant)forpreparingmedia-richdocuments.Secondly;studentsengageinasynchronousdiscussionswithteachersinsideadocument.Thirdly;studentsengageinauthoringcurriculumtopicsorreflectivepracticeaspartofassignments.Twocasesarepresentedtoillustratetheinnovations,whichhavealsoaffordedthedevelopmentofonlineactivelearningcommunitiesandtransformedstudentsintoco-designersoflearning. Keywords:interactiondesign,media-richdocuments,embeddeddiscussions,reflectivepractice,co-designersoflearning,project-basedcollaboration,communitiesofpractice,activelearning

Figure 1: two types of media-rich documents with embedded discussions (zoom in for details) or also review (G. Gomez, Daellenbach, Kensington, Davies, & Petsoglou, 2017)



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Background OB3mediarichdocumentswithembeddeddiscussionsTMweredevelopedasaresponsetotwoneedsweidentifiedthroughworkingwithourusers.Theneedswerehelpingacademicstafftoundertaketimelyupdatesofstudycontenttokeepstudentsengagedwithcurriculumcontent,andenhancingstudentparticipationindiscussionforums.Between2004and2011basedondemandfrominitialusersacross-platformdesktopapplicationwasdevelopedtosupportdistributingencryptedcoursematerialsviaDVD.In2007wenoticedthatthisformatofcoursedeliverywasnolongerperformingforthreereasons.First,lecturenoteswerenotupdatedasoftenasneededforlogisticalreasons.Consequently,studentsconsideredmanyofthelecturenotestobeoutofdate,andinturnresortedtostudyingwithalternativeInternetresources.Second,discussionforumswereusedonlyforsharinginformationforexampreparation.Lecturersandstudentswerenotcomingtogethertohavealivelyasynchronousdiscussionofstudymaterials.Third,theprocessofmakingaDVDwastime-consumingandbecomingdifficulttomeetsemesterstartdeadlines.LecturenotespreparedinWordwereconvertedintowebpagesthatincludedlinkstojournalarticles,videosandPowerPointpresentations.In2008theearlyplanningofournewtechnologyOB3began,drawingonfeedbackfromusers,andfromaone-dayseminareventthecompanyranataclientuniversity.Throughtheseinitialactivitiesweidentifiedthenewproductneededtobeweb-based,withfeaturesallowingcontenttobeauthoredandmanagedbyourclientswithoutmediationofatechnologist(e.g.softwaredeveloperormultimediaconsultant),andsupportingembeddingdiscussionsanywherewithinalecturedocument.Interaction design with Bridging Design Prototypes Thisweb-basedtechnology,OB3,emergedfromaprojectfocusedinresearchanddevelopment(R&D)tosupportactivitiesinonlineacademicstudythatrelatetoreviewingcurriculummaterialsinvariedformatsorwrittenassignments.Thisprojectwasunderpinnedbyasocialinteractiondesignmethodologythatisdefinedas“…thestudyandexplorationofhowpeoplerelatetootherpeoplethroughthemediatinginfluenceofproducts...”(Buchanan,2005,p.5).Inourcase,thestudiesandexplorationshelpedunderstandinghowacademicandsupportstaffrelatedtostudentsthroughthemediatinginfluenceofaneducationaltechnology.ThismethodologywasputintoactionviatheBridgingDesignPrototypemethod(GloriaGomez,2007,2009;GloriaGomez&Crombie,2016),whichfacilitatestheprocessofundertakingresearchofnoveleducationalproductsinnaturalsettingsusingrapidfunctionalprototypes.UsercommunitiesaccepttoincorporatetheseprototypesintheirnaturalsettingswhiletheR&Dteamusesthemtolearnaboutthecontext,thecommunity,thepractices.Backin2009studentsandlecturers(allmedicalprofessionals)andsupportstaffcomprisedourusercommunity.Theyweredistributedglobally,oftenhadbasiclevelsoftechnologicalskills,andlittleornotimetolearnnewskills.Basedonreviewsofdocumentedactivities,observations,andconversationswithusersabouttheirissuesstudyingonline,guidelinesandrequirementswereputtogethertoinformfeatureconceptualizationanddesign.Dataanalysisdrewtheoreticalconceptsfromvarioussourcesincluding:1)educationaldesignthatsupportstheefficientuseofstudyskillsthatcontributetoacademicsuccess(Bandura,1986);2)goodvisualdesignthatfacilitateslearning,iscognitivelyeffective,andhelpsusmanageourworkandthought(Kirsh,2005);and3)networkedlearninginwhichinformationandcommunicationtechnology(ICT)isusedtopromoteconnectionsbetweenpeople(Goodyear,Banks,Hodgson,&McConnell,2004).Twodecisionsininteractiondesignradicallychangedthewayourusersstudyonlineandliftedtheirperformance.First change in interaction design: a unique interface for authoring content with familiar skills Earlyresearchoutcomesshowedthatthedevelopmentofauniqueinterfaceforstudentsandstaffcouldenhanceparticipationincontentauthoringbyde-emphasisingadministrationandemphasisingsupportforstudyfeatures.Forexample;reportingonmarkingresearch,Heinrichandcolleaguessuggestedthatadministrativetasksshouldbetargetedfirstbytechnologiesforelearning,“tofreeuptimethatcanbebetterinvestedineducationallymorebeneficialwaysfortheengagementwithstudentworkandtheprovisionofhighqualityfeedback…”(2009,p.478).WhileMehlhornandcolleagues,aftercomparingtwotechnologiesforenhancingonlineclasses,concludedthatanelearningtechnologycouldbequicklyadoptedifthisis“…easytooperateforthefacultymember…[t]helearningcurve…isminimum,andmostcanbetaughthowtouse[it]”(2006,p.5).Sinceourusersorganisedstudyaroundthedevelopmentandreviewofcurriculummaterialsorwritten



