JISC

Start date: 1 March 2007

End date: 30 November 2008

Funding programme: e-Learning Pedagogy programme

Project website: http://thema.oucs.ox.ac.uk

JISC theme(s): e-Learning

Committees: JISC Learning and Teaching committee

Aims and objectives

The aim of the project is to contribute to a broader understanding of students’ engagement with technology through focusing on a particular stage of learning: taught postgraduate study. It thus complements the other projects forming Phase 2 of the JISC Learner Experiences programme, as well as the work undertaken in Phase 1.

  To fulfil this aim, the project is investigating  the following aspects of students’ experience:

• 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 in so doing;
• Whether 'effective' strategies for learning in technology-rich environments can be identified and used to help students who are less effective in this respect.
• 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 extent to which they personalise their learning tools and environments and involve "personal" technologies in their learning, and the practical issues that they encounter in so doing;
• Whether 'effective' strategies for learning in technology-rich environments can be identified and used to help students who are less effective in this respect.
• Whether 'effective' strategies for learning in technology-rich environments can be identified and used to help students who are less effective in this respect.

Project methodology

Participants will be 50-80 students studying for taught Master’s degrees at Oxfordin the Department of Education and Department of Continuing Education and at Oxford. Master's students are of particular interest because of their varied educational history (some are recent graduates; others may be returning to study after a long period) and life situation (part-time students may have work and/or family commitments). In addition, a substantial number will be planning to embark on doctoral programmes and thus are making the transition from taught to independent study.

The project is following students who begin their courses in October 2007 and January 2008. We are using online surveys to gather broad-brush quantitative data, triangulated by qualitative data in the form of case studies. Our approach is to:

• Survey all students in the identified cohorts at the start of their course, to elicit baseline data on, inter alia, their current use of personal technologies, and their expectations and intentions for such use during the course
• During the course, invite students to contribute general reflections and/or snapshots of usage that they consider to be significant or memorable
• After 9 months (or, for students starting courses in January 2008, 6 months), conduct a “reflective” online survey to capture students’ experiences, their use of the tools and the extent to which their expectations and intentions have been realised. This will be followed up with a small number of interviews, and 10-12 case studies will be compiled from these, the survey data, ongoing logs and any relevant contributions captured through formal means or made available to us by the students

Anticipated impact

The outcomes of the Thema project are expected to benefit both the University of Oxfordand the JISC community as a whole, through enhancing the wider understanding of students’ competencies, needs, preferences and habits. These findings can then be synthesised into recommendations for those involved in supporting student learning, including teaching staff who may either not yet have engaged in e-learning or who have reservations about its potential benefits, and who are experiencing pressure from their students to use technology in their courses.  Furthermore, an increased awareness of learners’ needs and preferences should inform requirements analysis, software selection/design and formative evaluation by technical teams who are involved in designing, recommending and/or deploying e-learning systems.

Project plan

Project plan  (Word)