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“CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES” PRESENTATION FOR THE 13 TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL SCIENCE, VIENNA 6 TH -7 TH OCTOBER 2017 AFTAB DEAN, LEEDS BECKETT UNIVERSITY ANDY LIMA, LEEDS BECKETT UNIVERSITY e: [email protected] e: [email protected] t: @andylimauk

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Page 1: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

“CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUALLEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT

UK UNIVERSITIES”PRESENTATION FOR THE 13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL SCIENCE, VIENNA 6TH-7TH OCTOBER 2017

AFTAB DEAN, LEEDS BECKETT UNIVERSITY

ANDY LIMA, LEEDS BECKETT UNIVERSITY

e: [email protected]

e: [email protected] t: @andylimauk

Page 2: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

Key reasons for importance of using a VLE;

Review of e-learning;

Pedagogy and VLE (Blended Learning);

Challenges and Criticisms;

Primary Research (Methodology);

Discussion of qualitative results;

Factor Analysis of survey results;

Proposed Integrated Learning Framework;

Recommendations.

Page 3: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

HOW STUDENTS ARE LEARNING TODAY AND HOW WILL THEY BE LEARNING IN THE NEXT 5, 10 OR 20 YEARS?

TL;DR

The story of Anita*, Ben* plus everyone else in between…

We’ve got to be able to address the gap between the utility of the service offer.

*Names were changed to preserve their anonymity

Page 4: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

(WHAT WE WANTED TO FIND OUT)CATALYSTS FOR E-LEARNING:

Increasing global competition for HE institutions;

Rising cost of education in the western hemisphere (tuition fees has created a customer value culture) thus students expect more (hefty fees);

Student expectations high for instant gratification (accelerated through use of Google, Wikipedia, YouTube, Online Forums, etc);

Advances in technology and wireless connection is creating new opportunities to engage with students; (flexible, easy access and convenient) (Croxton, 2014)

New online entrants to the market (Coursera, Futurelearn, edX and Udacity);

Technology learning systems are proving to be major factor in influencing student choice of study. (seeing now as competitive advantage) (Redecker et al. 2011);

Page 5: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGY FOR PEDAGOGY:COST VS ENGAGEMENT?

Increasingly online (VLE) systems are being adopted to reduce the cost of engaging with students (Schedjbal, 2012).

Challenges of attracting and retaining students – Struggle to move fast and choice of TEL (Schedjbal, 2012) – missing seeing students as ‘customers’ - Student Experience Design (SXD)

Traditional online resources are gradually moving towards blended learning systemssuch as Flipped Learning.

Page 6: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND: LITERATURE REVIEWEVOLUTION OF E-LEARNING

HPR One Year or Less Two to Three Years Four to Five Years

2008 - Grassroots Video - Collaborations Webs

- Mobile Broadband - Data Mashups

- Collective Intelligence - Social OSs

2009 - Mobiles - Cloud Computing

- Geo Everything - The Personal Web

- Semantic Aware Apps - Smart Objects

2010 - Mobile Computing - Open Content

- Electronic Books - Simple Augmented Reality

- Gesture-Based Computing - Visual Data Analysis

2011 - Electronic Books - Mobiles

- Augmented Reality - Game-based Learning

- Game-Based Learning - Learning Analytics

2012 - Mobile Applications - Tablet computing

- Gesture-Based Computing - Learning Analytics

- Gesture-Based Computing - Internet of Things

2013 - MOOCs - Tablet Computing

- Game & Gamification - Learning Analytics

- 3D Printing - Wearable Technology

2014 - Flipped Classroom - Learning Analytics

- 3D printing - Games and Gamification

- Quantified Self - Virtual Assistants

2015 - Bring Your Own Device (BYWD) - Flipped Classroom - (Learning Analytics) - (Mobile Apps)

- Makerspaces - Wearable Technology - (Collaborative Environments) - (Games & Gamification)

- Adaptive Learning Technologies - The Internet of Things - (Wireless Power) - (Flexible Displays)

(Source: Naaji et. al. 2015).

(BYOD)

Page 7: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

PEDAGOGY AND VLE Technology is not only affecting what students will learn, but also how they will learn (where,

when, what). These changes in technology and pedagogy have resulted in transformed habits of learning behaviour due to access to constant information and exposure to distractions (Persico & Pozzi, 2015). Three elements – technology, learning content and learning design (Fee, 2009).

Educators must evaluate how students are using technology (Persico & Pozzi, 2015)

Martinez-Caro and Campuzano-Bolarin (2011) revealed that satisfaction was significantly greater in blended learning courses than the traditional face to face courses.

Flipped Learning - a flipped classroom approach requires students to undertake significant pre-class preparation that involves :

watching pre-recorded lecture videos and

reviewing academic and practitioner material

Use traditional class time for discussion and problem solving of the subject topic.