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assignments,thenewfeaturesscaffoldtheauthoringofmedia-richdocumentswithfamiliartechnologicalskillsthatcapitaliseonknowinghowtouseMSWord,theInternet,andemail.Furthermore,thiskindofauthoringfeaturessupporttheefficientuseofuniversitystudyskills,inparticular,thestrategiesofelaboration,organisation,andrehearsal,whichcontributetoacademicperformance,accordingtoBandura(1986).Theperformanceofthesestrategiesinonlinelearningcanbeenhancedthroughgoodvisualdesignandmetacognition.Kirsh(2005)says,theuseofgoodpedagogyinthedesignofonlinelearningenvironmentsmightbeabletotriggerorimprovemetacognition-anadaptivelearningbehavior“…themannerofdisplayingcues,prompts,indicators[,hints,andreminderstostudents]hasaneffectonhowandwhenstudentsnoticethem,gooddesignersneedtopresentthosecuesincognitivelyeffectivefashion.Theyneedtoshapetheaffordancelandscape”(p.10).Ifmaterialsaredisplayedtastefullyandappropriatevisualcuesareusedtodifferentiateheadings,subheadings,quotes,bodytext,videosandimages,onlinestudymightbecomemoreeffectiveandmotivating.Figure1showstheprocessofauthoringcontent.Withinminutesstudentsandstaffcan:author,share,discuss,andannotatemedia-richdocumentsbytyping,copyingorinsertingtext;audiorecording;uploadingfiles,photosorvideos;pastingcontentfromdesktopandwebsites;and,creatingdocuments,foldersorcourses.Theappinturnproducesbeautiful,highlyreadable,scalable,structuredmedia-richdocuments.Anotherdesignrequirementwastoautomateinteractionsirrelevanttostudy,butimportanttotechnologyperformance.Toimproveworkefficiency,activitieswereautomatedsuchasdocumentsaving,transcodingmediastyleformatting,recognitionandcreationofhyperlinkstowebsitesandtableofcontentscreation.Second change in interaction design: embedding discussions inside lecture documents Embeddeddiscussionscanbestartedinanyelementofamedia-richdocumentthatisaheading,aparagraph,aquote,animage,avideo,anaudiorecording,and/ortable.Contributionstodiscussionscanbealsomadeintheformoftext,images,videosoraudiorecordings(Figure1).Thisdesignchangeisbasedonearlyworkinnetworklearning.AccordingtoGoodyearandcolleagues(2004,p.1),networkedlearningislearninginwhichinformationandcommunicationtechnology(ICT)isusedtopromoteconnections:betweenonelearner,anotherlearnerandtutors;betweenalearningcommunityandtheirlearningresources.Inanearlierstudytheseauthorsrefertothisconceptas“shareablerepresentationsofpractice”.Thesuggestionthenwasto:Buildtechnologyaroundrealuserneedsratherthananidealisedmanagersviewofwhatisneeded…[Thisphilosophicalapproach]shouldsuitmostareasofhigher/futureeducation…Weneedtounderstandhowthemembersofadistributedcommunityofpracticeengagein[onlinelearning],andhowtheirexistingtechnologiesshapesandlimitswhattheydo,sothatwecanunderstandhowtoimprovethetechnologyattheirdisposal…(Goodyear&Steeples,n.d.,p.8)Atthetime,thisworkvalidatedourdesignassumption.Thetechnologywasbuiltaroundausercommunity’sneedsofbecomingactiveintheauthoringandsharingofonlineeducationalresources,andfosteringasynchronouscollaborationinwhichconversationshappeninsidethecurriculumcontent,notseparatefromit.Thefollowingtwocasesreportonactivitysnapshotsofhowmedia-richdocumentswithembeddeddiscussionsareliftingperformanceandengagementintheirrespectiveacademicprogrammes.Case 1: a masters degree medical programme in Ophthalmic Basic Science ThismasterscoursehasbeendeliveredacrosstwoUniversitiesinAustraliaandNewZealandforthelast15years.Theprogrammehas82enrolledfullorpart-timepostgraduatemedicalstudentsin2017.Ithasallowedfortheincorporationofnewinnovationswithinthesameeducationalplatformtomeetthechangingrequirementsofstudentsandlecturers(firstwith[OB2]DVD-basedcourseware,thenOB3from2011).Theplatformsupportsablendedlearningmodelwellwithstudentsbeingengagedwithineachunitofstudy.OB3waschosenduetoseveralimportantadvantagesoverothereducationaltechnologies:

