Update from the learner experience projects

1. Update from the learner experience projects Rhona Sharpe and Greg Benfield Oxford Brookes University

2. Research questions How do learners engage with and experience e-learning? • What is their perception of e-learning? • What do e-learners do when they are learning with technology? • What strategies do e-learners use and what is effective? How does e-learning relate to and contribute to the whole learning experience? • How do learners manage to fit e-learning around their traditional learning activities?

3. Current projects Two JISC projects funded • LEX – Linda Creanor et al (Glasgow Caledonian University • LXP – Gráinne Conole et al (Open University) + Overarching scoping and synthesis project • Review plus ongoing support – Rhona Sharpe et al (Oxford Brookes University) + funded by Higher Education Academy, • Review of the undergraduate experience of blended e-learning

4. LEX research approach • Started from the premise that learners are experts on their own experiences • Adapted an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach • Interviews and focus groups were conducted • Use of ‘Interview plus’ method recommended by scoping study

5. LEX: Meet the Learners Community-based learners in local ICT centre Work-based learners in employer’s premises Basic skills learners in a Learndirect centre Learner Profiles UGs & PGs engaged in a range of e-learning activities Adults learning online at home and at work

6. LEX: Meet the Learners “Yeah well basically when I first went on and started to look at it I thought ‘Oh my God! I don’t know whether this is for me?’ but then I thought calm down a bit and sit down and go through it step by step.” (inexperienced e-learner)

7. LEX: Meet the Learners “I think it’s really good because as you’re learning, I’m doing literacy and numeracy but as I’m learning about literacy and numeracy I’m picking things up that I maybe didn’t know before on the computer.” (level 2 literacy learner)

8. LEX: Meet the Learners “Nobody online had to know that I had a disability, whereas in a classroom environment it stands out like a sore thumb.” (adult e-learner)

9. LEX: Meet the Learners “I do think it is a good way to learn and I do think that I learn a lot easier than what I did in college, pick it up a lot quicker and working at my own pace again.” (19 year old ex-FE learner)

10. LEX - emerging themes

11. LEX - emerging themes Fitting learning around life Control & choices Expectations of technology Strategies/ways of coping Personalisation of environment Influence of/on family Motivation to use technology Course design issues Time management

12. The internet as first choice for finding information “I wanted to find a phone number recently ... and I was asking my parents ... what the name of the company was so I could go online and find the number and they reminded me that we have a phone book and it just hadn’t even occurred to me because ... I go online for everything.”

13. An ‘underworld’ of texting and messaging “So my [group] we always text each other and say ‘oh are you coming in at this time or we’ll meet at this time’ and so it looks on the face of it from the university website that we haven’t been communicating all year but we have, it’s just outside of that [discussion] board.”

14. ... and finally! “I think it’s really good. I mean so it should be! It costs enough money to be here.”

15. Learner XP Focus Primary aim is to distil out subject disciplineissues in using e-learning Achieved by: • collecting data on students’ experiences of using e-learning • To support specific learning activities • Throughout a time period to support a range of learning-related activities • describing the students’ personal background and learning context • drawing out learner beliefs and e-learning strategies

16. Data collection Broad brush survey across four subject disciplines • To gain a wider understanding of learner XP around particular artefacts and select effective e-learners for case studies Case studies of individual learners • Describing e-learning activities carried out by the learner • Exploring e-learner context and background Meta-study of case studies • Examine diversity of views in learning group Focus groups • Critical reflection on findings of the study of cases, cross checking with a wider group of e-learners and addressing gaps or emerging issues

17. Audio diary OneChinese female PhD student • See technology as essential and integral to her studies • Use of Internet to find information and for communication • Online material to refer to and reflect • Sharing of articles • Technology integral across work and social life

18. Audio diary OneChinese female PhD student • Difficulty of finding paper-based journals • Subtle use of communication tools for different purposes – email less intrusive than the phone; mobile for urgent communication • Video conferences for online seminars and motivational • Lack of confidence with some research tools such as NVIVO • Care in selecting appropriate resources; using time online effectively

19. Quotes “If I can get something online I will go for that first because it is always good you can get electronic form to keep in your computer and you can always trace back but for paper – and also you can print out if you want you can read it first and then if it is useful you can print out but if something is not so relevant you can just leave it”

20. Audio diary ThreeEnglish male PhD student “My experience is that it [e-assessment] certainly helps with formative assessment so that one can test oneself against different parts of the curriculum. The downsides include lack of personal feedback so that you don’t necessarily know that what you are studying is what you should be studying. And also that there is only a limited amount of courseware available because the topic isn’t well provided for being so specialised. The upside of it is the ability to produce things very rapidly”

21. Key points • All comfortable with using technology • See it as integral for their learning • Sophisticated and varied use of different communication tools for different purposes • Access to up to date and relevant information and resources vital

22. HEA review of UG blended learning Students are overwhelming positive about access to supplementary course information • we've never done any surveys, ever, that have given other than the students want more of it, wider and deeper (Longside 2). and make regular and frequent use of online resources

23. HEA review of UG blended learning Students value flexible access to course resources: • The ‘one stop shop’ • Access to lecture notes • Support for students with disabilities • Maintaining a connection with the institution Students are concerned about • Inconsistency in use between modules • Time and expense associated with downloading and printing

24. Six of the seven institutions explicitly identified institutional level evaluation of blended learning as problematic, e.g.: • One of the things that’s been seriously lacking over the last five years at least, has been a lack of interest in evaluation, proper evaluation, not lip service evaluation like the student satisfaction surveys (Blackwater 2). • We don't have any systematic, institution-wide, sufficiently detailed research into the student experience in my view (Longside 1).

25. Priorities for future research? • Institutional level evaluation • Development and sharing of tools • Pedagogic audit • Mismatch between rationales and evaluation methodology • Mismatch between learner use and institutional provision • ‘Underworld’ of learners use of technology • Informal learning • Learners use of own technologies • Sampling • For institutional level priorities • International students • Employed students, Part-time students

26. Consultation activity What aspects of the learner experience of e-learning require more in-depth study? Comment on need for future research in terms of: • Context • Sampling • Technology