Following the release of Circular 05/06, a total of 84 bids were received for projects in to undertake studies around the learner experience. The projects began in March 2007 and are due to complete between February and March 2009. These projects are building on the outcomes of the first phase of research. The Support and Synthesis project runs alongside the 7 learner experience projects and is synthesising the findings from the programme. The Support and Synthesis wiki provides up-to-date information on the programme.
The Learner Experiences of e-Learning theme aims to:
- Review and investigate how learners experience and participate in learning in technology-rich environments
- Make recommendations for those involved in the support of student learning (including practitioners, support staff and institutional managers) on how best to support learners, based on our understanding of the diverse needs, experiences and preferences of learners
- Help developers to design systems that support a wide range of learning tasks/interactions, meet different learner needs and enable positive learning experiences
- Investigate the strategies, beliefs and intentions of learners who are effective in learning in technology-rich environments
- Develop methodologies for eliciting the learner experience and promote learner involvement in evaluations which practitioners can use to inform their designing for learning
See the briefing paper summarising the findings from Phase 1 (Word) and a summary of Phase 2 projects (Word).
A series of workshops will begin in November 2008 to disseminate the findings from the project
A brief overview of each of the projects is outlined below together with the successful proposals and a review of all the proposals submitted under this circular under strands A and B.
A) Learners’ Journeys project
STudent Reflections On Lifelong e-Learning (STROLL)
University of Hertfordshire partnered with Hertford Regional College
A longitudinal view of learning journeys across two years and three academic cohorts; from FE students through to graduating students at the end of their 3 year BSc/BA programme. More information about the project
B) Learners’ Experiences of Blended Environments
Students’ Blending Learning User Patterns (BLUPs)
University of Warwick partnered with the University of Northumbria
A study of a cohort of first year undergraduate students The proposed study has two components. Firstly, it will examine the ways in which new undergraduate students blend the modes of learning available to them, both from the personal domain and the institutional domain. Secondly, this information will be used to inform institutions and staff about how best to draw on these approaches to support their teaching and the students’ learning. More information about the project
Learners’ experiences of blended learning environments in a practice-based context (PB-LXP)
The Open University
This project focuses on students studying work-based courses and students experience and use of technologies in different locations, including their work places.The project will run over 2 years (3/07- 2/09) and will provide a richer understanding of how students are learning with a range of technologies across different boundaries, the strategies they use to manage the process, barriers/enablers, key critical moments and the relationship between student practice and institutional practice/policy. More information about the project.
Exploring the Experiences of Master’s Students in Technology-Rich Environments (THEMA)
Oxford University Computing Services
The THEMA project seeks to extend the work carried out in Phase 1 of the Learners’ Experience of e-Learning Programme by conducting an institutional study of students engaged in full-time and part-time Master’s degree programmes at the University of Oxford , in blended environments. Areas to be addressed are:
- The impact on students’ learning of the choices that they make in relation to the timing and location of their studying, their study partners and the supporting technologies that they use
- The critical moments in their experience of technology for learning
- The extent to which they personalise their learning tools and environments and involve “personal” technologies in their learning, and the practical issues that they encounter
- Whether 'effective' strategies for learning in technology-rich environments can be identified and used to help students who are less effective in this respect
The study will last for 21 months and will use surveys, interviews and data reported at significant or memorable moments to create a broad-brush picture enhanced by in-depth case studies. More information about the project
e-Learning for Learners (e4L)
The University of Northampton partnered with Northampton College and Northamptonshire Adult and Community Learning
This project will focus on learners’ changes in attitude to e-learning provision as they progress in different educational contexts. The study will encompass a wide range of learners across the education sector in Northamptonshire (Higher Education, Further Education and Adult and Community Learning) but centre on those students in HE who move between institutions and subject levels over the course of their study. More information about the project
Learner Experiences across the Disciplines (LEaD)
University of Edinburgh
This project will undertake a study of first-year students from a variety of different entry routes and across a variety of subject areas at the University of Edinburgh . It will focus on "critical moments"; more specifically, it will look at the involvement and impact of learning technology on learners' transition to University and how their use of learning technology changes as they progress through their first year.
Student groups will be selected from a number of different disciplines, including Physics, Divinity and Veterinary Medicine. Early years courses in all these disciplines have a well-established presence online, marrying the best of the online and real environments. Courses in all three subject areas have begun to gain experience and understanding of how to embed "Web2.0 tools" such as weblogs, podcasts etc in support of the teaching of these courses.
More information about the project
Disabled Learners’ Experiences of e-learning (LExDis)
University of Southampton
The LExDis project will explore the e-learning experiences of disabled learners within one institution; The University of Southampton. The overarching aim is to increase our understanding of the many complex issues and interactions introduced by disabled learners’ requirements for accessible e-learning, compatible assistive technologies and effective learning support. The LExDis project will contribute to the field of knowledge by developing user-centred participatory methods that produce rich in-depth descriptions of the e-learning experiences of disabled students and help practitioners, support staff, managers, learners and developers address with some confidence the issues faced by disabled students in higher education. This project will have an important impact on wider participation and ease transition issues for those requiring equal access to on-line teaching and learning. More information about the project
C) Support and Synthesis project
Oxford Brookes University partnered with Ellen Lessner, Level Learning & ILT Co-ordinator Abingdon and WitneyCollege. National Institute of Adult Continuing Education. HelenBeetham, Independent Consultant.
The project will arrange and facilitate regular opportunities for the learner experience projects to meet and share their work, with expert input and guidance from members of the project team. The projects will be additionally supported by visits from the synthesis project team and an online wiki space to collate resources and allow for easy communication. More information about the project