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“Culture and E-Learning at the Open University”. Influences, issues and examples from a blended learning perspective Steve Armstrong Project Management (M865) Course Chair Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology, The Open University.
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“Culture and E-Learning at the Open University” Influences, issues and examples from a blended learning perspective Steve Armstrong Project Management (M865) Course Chair Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology, The Open University
A descriptive model of inter-personal communication • Conductis what people actually do (and you can see or observe) – the behavioural aspects of communication, which may be different for individuals with different backgrounds. This will also include those skills that people require in order to communicate effectively • Contentincludes the perceptions, motivations, attitudes, goals and objectives of individuals that are the precursors to acting in a particular way. Essentially, we acquire or generate these aspects through our experience of living and working in a particular culture and environment • Contextis the framework of rules, culture, social structure and technology in which we live and work Jackson’s “3Cs model” (1993)
Examples of our core values • We are open to all and we value diversity • We adopt a student-centred approach to our work • We provide flexible ways of studying • We believe research and scholarship is vital to our mission • We believe the diversity and enhancement of our staff are essential to our continued success
Create, deliver and support the courses, programmes and other learning opportunities for our students to: • Develop intellectual abilities and both breadth and depth of understanding to appropriate levels • Master the subject-based professional abilities in appropriate subject areas to the appropriate level • Master the generic skills and manifest the appropriate attitudes and values associated with graduates • e.g. oral and written communication, progression to independent study, effective and co-operative work in groups • Become effective and independent learners, including the ability to master the modern means of distance learning • e.g. information retrieval and analysis, online group work, use of standard IT tools
Blended learning (1) • Blended learning means learning involving an integrated blend of media, including online media, together with a defined role for a tutor or facilitator of some kind • The approach has received wide attention recently, in response to a variety of pedagogical issues related to ‘all online’ course provision and the early use of ICT in teaching. It is in fact ‘the good practice backlash’ • Blended learning is very much a ‘hot topic’ in e-learning circles, and yet little formal research exists on how to construct the most effective blended program designs, or how to integrate online media as part of a cohesive blended strategy. For most studies referring to a blended approach, the online element is invariably the focus.
Blended learning (2) • The OU has always made use of a blend of media, and now online media are employed as part of the blend. However the concept of blended learning presents the opportunity to concentrate firstly on or aims and objectives in learning and teaching, before planning an integrated strategy to carry them out. • A blended approach will allow us the flexibility to accommodate the varied demands of particular pedagogies, disciplines and levels of course, and also the needs of a diversity of learners. But an understanding of media affordance must be critical if we are to be responsive to these needs. • Blended learning does not claim to be a cheap option, but it may well be cost-effective, particularly since effective student learning and enhanced retention levels are critical issues for the University. For most studies referring to a blended approach, the online element is invariably the focus.
Asynchronous conferencing Face-to-face interaction Course website Online quiz/assessment Email Synchronous conferencing PowerPoint slides Phone support Digital sound and movie Print materials Digital lecture delivery Video conferencing Digital white board Phone conferencing Blended learning components Ordering via a number of case studies performed per component
Multi-user virtual environment Second life is a popular 3-D Virtual World Avatars need to be created for the ‘real-time’ interactions
Student feedback about Second Life • I get a feeling of meeting you face-to-face • Even though I engage with avatars, I am aware there is a real person behind them • Sense of realism which is hard to match in other online environments • Feeling of space, context and environment persists and this makes a very real-experience • I particularly enjoyed meeting in the library as it was fitting to the topics under discussion • Steep learning curve, it was less time to learn Skype, Elluminate and Flash Meeting • Demanding system requirements • Graphics card, memory, broadband
Assessment • Feedback on assessment tasks has an important part to play in • underpinning student learning • encouraging engagement and • promoting retention • Two types • ‘assessment for learning’= Formative • ‘assessment of learning’ = Summative
