joint information systems committee learners experiences of e-learning rhona sharpe, oxford brookes...

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


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


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.”


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?


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


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

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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


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


STROLL


Issues in data collection

Sampling

Elicitation techniques

Participatory methods

Ethical considerations

Recruitment and retention of participants


elesig.ning.com


ELESIG


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.


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


Card Sort Activity


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


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


Part 2: findings and their implications


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


Great Expectations of ICT

From thema, jisc/mori/lead


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


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."


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)


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


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)


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.


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


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


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


Activity


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.


What next?

joint information systems committee learners experiences of e-learning rhona sharpe, oxford brookes...

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