Page 8: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

ENGAGING STUDENTS IN A BLENDED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Ubiquitous learning must deliver not only highly dynamic, adaptable and engaging virtual experiences but also to address individual needs of learners offering personalised experiences. It must offer opportunities to integrate into people’s lives and allow them to adapt their training objectives, schedule and pace to individual needs and preferences (Redecker, 2011)

Satisfaction was significantly greater in blended learning courses than in tradition face-to-face only programs.

Face-to-face time should not be replaced entirely by other forms of learning but rather used in addition to (Lily et al., 2014) (Platt et al., 2014)

Positive impact on students performance and more engagement in classroom.

Page 9: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

CHALLENGES AND CRITICISMS

Some of the criticisms discovered by looking at current literature (Bergmann, 2011) - Video lectures lead to less engaged students, classes will become too big to support engagement with students, it’s just bad lecture on video, students with limited access to technology are disadvantaged.

Key differences between tutors and students about information that should be made available to students (Reed and Watmough, 2015).

Main challenges related to lack or resources and time scarcity of tutors (resources and cultural inertia challenges).

Many times is hard to get the right balance between collaborators, contents and services as well as to appreciate students’ physical context (where and when), where learners find themselves into (time and space), which learning resources are available for them and who are going to support their needs (Ogata &Yano, 2004; Zhang, Jin & Lin, 2005).

Lack of consistency between modules (Ben, 2013) are driving universities to introduce ‘templates’ that offer minimum standards (Reed, 2014).

They fail to integrate with what is already on offer outside the academic world where students are already well placed. (Crosslin, 2010; Kloos at al., 2011)

Page 10: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND: PRIMARY RESEARCH

Methodology – Mixed Methods: three stagesStage 1: Focus Groups (5)

Stage 2: Open ended Questionnaire (sample size 200 [121 accepted])

Stage 3: Design and administration of survey instrument (sample size 300 [266 accepted])

Target Sample Group: Post 92 University based in a major city in the North of England with one of the largest student populations in the country. Students all UK based.

Page 11: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

FOCUS GROUP: DISCUSSING OF FOUR KEY QUESTIONS (STAGE 1)

Reasons why blackboard is used?

Key benefits of VLE system?

Improvements required from system?

What resources tutors need to make available to students?

Page 12: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

CONFIRMING FINDINGS FROM FOCUS GROUPS - KEY FINDINGS FROM OPEN-ENDED SURVEY (STAGE 2): HOW COULD BLACKBOARD BE IMPROVED? IMPROVEMENTS THAT WOULD RESULT IN GREATER USE OF BLACKBOARD:

Reduce number of times system is unavailable. 25

Information on lecture cancellations 16

More help and information on assignment 15

Better design and layout of uploaded information 13

Easier user interface 10

All module links available 8

Forums for students to engage in discussions 6

Lecture slides to be uploaded 4

Tutor details to be available 4

Page 13: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

SUMMARY OF STAGE 2 RESULTS ON IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED FROM VLE: (8 THEMES IDENTIFIED THAT WERE TRANSLATED INTO 22 ORDINAL QUESTIONSTHE QUESTIONNAIRE)

1. More Discussion forums;

2. More help for assignment / revision sessions;

3. Examples of previous work / worked examples;

4. Weekly quizzes;

5. Multimedia upload: Podcasts / Videos;

6. Video conferencing / online discussions;

7. Improved navigation to location information;

8. Notification of class cancellation;

Page 14: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY RESULTS (STAGE 3) ON IDENTIFYING GROUPING OF RESULTS BASED ON 22 ITEMS THAT WOULD IMPROVE THE VLE SYSTEM. FACTOR ANALYSIS REVEALS THREE GROUPS

Page 15: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

WHAT THE RESEARCH HAS SUGGESTED:THE THREE FACTORS SOLUTION

1) Supplementary and Integration in the Course Material;

2) More Online Engagement Activities (two-way);

3) Multimedia Resources (entertaining).

Page 16: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

RECOMMENDATIONS

Development of a coherent vision and strategy for a VLE to enhance the student learning experience;

Agreement and articulation of the minimum expectations from any module that is offered on the VLE system;

Dedicated investment in training tutors to become familiar with the online learning systems and their range of tools to engage students;

Facilitating collaboration between tutors and media / multimedia designers to design visual content that captures the attention of users;

Utilising metric to capture the student engagement with the e-learning modules;

Development of pedagogical activities that capitalises on the capabilities of technology to engage and empower student learning independently.

Investing in other physical resources to facilitate learning.

Page 17: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

FUTURE RESEARCH:PROPOSED THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Page 18: CHALLENGES OF ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BLENDED LEARNING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

HOW STUDENTS ARE LEARNING TODAY AND HOW WILL THEY BE LEARNING IN THE NEXT 5, 10 OR 20 YEARS?

How can we help Anita*, Ben* plus everyone else in

between… to improve their learning experiences?

*Names were changed to preserve their anonymity