PB- LXP

Project Aim

The relationship between work/practice and student learning using ICT

The PB-LXP project set out to address this issue of the relationship between work/practice and student learning using ICT, in the context of six modules where technology-enhanced learning plays a key role

Methodology

The students are older (typically between the ages of 30 and 50) they are studying while working (in most cases) their modules requires them to develop work-related practices.

Six courses from Business, Health and Social Care, Technology and Computing agreed to participate and volunteer students from each course were recruited and interviewed at the beginning, middle and end of their course. Thirty students participated in data collection although some did not complete a final interview.

Main Findings (from report http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/pblxp.aspx)

·         Utility and ease of use are key factors in the appreciation of ICT tools provided by the module

·         The relevance of ICT tools to the work context can fuel study commitment

·         ICT elements in modules introduce a practical element into study, which is much valued by students

·         Online study methods are valued where they support students’ feelings of control and being able to make progress

·         ICT tool usage can help to connect study with application to practice in the workplace Students’ different work contexts influence their attitudes towards the ICT in their module.

·         Convenience, flexibility and accessibility were mentioned by most students as a valued positive contribution of having courses online and therefore study-able at a variety of locations and times.

·         Further benefits directly related to more effective study were also identified by students – uploading notes to a wiki made students process what they were learning more actively and made end of course revision much easier; ICT brings activities into study and many students commented that reading alone was less effective than reading combined with activities using the tools introduced in their courses; students felt more able to judge their own progress where they could do activities enabled by particular tools, such as online quizzes, feedback on activities, reading other students’ work.

·          The relationship between work/practice and study was a rich area of influence in both directions. Where students could see direct benefits to their work context, they reported willingness to study intensively and to persist with difficult material. Experience with particular tools at work could feed into using similar tools on their course, though this was not uniformly positive. Students could be critical of the way some tools were used on their course. Some tools and processes learned on courses were taken into the workplace.

·         Most students reported increased confidence in using ICT as a result of having to use it extensively on their course – particularly (but not only) those who started off from a low skill level. Many reported increased usage in their work and social lives as a result.

·          Web tools enabled collaboration to play a positive role in study online, and in one case, a whole course was based on team working to construct a project for assessment. The course would not have been possible without the use of a range of online tools on a weekly basis, particularly FlashMeeting – audio-visual conferencing.

·          Virtually all students reported using search engines to supplement study and several downloaded course material and assignments on to a memory stick to enable working across several locations. The more experienced students used Skype and specialist software not specifically included within the course. Personalisation of environments did not play a strong role in any student’s experience for those included in our study.

·         Survey findings validated the Technology Acceptance Model of ICT usage derived from the literature (Davis, 1989). Students’ responses about their perceptions of technology used in their work, study and social contexts, reproduced the same two factors of usefulness and ease of use. The most important aspects of technology for these students were its usefulness and ease of use. Students were asked to list the technologies they used.  This was used to construct a measure of actual technology use and it was found that perceived usefulness of technology at work was the most valid predictor of ICT used.

When asked about critical moments, many said that it was doing assignments and getting the marks and feedback so we did not find critical moments or influential factors that led to sudden major shifts in how they used technology

The issue of highly skilled e-communicators also did not really manifest itself. Some of our students were highly skilled computer users but the idea that they had special strategies that we could find out about and document didn’t materialise

These highlight the interpenetration of work and study and the specific role that technological tools can play in bridging between study and work to beneficial effect for the student . The survey findings replicate a model of technology perception in the literature, and underscore the important role played by the work context in orienting students towards technology. Universities and course designers can do more to highlight this two-way relationship with ICT bridging both the work and study contexts.

LEX 2004- 2009

Project Aim

How learners interact with technology throughout their learning lives.

Methodology

The programme spanned two phases over four years from 2005-2009. It comprised nine research projects in total (two in phase 1² and seven in phase two), employed mixed method approaches, and had the sustained involvement of over 200 learners and more than 3000 survey respondents. Five national workshops³ were run disseminating the methods and findings.

We looked at learners from HE, FE and work based learning. In total, these projects involved 186 learners in some form of sustained engagement over an extended period, such as interviews, audio or video diaries, or production of case studies. In addition, 2921 learners participated in the surveys conducted by the LEAD, Thema and PB‐LXP projects.

To achieve these aims each project adopted a mixed method approach, employing a variety of data collection techniques. The primary data collection method was some form of interviewing or diary keeping. Some made use of surveys

Main Findings

·         Nearly all students have access to a great deal of technology, not just that provided by their institution, but also their own laptops and mobile phones.

·         Learners are immersed in a technology rich environment and make use of the technology available to them in a wide range of ways.

·         Some learners feel disadvantaged by a lack of functional access to technology or the skills to use it properly

·         Others are making deliberate choices to adopt sophisticated technology‐mediated learning strategies and finding and using a range of tools in personalized, creative ways to support their study.

·         Learners have high expectations of institutions to provide robust, reliable and accessible technology

·         Most learners do not have clear ideas of how courses could be using technology in educational and innovative ways.

·         Learners lead complex, time pressured lives and they need to develop organization skills to help them manage the multiple demands of study with home, family and employment

·         Learners are clear that most of their technology use for learning is defined by their courses and tutors. The powerful influence of context means that teachers and their institutions need to take the lead in supporting learners' developing digital literacies.

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/learnerexperience

exec summary - http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/elearningpedagogy/lxp2execsummary.pdf

Responding to Learners Pack

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/programmerelated/2009/respondingtolearners.aspx

Creanor, L., Trinder, K., Gowan, D. and Howells, C. (2006) ‘LEX: The learner experience of e-learning’, Final Project Report; also available online at http://routes.open.ac.uk/ ixbin/ hixclient.exe?_IXDB_=routes&_IXSPFX_=g&submit-button=summary&%24+with+res_id+is+res19282

Mayes, T. (2006) ‘LEX Methodology Report’, JISC-funded LEX Project, Glasgow, University of Strathclyde; available online at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/ media/ documents/ programmes/ elearningpedagogy/ lex_method_final.pdf  

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