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Technology to support the transition from paper based to electronic modes of feedback and assessment. Mark Dransfield , Technology Enhanced Learning Advisor & University Teaching Fellow Nikki Swift, Senior Teaching Fellow, York St John Business School.
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Technology to support the transition from paper based to electronic modes of feedback and assessment Mark Dransfield, Technology Enhanced Learning Advisor & University Teaching Fellow Nikki Swift, Senior Teaching Fellow, York St John Business School
Background of e-marking and feedback in the University • 2007/8 Pilot projects (video feedback link) • 2008 e-submission working group • 2009: University Quality of the Student Experience (QSEC) committee decided to implement e-submission across the university from 2010/11 • 2010: The Dean of the Business School decides to implement e-feedback across the Business School • 2010: STEF project funding granted through L&TD
Wanted to find a range of methods for people to mark electronically which they were personally comfortable with
Initial aims of the STEF project • To embed e-marking and feedback in the Business School • To gain an understanding of the impact of new technologies on e-marking and feedback • To inform the University of the most efficient and practical ways of working with these technologies, potentially avoiding investing in unworkable/impractical technologies • To share knowledge with the University and the sector of attitudes to marking on screen
Equipment used • iPads • Digital Pen & Lightweight laptop • Macbook Air • Kindle • Dual Monitors • TurnitinUK & Grademark
iPads • Positive reports: • Useful to be able to access your marking anywhere, e.g. on the train • Very useful for meetings and email • Negative reports: • iTunes not available on networked PCs • People experienced problems during initial setup with personal iTunes account (not so much a problem with iOS5) • Complex process of getting assignments on to the ipad and back to Moodle • Complex administrative process of purchasing ‘apps’ – ‘gifting’ • Poor quality annotations/fiddly to do • Didn’t replicate marking on paper closely enough • Some people didn’t complete the project as desired
1 Digital pen & lightweight laptop • Link to YouTube video • Feedback from user
1 MacbookAir • Most powerful and light • First ultrabook style on the market • Shift of operating system (YSJ a ‘Microsoft House’)
Kindle • Some information from Keith
Dual monitors • Some findings from dual monitors – explored further in practical stuff • Findings from the project led on to most of the faculty being equipped with DMs • Negatives of being fixed to a location (work!)
Drawbacks observed in the early stages of the project • The steps required to secure student work during the download/upload of annotated scripts to Moodle are time consuming and can add a lot of time to the assessment process • On screen marking using PCs is reported to be very slow. We considered whether this could be due to: • Reading/scanning/reviewing small section of text at once • Being a new method of working which may speed up with experience
Benefits observed in the early stages of the project • Hardware purchases were reported to improve staff efficiency in other areas (time management, email access on the go etc.) • Ease of access to documents • Materials are accessible by External Examiners
Second Phase – Year 2 • 11 ipad users • 2 Asus tablet users
Mentoring • ‘Buddies’ • Length of project restrictive – 3 semesters • Staff reluctant to ask for assistance • Basic use is reasonably intuitive • Staff workloads/time constraints meant • Unofficial support system?
Impact of the project • Year 1 29% involved in the project • Year 2 44% directly involved in the project, but all having benefitted from dual screens
Emerging Aims of the project • To consider the impact of working with mobile technologies on data security • To consider the impact of e-marking and feedback on student perceptions of feedback • To consider the impact of e-marking and feedback on staff time and feedback turnaround times
Findings • Mismatch between expectations and what the technology is capable of • Time is a major issue for almost everyone involved in the project • No one size fits all solution, people have to find their own preferred methods • Attitudes are mixed, some love it and some hate it (new staff are more accepting generally)
The Future • Opinions are not uniform – some staff have welcomed e-marking • Opinions are divided over different devices • Upload to VLE is being supported by admin staff • New devices coming soon with different/improved stylus technology, e.g. Galaxy Note 10.1