• Straightforwardintuitivedesignallowingeaseofusebylecturersandstaffoftennotfamiliarwithtechnology,andstudentswhenusingshareddocumentsandasynchronouslearning

• Collaborativedevelopmentmodeltoshapetheplatformtosupportinnovationinteaching• Allowedforinternationalfacultiestocoordinateteachingonthesameplatformratherthantryingto

usetheindividualdifferinguniversitysoftware.• Allowedforasingleeducationalplatformforcontentdeliveryandfosterinteractionsbetween



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studentsthemselvesandstudentsandwiththeacademicstaff.• IntegrationwithinstitutionalLMStosimplifystudentloginandreducecourseadministration

Theusesincludelecturerortutor-ledactivitiesinwhichlecturenotesaresharedwithstudentsforreview.Student-ledassignmentstaketheformofwikipageassignmentsandjournalarticlesummaries.Courseparticipantsgenerated526postsfromAug22,2017toJan24,2018.14typesofembeddeddiscussionsoccurredinthisperiod.Table1showstheactivityinthetop5.Embeddeddiscussionsinstudent-ledactivitiesgeneratedthelargestnumberofposts,whichareJournalclubdiscussionswith364postsandOptik-ipageswith76posts.Theother9conversationtypescontainedsinglenumbersofembeddeddiscussionsmainlyontopicsrelatedtocourseactivities,schedulingorlogistics.

Table 1 – student-led activities with the most embedded discussions

Case 2: an undergraduate Midwifery programme TheBachelorofMidwiferyhasapprox.90-100studentsinaprogrammethatis50%theoryhoursand50%practicehours.Ablendedcurriculumwasinstitutedin2009toincreasethenumberofmidwiferystudentsinruralandprovincialareasbeingabletoaccesstheprogramme.Urbanstudentsalsoparticipateinthesameblendedprogramme.In2013,OB3waschosentodeliverthetheoreticalcomponentoftheprogrammeinresponsetostudentevaluationsoftheprevioustechnologyplatform,inwhichstudentsconsistentlyidentifiedfeelingisolatedandunsureofhowtheywereprogressingwiththeirlearning.ThedrawcardofOB3wastheabilitytohaveasynchronousdiscussionwithintheonlinecontent.Thesubsequentevaluationshavefoundthatalmostallstudentsfindthesediscussionsvaluablefortheirlearning,andalsofeelmoreconnectedtootherstudentsintheircourses.Thelecturershavebeendevelopingskillsinpromptingandencouragingstudentstocontribute,tothinkmorecritically,andintegratetheoryandpractice.OB3isintegratedwiththeinstitution’sLearningManagementSystemandthustheresourcesarepasswordprotected.Itiseasytocontrolwhatlevelofaccessrightsstudentsandlecturershaveintermsofviewing,discussing,editingandauthoringofdocuments.

