Tutorials Go Mobile

1. Tutorials Go Mobile Tony Jewson & Alexandria Hayes

2. Why • Personal tutors felt students were not engaged in tutorial sessions because staff did not feel confident in delivering the content. • Making tutorial materials available anytime anyplace • Materials produced using project money from LSIS

3. Who • Northampton College • Foundation Learning (30 students) • L2 hairdressing (20 students) • A level (10 students) • Tresham College • Foundation Learning (30 students)

4. What Sensitive topics were chosen because these were the topics tutors felt least confident to deliver. • Sexual Health • Homophobia • On line safety Each tutorial was designed to be about 20mins long, including a small amount of assessment.

5. What • The content was generated using the expertise of members of Student Services team in both colleges • We wanted the tutorials to be quick and easy to produce, so wherever possible we utilised material derived from pre-existing PowerPoint presentations and videos from the web

6. How • Simplistic website designed to work across all major Smartphone platforms (iPhone, BlackBerry and Android tested) • Small sized pages for quick download • Would not be expensive if on own data plan • Considered app creation – not time effective

7. Technical Issues • Different phone platforms means different ways of doing things • CSS for each platform • Audio playing different for each • Quiz could not be flash based – iPhone • Videos were ok as long as from YouTube/Vimeo – mobile friendly • Very simple!

8. Results • An action research plan was developed which utilised • Pre and post questionnaires • Student and staff focus groups • Results were categorised under: • Engagement • Learning • Tutorial Composition

9. Engagement • Student thought that mobile tutorials helped to engage them by making them more interesting and enjoyable • Questionnaire results – 72% agreed they were more interesting, 65% agreed they were more enjoyable • However what we produced didn't quite live up to their high expectations. • Before use 80% thought they would be more interesting and 78% thought they would be more enjoyable • “Once they were given the phones you could see a difference, some got straight on with the work… they liked the video clips they thought they were entertaining.”

10. Engagement 2 • Students don’t feel that mobile devices distract them from their work and are in fact less distracted than they thought they would be. • Questionnaire – pre-use 22% thought they would be distracting. Post only 8%. • One student said “While interacting with the technology we were not distracted with what was going on around us. We were concentrating on our work”

11. Learning • Students thought mobile tutorials helped them to learn • 69% agreed with this statement • Students commented “It was convenient and could be viewed at my own pace” and “the mobiles were easy to use and allowed more freedom for individuals to work at their own pace” • One Foundation learning tutor said “students liked the fact they could learn at their own pace because lots of learners have different abilities and in the past students who were more advanced had to wait for others to catch up”

12. Learning 2 • Good for personalisation • Dyslexic students benefitted from audio • Students benefitted from doing something interactive and different. • They didn’t realise they were learning

13. Learning 3 • Students felt that mobile tutorials helped them to learn about topics they wouldn’t want to discuss in class • 71% agreed with this • However the product didn’t quite live up to their expectations. Pre 78% thought this would be the case • One student commented “I like the fact its being used for “sensitive subjects”. Sometimes people don’t feel comfortable sitting in large groups hearing about stuff like sexual health .... doing it on a mobile makes sense”

14. Learning 4 • Several members of staff commented “generally students liked it, and said they would use it at home and go back to it if they needed to” and they also said “if they had missed a session through illness they would be more inclined to go to this material and surf through it to see what they had missed”

15. Tutorial composition/style • Students really do value the input of tutors in tutorials. • Pre 80% agreed that there was enough time for tutor input, whereas post 53% agreed. • Group discussions also, pre 90% said there were enough, post 47%. One student said “I think it might lack the opportunity for discussion, our tutor at the moment gets us to discuss things in small groups or as a whole class. If all the tutorials go mobile we won’t get a chance to do this, which would be a shame”

16. Other Issues • Hygiene with ear phones • Reluctances and concern about use of own devices • PAYG • Concerns from tutors about overreliance on technology • Concerns for students who did not have smartphones or did not know how to use them • Issues with audio • style, voice, age, confidence • Staff buy-in • Appropriate level of content • Use of phones in class, often against college rules and perception that it causes disruption

17. Mobile phone issues A student perspective - “we have our phones with us all the time, so it would be a good way to get us using them positively, rather then being told off for having them out”

18. Mobile phone issues A staff perspective -” staff I have spoken to don’t like them using their phones, however if they experienced the materials I think their attitudes would change, especially if they see the student reaction to the materials, the way the materials engage the students and the student concentration levels. All are a lot better than with conventionally delivered materials ”

19. Have a go! • tinyurl.com/mobiletut • ukfoamy

20. Future • Plans to create several more for other sensitive subjects • Child abuse / domestic violence • Bereavement • Drugs and alcohol • Homelessness and financial problems • More signposting, more emphasis on where to go for help, internally and externally to the college.

21. Content Development • Use of glossaries • Colour • More videos and images • Make sure information is relevant to age group • Don’t dumb down information just so it fits on a mobile • Quiz removal -> Evaluation quiz instead • Audio voice – adult, young person, male , female?

22. Conclusions • Students found the flexibility of material useful. Especially anytime access to information. • It would not replace the tutor or tutorial, but instead would compliment it. • Increased engagement • “There was a lot of talking, a lot of buzz in the room before they started. However, once they got into the material, the room went quiet. This has never happened before.” • Students could work at their own pace. • “Students liked the fact that they could learn at their own pace, because we have a lot of learners at different abilities and in the past students who are more advanced had to wait for the others to catch up”

23. Thanks • Jacqui Knott – Hairdressing, Northampton College • Sue Graystone– Foundation Learning, Tresham • Ralph Hine - Foundation Learning, Tresham • Andrea Sheridan – A Levels, Northampton College • Kerry Cheslin - Foundation Learning, Northampton College • Chris Dawson - Foundation Learning, Northampton College • Ben Humpage – Head of Learner Services, Tresham • Rebecca Petley – Research Consultant, LSN Learning

24. Further Resources This presentation was part of the RSC East Midlands e-fair 2011“Becoming an agile learning provider” for more information and to see all the resources go to http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=227