The Age of Learning

1. Adapting education for school librarianship: Addressing the needs of the part time studentIASL Conference Durban, South Africa July 7-11, 2003James Henri and Sandra LeeandSue Trinidad, Felix Siu,Lai Ming,andAlvin Kwan

2. The Age of Learning If the 18th century is characterized as the Age of Reason, the 19th as one of industry and, the 20th century as an era of profound scientific and technological revolutions, then the 21st century could well be known as an Age of Learning. This will be a time when more people everywhere are involved in acquiring new knowledge and skills continuously throughout their lives and from virtually every context of daily life. Source:http://www.usg.edu/admin/policies/tech_principles.html

3. Background & Provocation • PT inservice teachers upgrading to BEd • Traditional F to F teaching in 3 hour blocks • 30ish students per class • Late arrivals – food deprivation, sleeping, passive recipients (arms crossed waiting to be entertained), lack of inspiration, & social immobility

4. HK Education (culture) • Passive involvement • Spoon-feeding • Teacher knows best • Exams are the way to measure learning • Individualism • Fear of authority

5. Literature Review • Thin literature regarding PT learners and motivation • Typical Adult Learner issues • Practical application • Scaffolding issues to support self directed learning • Use of ICTs works best when the software is known

6. The IPPO project The objectives of this study are to: • Identify the characteristics and motivation factors of full-time teachers undertaking part-time tertiary study. • Trial a range of innovative and flexible pedagogies in selected modules to determine their effect on academic performance and participation. • Compare the efficacy of flexible learning with traditional face-to-face instructional approaches • Determine other factors that influence learning progress • Design and pilot an instrument that will enable instructors to gain information on motivation and lifestyle factors • Provide preliminary data for monograph for return-to-study teachers.

7. Methodology Online questionnaire of closed and open questions benchmarking • -learning style, • -motivation, • -work and lifestyle habits Investigated factors affecting studying such as time for travelling to and from lectures. Telephone and focus group interviews to enhance results from questionnaire.

8. Methodology, cont. • Interventions into practice, addressing the benchmarking, were conducted within an action research paradigm. The Action Research Cycle

9. Student Data Online questionnaire 163 students • 110 from the B.Ed. [ITE] group and • 53 from the B.Ed. [LIS] group)

10. Student Data : ITE & LIS Internet Access at Home (95%) 31% have sole access 36% share the access with another family member 21% share with two other persons. The data showed that most of the students did not have any access problems to the Internet.

11. Student Data : ITE & LIS Type of Internet Access 85% broadband Internet at home Level of IT Competency 90% Intermediate IT Level

12. Student Data: ITE & LIS Internet Access at Home (95%) 31% had sole access 36% needed to share the access with another family member 21% share with two other persons. The data showed that most of the students did not have any access problems to the Internet.

13. LIS group: Student Profiles Similar to the ITE student group profiles: • Have internet access at home • Are teachers in regular, subsidized schools • Nearly 60% teach in primary schools, nearly 40% teach in secondary schools • Have achieved the IIT level of certification The exception…92% of students are female

14. LIS students: Most common characteristics Works 46-50 hours per week 31-35 yearsof age Travels 45-60 minutes to get to HKU and 61-75 to get home 6-10 years of teaching experience Spends 5-10 hours per week managing home and family Spends 2-4 hours preparing for university class each week Spends 5-8 hours per week on leisure Has zero children

15. LIS students: Second most common characteristics Travels 61-75 minutes to get to HKU and 45-60 to get home 11-20 years of teaching experience Spends 15-20 hours per week managing home and family Works 51-55 hours per week 26-30 yearsof age Spends less than 2 hours preparing for university class each week Spends 2-4hours per week on leisure Has 2 children

16. LIS students: Third most common characteristics Travels 76-90 minutes to HKU and home again20+ years of teaching experience Spends less than five hours per week managing home and family Works 41-45 hours per week 36-40 years of age Spends 5-8 hours preparing for BEd classes each week Spends less than 2 hours per week on leisure Has 1 child

17. Innovative practices Concepts and values in education Module taught in a computer lab One week break from class for reflection, after five weeks. all materials online Length of assessment reduced to provide more time to focus on learning A journal was used to track learning

18. Locating information and library advisory services Students were given a set of exercises and one hour at the end of sessions to complete the questions and independent learning tasks A flexible and independent approach to teaching reference skills using asynchronous peer/teacher feedback The innovative practice also reduced time in lectures/sessions by one hour for at least six weeks to test the efficacy of flexible learning and if students preferred flexible learning

19. Introduction to Teacher Librarianship and Teacher Librarianship incorporated a six-week out-of-class period within the curriculum—for online and flexible learning Time in which they had to complete set tasks and record learning on the ILN course room forum. Aim: to establish whether the out of class tasks affected the time spent on studying the module as compared to the traditional ten weeks of 3-hour sessions.