Table 2 – teacher-led activity with the most embedded discussions Media-richdocumenttype Embedded

discussiontypeTopicthattookplacefromSep3to15,2017

#PostsSep3-15

Courseinfirstyear:1lecturerisinvolvedrespondingtothediscussionsfrom29studentsCurriculumcontent Q&A 3.PartnershipintheMidwiferyRelationship 68Curriculumcontent Q&A 4.ExperiencesofMaternityCare 51Curriculumcontent Q&A 2.ContinuityofCareintheMidwiferyRelationship 50Courseinsecondyear:3lecturersareinvolvedinrespondingtothediscussionsfrom20studentsCurriculumcontent Q&A 2.ShoulderDystocia 76Curriculumcontent Q&A 5.DisseminatedIntravascularCoagulation 63Curriculumcontent Q&A 6.RetainedPlacenta 59Curriculumcontent Q&A 4.UterineInversion&UterineRupture 58Curriculumcontent Q&A 1.CordProlapseandCordPresentation 56 Subtotal 481Curriculumcontent Q&A 5topicswith10to50posts 96

EmbeddedDiscussionTypethattookplacefromOct2-13,2017

Quantityallsemester

1. PeerreviewsandteacherfeedbackinJournalClubdiscussions 3642. PeerreviewsandteacherfeedbackinpagesforOptik-i(theencyclopaedicresourceabout

Optics)76

3. Ophthalmologylectures 344. Assignmentstopics 145. Generalchat 11

Subtotal 499Other9types 27

Total 526



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Curriculumcontent Q&A 17topicswithsingledigitposts 49 Subtotal 626Student-ledassignments Peerreviewsor

teacherfeedback14topics 69

Total 695Theusesincludealecturerortutor-ledactivityinwhichcurriculumcontentwithQ&Apromptsstudentstoconnecttheorytopractice.Student-ledassignmentstaketheformofcurriculumtopics,generaldiscussionsofpracticeexperience,discussiononchosenpracticetopic,andjournalarticlesummaries.Courseparticipantsgenerated3,541postsfromAug22toNov20,2017.FromSeptember3to15,studentsandacademicstaffgenerated695posts.Oneteacher-ledactivitycomprising30documentswithcurriculumcontentcontains626postsorembeddeddiscussions.Whilethreestudent-ledactivitiescomprising14documentsalltogethercontain69posts.Table2showsasnapshotoftheteacher-ledactivitywiththemostembeddeddiscussions.Thetop8curriculumcontentdocumentscontaining50+postshave481postsintotal.Thelargestis“ShoulderDystocia”with76posts.Discussion and conclusion Theinteractiondesignchangeofauniqueinterfaceforauthoringandsharingcontentliftsperformancebyreducingtimeinthepreparationtostudymaterials.Theauthoringfeaturesenableuserstodevelopcontentatasuitabletime,evenwithinminutesbeforelectureorassignmentdelivery.Incases1and2,studentsandstaffpreparedcurriculumcontentorassignmentsaspartofteacherorstudent-ledactivities.Assignmentsprovidedtheopportunitytoincludestudentsintheprocessofupdatingandrefreshingthecurriculumcontent.Thistechnologyreducedtheneedfortechnologistsupportduringcurriculumdevelopment,fosteredtheself-confidenceofstudentsandacademicstaff,andenabledcontinuedsharingofresourceswithalumni.Anotherchangebenefitwasthatthetime-consumingandlengthyprocessofconvertingcurriculumcontentpreparedinMSWordintowebpages,andDVDdeliverywaseliminated.Desirabilityofonlinelearningtechnologiesineducationalprogrammessuchasourcasestudiesinhealthismotivatedbyshowingvalueinprovidingfeaturesforeffectivestudy,coupledwitheaseofuse.Ourusersprefertocreatehighqualityonlineeducationofferingswithtechnologiesthathavealowlearningcurve,capitaliseonfamiliarskills,andappreciatetheirtime-pressedschedule.ThesefindingsarestrengthenedbyaMoodlestudyconclusion,“…[technologiesshould]fosteruserself-confidencesotheysee[itas]easytouse…Adultsmorethanyoungpeoplefeartheunknownandareproneto…prejudiceagainstnewtechnologythatoftenhasnobasisinreality.Ifusershavedifficultyusingasystem,theymightbelievethat[it]istoodifficulttouseandthebenefitstheywillgainarenotworththeeffort”(ArteagaSánchez&DuarteHueros,2010,p.8).Thesecondinteractiondesignchangeofembeddingdiscussionsinsidethecurriculumcontentliftsperformancethroughenhancingstudentengagementandparticipation.TheseconnectionsareofthekindssuggestedbyGoodyearandcolleagues(2004).Theyhavepromoteddifferentkindsof“shareablerepresentationofpractice”(seetypesincases1and2)thatarenotonlymeaningfulduringthesemester,butalsoforlifelonglearning,asthestudentswillcontinueaccessingtheseasalumni.Academicstaffofcase2(Daellenbach,Davies,Kensington,&Tamblyn,2014)reportedonhowthistechnologyhasenhancedengagement,reducedisolation,andgiventeachersasenseofhowstudentsarerespondingtoteachingmaterials.Inconclusion,OB3media-richdocumentswithembeddeddiscussionsTMareaninnovationinpracticeintheuseofeducationaltechnologiesinhighereducation.Theypresentafundamentalshiftonhowcontentispreparedandsharedbetweenacademicstaffandstudents.Thesenewstudyinteractionshaveresultedintheorganicdevelopmentofonlineactivelearningcommunitiesinwhichstudentsbecomeco-designersoflearningandteachersfacilitatorsoflearning.References ArteagaSánchez,R.,&DuarteHueros,A.(2010).MotivationalfactorsthatinfluencetheacceptanceofMoodle