Eleven conditions under which assessment supports student learning (1) • Assessed tasks capture sufficient study time and effort • These tasks distribute student effort evenly across topics and weeks • These tasks engage students in productive learning activity • Assessment communicates clear and high expectations to students • Sufficient feedback is provided, both often enough and in enough detail • The feedback is provided quickly enough to be useful to students ‘Gibbs and Simpson (2004)
Eleven conditions under which assessment supports student learning (2) • Feedback focuses on learning rather than on marks or students themselves • Feedback is linked to the purpose of the assignment and to criteria • Feedback is understandable to students, given their sophistication • Feedback is received by students and attended to • Feedback is acted upon by students to improve their work or learning ‘Gibbs and Simpson (2004)
Computer based assessment • Batch-marked multiple choice assignments have been used since the early days of the OU (1970s) • summative • Since the 1990s, interactive formative questions have been created and delivered on CDs and DVDs • e.g. numerical input, ‘drag and drop’ • As the new millennium came, a system was created for electronic tutor-marked assignments (eTMAs) to exploit the growing Internet usage • At the same time, a virtual learning environment (VLE) was created for resources related to both teaching and assessment
Designing online assessment • The assessment questions provide individualised, targeted feedback, with the aim of helping students to get to the correct answer even if their first attempt is wrong • The feedback appears immediately in response to a submitted answer, such that the question and the student’s original answer are still visible • Students are usually allowed up to three attempts at each question, with an increasing amount of feedback being given after each attempt • www.open.ac.uk/openmarkexamples/index.html
An example of the navigation panel used for an iCMA inside the OU’s VLE
Free text responses with tailored feedback • Multiple choice questions place certain constraints on how students may respond • recognition of the answer is required rather than the construction of a response. • A number of research projects have been initiated to find out what can be done to make e-assessment more effective • e.g. Jordan 2008 • Questions, which may include images, video or audio have been developed that will allow free-text answers of around a sentence in length • the authoring tool is based on natural language processing (www.IntelligentAssessment.com)
A free-text question, illustrating the correct marking of a complex answer
A free-text question, showing targeted feedback on an incorrect answer
Some responses • Learning logs within each question enable students to reflect on and analyse their learning experiences and help them make optimum use of the system • the same logs will serve the course team • In the ‘free text’ pilot study, more than 75% of the 200 students reported that they enjoyed answering the questions and found the feedback useful • words such as a ‘fun’ and ‘addictive’ were used quite commonly in their responses • Some students said they would prefer multiple-choice questions • e.g. “obviously you know that the answer is there, it’s just a matter of finding it, so there is an element of I’m not going to be completely out”
Further steps under way • The growing number of new iCMAs tend to be summative • with a relatively low stake, their role is to encourage students to keep up to date in their studies • There are still a number of research projects relating to e-learning and e-assessment under way within the Open CETL • e.g. expanding the free-text constraint to a paragraph • There are also a number of research projects exploring the process of teaching and learning online • multi-user virtual networks such as Second Life • social networking applications such as Elluminate Live • as well as …
What happens in social networks? • People create identities, friends and groups • Users add details about themselves • interests, workplace, relationships, and so on • Users add media, including photos, video, sound clips and so on • Users communicate with each other with public, private and real-time messages • Users add ‘applications’ • ‘add-ins’ which provide additional functionality
What does this mean for education? • Technologically feasible • sites are free to join, easy to use and run on technology like mobiles • Large user-base • if only we could create an educational community with a user-base like Facebook • Spaces • creates different spaces for working and ‘socialising’ within a single site, creating formal and informal networks • Rich functionality • writing applications (e.g. widgets) can add specific functionality to an existing social network (e.g. Course Profile)
The potential of social networking • Social networking is an online approximation of real world relationships • but, it’s also much more than that (e.g. exciting) • What social networks are and what that might mean for the web, in general, and education, in particular, is yet to be discovered and sorted • There may be some issues to be resolved • such as privacy, change, demands of time and energy • A quote from a current research project at the OU • “It has been interesting to see how the tutor’s use of these social networking tools to supplement the basic course material has been picked up on by some truly excellent students” (www.open.ac.uk/pbpl)