20. Educational Enquiry and Assessment • Social-constructivist approaches in a classroom-based module. • Various models, emphasis on task-based learning • Scaffolding and support to develop self-directed, self-reflective learners—lifelong learning skills. • Technology supports task-based learning and assessment tasks drive the learning • Use of reflective journals

21. BEd module: Information Literacy Year 1 (LIS) and Year 2 (ITE) James Henri and Sandra Lee

22. Information Literacy: Innovation • Class combined BEd(LIS) and BEd(ITE) students • Two days before the first lesson, classes were suspended due to health concerns over SARS • Taught entirely online using a range of synchronous and asynchronous tools via Interactive Learning Network (ILN) • Scaffolding was provided to students to enable them to adjust to the abolition of face-to-face time • Additional features were added to the ILN course room to enable small group work in Chat and to track conversations

23. Created virtual class discussion • Interaction was critical • Needed to support peer discussion in a virtual environment among strangers • ILN is well suited to this, via synchronous and asynchronous communication functions

24. Group work: challenges • Instructors created groups to discuss a paper relating to information literacy as one assessment event • Students could elect to meet and discuss face to face, over the phone, on the ILN forum or chat or via e-mail • Technology and ILN supported many options • Innovation lead to new features on the ILN

25. In-house developed Learner Management System Interactive Learning Network (ILN)

28. Whole class forum Total 13 pages of discussion

30. Group Chat details

31. Group forum threads Message details with attachment

32. Feedback • Feedback for the module delivered entirely online, revealed some enthusiasm for this mode of delivery and one student said, I think it's a new way of learning in this information explosion age. It's so funny and save a lot of traveling time. • There were also many hesitations regarding the entirely online delivery mode. …some participants like learning on campus, while others like [learning] through Internet. However, I have a feeling, especially for "this module", that we need more interaction and sharing [of ideas] immediately.

33. Issues raised • Not enough face-to-face interaction with classmates. • Scheduled face-to-face classes provided opportunities to work on group projects. • Wanted to choose their own groups. • Had limited experience with the online learning environment. • Despite the IT focus of the program, some students demonstrated beginner level difficulties with the technology. • Difficulty in concentrating at home.

34. Addressing the issues • Lecturers spent much time online and on e-mail discussing problems with students. • Lecturers had to contact students to notify them their e-mail boxes were full. • Lecturers added optional face to face classes in a computer lab.

35. Lessons learned Students expressed needs. • Some were genuine. • Some were superficial, or “decoy” issues. Real needs: Scaffolding Face-to-face induction to technology and assessment

36. Lessons learned • Students are economizing time. • Optional classes were added, but students were not satisfied! They wanted compulsory classes so classmates would attend. • Students are using break time, and likely class time to work on group projects.

37. Lessons learned • Students choose group mates to economize, choose classmates living in close proximity • there is a reliance on face-to-face meetings for group project completion • Students are ‘carrying’ weaker students

38. Lessons learned • A surprising lack of technical skills. One student reported difficulties in printing materials, indicating online use is still not interactive. • Difficulty in solving problems, using higher order thinking skills. • lectures were cancelled but students did not think to meet in person or plan their own social outings • using university or other facilities when they could not work at home

39. Quotes from feedback Students were asked if all class materials were online and face-to-face classes were optional, would they attend? Evidence of lack of experience in flexible learning and reliance on class attendance to ‘enforce’ meeting attendance to complete group work. One student said: Yes, because it’s more direct. And it will be more efficient for doing…group work…members have some common time to meet. For the online case, it’d take a long time to come up with a time to go to the chat room. So I think for this kind of learning, it should either be that all people are required to go to the platform at the same time, or to go back to the lectures.

40. Feedback continued Small sample of students interviewed • Asked about the efficacy of online delivery. • All agreed that 100% online was not preferred. • A combination was favoured ranging from 30-50% online.

41. More lessons learned • To encourage more self-directed learning—central to this project—students need more scaffolding and induction. • The literature indicates that self-directed learning requires opportunities for sharing amongst students but needs to be structured carefully and provide sufficient support to achieve outcomes (Li et al, 2000; Smith et al, 2000; Vogel et. al, 2002).

42. Conclusion Results from the IPPO research project have enabled instructors to make informed decisions about student workload and assessment and course delivery options. The ILN has helped build environments in which students are able to construct knowledge to become life long learners.

43. ILN supports students Critical components of the part-time student’s flexible learning repertoire supported by ILN: • self-direction • student autonomy • motivation • applying learning to real world situations • sense of belonging and community • Trinidad et al (2003)

44. Thank you

45. References Li, N. Lee, K. & Kember, D. (2000) Towards self direction in study methods: The ways in which new students learn to study part-time. Distance Education, 21(1), 6-28. Smith, I. Choi, S.H. & Cairncross, S. (2000) Does online flexible learning fulfill students’ need and expectations? Paper presented at ALT-C 2000 Programme. 11th-13th September IMIST, Manchester. Trinidad, S., Kwan, A., Lee, S., Lai, M., Siu F., Henri, J. & Chieng, A. (2003) Are in-service teachers ready for learning through CMC? Paper to be presented at ICCE 2003, December 3-5, Hong Kong. Vogel, D., Shroff, R., Lee, F., Kwok, S. & Combes, J. (2002). Student e-learning intrinsic motivation: A qualitative analysis. Paper presented at PACIS2002 The Next e-What? for Business and Communities, September 2-4, Tokyo, Japan.