usingTAM.ComputersinHumanBehaviour,261632-1640.Bandura,A.(1986).Socialfoundationsofthoughtandaction:Asocialcognitivetheory.EnglewoodCliffs,NJ:

PrenticeHall.



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Buchanan,R.(2005).Designasinquiry:thecommon,futureandcurrentgroundofdesign.InFuturegroundProceedingsoftheDesignResearchSocietyConference2004(pp.21).Melbourne,Australia:MonashUniversity.

Daellenbach,D.R.,Davies,L.,Kensington,M.,&Tamblyn,R.(2014).FosteringonlinestudentinteractionusingtheOB3webapplicationforonlinestudy.PaperpresentedattheASCILITE2014:RhetoricandReality-CriticalPerspectivesonEducationalTechnology,Dunedin,NewZealand.http://ascilite2014.otago.ac.nz/files/concisepapers/179-Daellenbach.pdf

Gomez,G.(2007,April28-May3).ABridgingDesignPrototypeforinvestigatingconceptmappinginthepreschoolcommunity.PaperpresentedattheCHI2007:ConferenceonHumanFactorsinComputingSystemsSanJose,California,USA.

Gomez,G.(2009,July6-7).Gainingentrytorealsettingswithabridgingdesignprototype.Paperpresentedatthe10thInternationalConferenceNZChapteroftheACM'sSpecialInterestGrouponHuman-ComputerInteraction,Auckland,NewZealand.

Gomez,G.,&Crombie,D.(2016,September7-9).BridgingDesignPrototypesintheDevelopmentofGamesforFormalLearningEnvironments.Paperpresentedatthe8thInternationalConferenceonGamesandVirtualWorldsforSeriousApplications(VS-Games),Barcelona,Spain.

Gomez,G.,Daellenbach,R.,Kensington,M.,Davies,L.,&Petsoglou,C.(2017).Benefitsofenablinglecturersandstudentstoauthor,shareanddiscussmedia-richdocumentsforonlinestudy.DigitalposterpresentedatASCILITE2017at34thInternationalConferenceonInnovation,PracticeandResearchintheUseofEducationalTechnologiesinTertiaryEducation.Retrievedfromhttp://2017conference.ascilite.org/program/benefits-of-enabling-lecturers-and-students-to-author-share-and-discuss-media-rich-documents-for-online-study-2/

Goodyear,P.,Banks,S.,Hodgson,V.,&McConnell,D.(2004).Researchonnetworkedlearning:Anoverview.InP.Goodyear,S.Banks,V.Hodgson,&D.McConnell(Eds.),AdvancesinResearchonNetworkedLearning(pp.1-9).Boston:KluwerAcademicPublishers.

Goodyear,P.,&Steeples,C.(n.d.).Shareablerepresentationsofpractice:asynchronousmultimediaconferencingincontinuingprofessionaldevelopment.DraftALT-C98Paper.CentreforStudiesinAdvancedLearningTechnology(CSALT),LancasterUniversity,Lancaster,LA14YL,England.

Heinrich,E.,Milne,J.,Ramsay,A.,&Morrison,D.(2009).Recommendationsfortheuseofe-toolsforimprovementsaroundassignmentmarkingquality.Assessment&EvaluationinHigherEducation,34(4),469-479.

Kirsh,D.(2005).Metacognition,distributedcognition,andvisualdesign.InP.Gärdenfors&P.Johansson(Eds.),Cognition,EducationandCommunicationTechnology(pp.147-179).Mahwah,N.J.;LondonLawrenceErlbaum,Publishers.

Mehlhorn,J.E.,Burcham,T.N.,&Smartt,P.(2006).UsingVoiceAnnotationtoEnhanceSuccessfulStudentLearnigninOnlineCourses.PaperpresentedattheFosteringSuccessfulLearning:instructionaltechnologyconference,MiddleTennesseeStateUniversity.

ob3 media-rich documents with embedded discussions lifting … · 2019. 4. 11. · practice that...

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