learners experiences of e-learning
DESCRIPTION
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. Su. SU. DA. VCS. DC. A. DC. DC. A. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
2008 projects timeline
Lead
PB-LXP
Blups
Thema
e4L
LexDis
STROLL
FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN09
In VCS
IN
End
Last DC
CS
CSAStudy
End
DA
VCS DA
DA DC
SU Su CS
A
End
ADC A
DC ADC A A
A
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
Issues in data collection
Elicitation techniques
Participatory methods
Ethical considerations
Recruitment and retention of participants
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
Dealing with data
Quotes, quotes and more quotes (coding with mindmaps and nVivo)
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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/
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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/
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
Dealing with data
Quotes, quotes and more quotes (coding with mindmaps and nVivo)
Effective strategies created by learners e.g. Lexdis website
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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)
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
Activity
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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."
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
Bridging the gap?
“We must have been shown Blackboard, but I can't remember. And we went round the library.”
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
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
Joint Information Systems Committee 06 March 2008
Activity
What institutional changes are needed to bridge the gap?
Which of our proposed outputs would help? How do we get
people’s attention?