JISC

Start date: 1 May 2004

End date: 1 January 2005

Funding programme: e-Learning Pedagogy programme

JISC theme(s): e-Learning

Designs for Learning in Virtual Learning Environments: Insider perspectives

Final report is now available.

Uptake of learning technology is a slow process which moves through several phases. For most educational institutions across Higher Education (HE), Further Education (FE) and Adult and Community Learning (ACL) sectors, there are two main drivers for its adoption. One is creating, distributing, monitoring and assessing learning in the face of increasing student numbers and reductions in contact time. The other is the advances in technology which present exciting new possibilities. Addressing these issues has evolved from experimenting with portals and intranets to its current focus - the unification of services offered by Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). 

E-learning strategies at a national and institutional level are increasing across sectors and are often explicit drivers for technology uptake. In Higher Education many institutions have a centrally supported VLE – selected from a proliferation of products - while some remain uncommitted. Once a VLE is in place, there is a great variety of approaches to supporting its adoption. In HE, economies of scale allow intensive and institution-specific top-down staff development strategies to be adopted to raise awareness, address cultural issues and (usually under-prioritised) to promote good pedagogy. These often take the form of workshops, programmes and resources, allowing close work with individual tutors. For some of the earlier adopters, a more grass-roots dissemination of good practice by example is becoming evident. FE tends to be at an earlier stage of VLE development than HE (JISC, 2003); support for VLE use is often less readily available than in HE, where resources for dedicated VLE support staff tend to exist. Consequently, and as a result of a greater openness to incorporating e-learning materials created elsewhere, the uptake of generic learning objects – for example those offered by the National Learning Network (NLN) – is higher. For FE and ACL, staff development tends to be arranged by consortia or centrally provided by services like FERL (Further Education Resources for Learning) and the NLN. ACL, a particularly diverse sector, has a different set of challenges and pressures including a large body of part-time tutors with limited access to computers and related equipment, and limitations on staff development which tends to be centralised rather than institution-specific. To compensate, an E-Guides national training programme, open to all ACL staff, focuses on grass-roots dissemination of good practice.

Aims and Objectives

This project aims to explore, from insider perspectives, the practice of designing learning, and how tutors incorporate this into their use of virtual learning environments. It will include a range of post-16 institutions and providers in the UK, representing FE, ACL, and HE. 

The project has a triple focus on the experience of designing learning within Moodle, aspects of support, and their translation into the experience of the learners. Within these three areas, we will consider technical and usability aspects, and how practice and outcomes compare with theory and expectations.

Research Methods

Identifying and recruiting participants

We hope to recruit from a range of post-sixteen institutions or providers in up to three geographical clusters in the UK, with established VLEs which are either Moodle, WebCT or Blackboard. 

Within each institution or provision we will seek participants in four roles. A crucial person will be identified as a primary contact   - somebody with an overview of the institution and background to adopting the VLE. Based on their insight into their institution, this person suggest two or three tutors who are using the VLE as a key part of their design for learning experiences. We aim to represent a variety of course types here, from the discursive to the practical or technical. Through the tutors we will recruit a sample of their learners and a number of support staff. Through this range of perspectives we hope to gain insight into how plans are put into practice, and how the resulting implemented designs are experienced by those who learn from and deliver them. 

Collect background information about institutions or providers

Will collect background information as context for considering the VLE use. This will be found in the About Us area of each web site, and through conversations with individuals. An early semi-structured interview with each primary contact will feed into this, and will include the e-learning climate, background to the adoption of their VLE, and how it is used and supported. 

Collect data from tutors through questionnaire, interview and observation

In partnership with the authors, we will adapt a series of questionnaires developed at Oxford University to evaluate the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS). Tutors will complete these, allowing us to collect standardised information about the particular course or module, and the motivation behind supporting it with the VLE. To gather richer data about how they work with the VLE, we will visit them in their institution or work environment with the aim of observing them in their VLE use. This may not be possible, or the approach may be too contrived to be useful – in which case we will collect data through a situated interview. 

Focus groups

These will involve three groups – tutors, students and support staff, and are intended to cover the major aspects of learning design – the incarnation of tutors’ ideas, logistical and technical issues, and how the ideas were experienced by the learners. We anticipate dividing groups by job role, to promote a relaxed environment with minimal inequalities, as well as depth of discussion. Focus group questions and activities will be generated from preliminary and observation data. 

Data analysis

Limited time and resources, alongside the need for deep knowledge of the domain, suggest an iterative approach which builds on findings from early case studies to identify counter-examples. Overall, we will adopt a Grounded Theory approach to this work, yielding a situated account from an insider perspective. This will help us to produce (a) case studies that evaluate good practice and (b) a synthesis of the processes involved in designing for learning using such tools which can be turned into guidelines for good practice. In this way, we hope to both to illustrate and explain how best to work with this kind of tool. This approach will recognise that we cannot pre-judge the ‘goodness’ of practice; instead, we recognise that the evaluation data is socially situated. The inductive and descriptive analysis will take account of the multiple influences that are present in such design processes; the resulting accounts will then be grounded in the data themselves. This process will allow us to refine the focus of the study as it progresses.

Deliverables

• A group of case studies exploring VLE use from a number of perspectives within each institution
• A report documenting and interpreting the research
• A set of guidelines or recommendations for best practice - if the findings lend themselves to this

To ensure that the findings reflect the experience of participants, these deliverables will be negotiated with them before they are fed back to the wider community.

Stakeholders

Participants and their institutions. 

For any further information contact Mira Vogel m.vogel@gold.ac.uk