LXP - Learner Experience Project - Conole

Project Aim

The research focused on two main questions: How do learners engage with and experience e-learning (perceptions, use and strategies) and how does e-learning relate to and contribute to the whole learning experience?

Methodology

Data collection consisted of three main sources:

• information derived from the online survey (427 entries)

• data gathered through audio logs and(85)

• transcripts from the interviews.(14)

Medicine, Economics, Inf and Comp Science, Langauages: from old and new institutions, to those located within a metropolitan area or a regional locality. The institutions were: the University of Ulster (Magee Campus), London Metropolitan University, the University of Newcastle and the University of Southampton

Main Findings

The key picture that emerges is that students are appropriating technologies to meet their own personal, individual needs – mixing the use of general ICT tools and resources with official module or institutional tools and resources.

·         the Web is unequivocally the first port of call for students

·         technologies are used extensively by students to communicate with peers and tutor

·         learners see technology as integral to all aspects of their lives.

·         increasing use of user-generated content in the form of site such as Wikipedia is challenging the traditional norms of the academic institutions as the key knowledge expert and providers.

·         learners do not necessarily use the same technologies for learning as for other aspects of their lives, although for some learners there is an overlap.

 Commentary

“The survey provided both detailed qualitative responses to students’ uses and perceptions of technologies, supported by detailed quantitative data indicated which technologies they were using most and which least and how they were using them. The audio logs provide innovative snap shots of practice – capturing students’ experiences of the use of technologies in situ, illustrating both the emotive and contextual aspects in each cases."

·         Used the 3 part approach (overarching survey then more in-depth case studies) to overcome methodological issues from survey alone( although the problem with this is that the data sources drop significantly when we get to the interview stage)

·         Wanted the surety to be a detailed record for the breadth of ways students use technologies

·         (so used very detailed tools that some people felt were too much)

·         didn’t want to use student diaries as methodological issues– hence using audio logs instead.

·         the interviews were to counteract potential problems and help triangulation

·         response higher than expected

Although there have been obvious attempts to think through methodological issues, I still think the data set is quite small.

Conole, G. (2006), ‘JISC LXP: Student experiences of technologies’, Final report of the JISC-funded LXP project, Southampton: University of Southampton

http://labspace.open.ac.uk/file.php/1/kmap/1176712833/references/LXP%20project%20final%20report%20dec%2006.pdf