1. Building engagement online in distance learning courses Caroline Coles Leicester Institute of Legal Practice 6th May 2010

2. The Student experience • Learning beyond the classroom: part time, work-based, mobile • Diversity • Interactive digital technology

3. Aims for Higher Education • Rigour, disciplined thought, curiosity (NCIHE 1997) • Social constructivism (Vygotsky 1986, Laurillard 2002) • Creativity.Autonomous learner • Dynamic learning (Sabry,Barker 2009) • Knowledge economy (BIS 2009)

4. What is a wiki? • Collaborative web site • Public or private • Inside Blackboard or use a free external host e.g. www.wikispaces.com, www.pbwiki.com • For text, diagrams, pictures, live web links • This session wiki http://wikisession-seda2010.wikispaces.com/

6. Wikis in Law

7. Graduate Diploma in Law • Leicester Institute of Legal Practice, post graduate in time but graduate in nature • Issues: Engagement; diverse; scarce discussion • Aims: engagement,express ideas, synthesize, collaborate • Structure: series of tasks, minimal tutor involvement, reward with documents • Blackboard wiki

8. Student response • “Very helpful” • “could be filled in at your own pace and enhanced learning” • “Would like to use it in tutorials more – this way students will have to make a comment and become more confident” DMU GDL students 2009

9. Student response- tutor reflection • Greater evidence of engagement • High quality of contribution – reflective, critical • Improved academic writing skills BUT • Minimal collaboration: • Evidence of protective ownership of pages? • “Lurking”

10. Student response other examples • “The Wiki page is a good part of learning because it encourages class members to integrate, which was quite helpful…” • “I learnt a lot from other people's input, whenever I got stuck alone Cubric 2007

11. Aligned assessment • General : • Group assessment issues • Assessment criteria: criticality, wider research, academic presentation • Storage for external examiner • Specific: • Formative

12. Future • In class role? Observation project (Coles 2010) • Practice page “sandbox” • Assigned student roles eg summariser • Explicit construction tasks eg legal drafting • Community building tasks • RSS alert

13. Future • Approach of non-westernised cultures • Emotive issues of technology enhanced learning

14. Discussion • Can you see a role for wikis in your practice? • If you answer yes, what tasks do you believe may be appropriate? • If you answer no, what are the barriers to using wikis in your practice?

15. References • BIS 2009: Great Britain.Department of Business,Innovation and Skills (2009) Higher Ambitions .Also available at http://www.bis.gov.uk/Policies/higher-education/shape-and-structure/higher-ambitions • Bostock,S. E-learning:engaging learners through technology.SEDA Paper 119.Available from www.seda.ac.uk • Coles ,C.( 2009) The role of new technology in improving engagement http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2009_3/Coles • Cubric,M.(2007) Good practice in using wikis to enhance learning,student support and retention for business students BMAF HEA Issue 1 April 2007 • Laurillard,D.(2002) Rethinking University Teaching :a conversational framework for the effective use of ICT, 2nd edn.London: Routledge.

16. References • Maharg,P.( 2007) Transforming Legal Education.Ashgate Publishing.Also available at www.transforming education.org.uk • NCIHE (1997). National committee on Inquiry into Higher Education. London. Also available at www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/ncihe • NACCCE (1999).All Our Futures http://www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/publication/hmiepcie.html • Sabry,K. and Barker,J. 2009 Dynamic Interactive Learning Systems. Innovations in Education and Teaching International Vol 46,No 2 May 2009 pp185-197 • Vygotsky,L.S. (1986) Thought and Language.Cambridge,MA:MIT Press • Images: BIS.gov.uk;ljmu.ac.uk;nikkichrager.com