Gráinne Conoleg.c.conole@open.ac.uk

Eden Conference, Naples15th June 2007

The student experienceHow does it align with policy directives?

Mismatch between policy and practice

Societal trends, policy, practice

Learner voices

Culturally rich and complex society

with changing norms and values

Unpredictable, constantly changing world

Unintended consequences

and manufactured risks

Increasing impact of technology

Networked society

Work

Education

Technology

Globalisation

Cultures

Economy

Values

Boundaries

Changingsociety

Personalisation

Lifelong learning

Policydirectives

Good practice

Innovation

Initiatives

PracticePracticesociety->policy->impact impact<-policy<-society

ContextGlobalised, networked and information rich environment,

changing social norms and values

DriversWidening participation, e-learning, accessibility, democratisation,

economic development, lifelong learning

Policy Practice

UK: Let 1000 flowers bloomRange of funding initiatives, e-Learning strategy

China: Government directed, massification

Sino-UK programmeEducation for all

ImpactLocal culture vs. global hegemony, changing roles

and structures, new educational and funding models

The “net generation”Oblinger, Prensky, Kennedy…

Multi-tasking

Technology-rich environment

Multiplerepresentations

Group activities

Task orientated

Experiential

Fast responses

Digitally literate

Connected

Environment

Learning approach

Process

JISC Learner Experience programme

Phase one: Review (Sharpe et al)LEX (Creanor et al)LXP (Conole et al) Phase two:

Longitudinal studySTROLL Six institutional projectsDiscipline differences, disability, practice-based, transitions between sectors

LXP

Student experiences

Subject discipline differences

Uses of technologies

Effective e-learning strategies

Online survey

Audio logs Interviews

Learner Experiences Project

M. de Laat - Exeter, T. Dillon – Bristol, J. Darby – Open University

LXP: Data collection

Phase 1 – context

Phase 2 – in-depth case studies

Survey Audio logs Interviews

Economics: 128Languages: 92Medicine: 31Computing: 158Other: 18Total: 427

Economics:    3Languages:    47Medicine:    16Computing: 19

Total: 85

Economics:    2 Languages:    3Medicine:       5 Computing: 4

Total: 14

Learner voicesFabio: an individual learner (Economics)

Samir: a social learner

Annmarie: an active technology user (Medicine)

Gary: learning through practice (Medicine)

Jack: social/interactive learner (Computer Science)

Finbar: an active blogger (Computer Science)

Dzel: aTurkish student (Languages)

Peizhi: a Chinese student (Languages)

Internet sites for meanings and glossaryMobile phone find out about course workMSM chat to send coursework to friends

Mobile to text class mates to get exam hintsBlogs for personal reflectionInternet/search engines to verify concepts

Internet to research an essayGoogle using keywords/phraseWikipedia and podcasts

Voice recorder for collecting interview dataUSB stick to transfer data between home and uniDictionary.com to check wordsPodcasts from English language sites

Updating E-Portfolio from the hospitalUniversity VLE site to access lectures and check calendar

Audio logs

In situ, emotive responses

Today I used my mobile phone to contact a friend fromthe same course to ask them where I could get my cover sheet for my essay to hand in today. I had to do this basically because I searched the university web site and I couldn’t find one and I didn’t have one on my computer so I had to ring my friend because I knew he had printed one out for himself earlier in the day… Well basically the mobile phone, … if I didn’t have one I wouldn’t have been able to do this ….I was able to contact XX and ask him where I could find one… I found one on another student’s home page who’d put it up there conveniently so that a lot of people could get it so that was pretty handy and I’ll remember that in the future.

Jack: social/interactive learner (Computer Science)

Audio logs

Video clipsReflective summaries

Encapsulate key findings from Across the studies

Highlight range of learners and their appropriation

Laura: techno savvy

Emma and Jenny: practice application

Patterns of use

Researching and retrieving informationGoogle, Wikipedia, subject-specific sites

CommunicationMultiple tools, peers/tutors…

AssignmentsGeneric tools: Word, Excel, Powerpoint

Integrated learningMixed views on institutional systems, bias towards personalised learning

Information CommunicationPassive Interactive

Individual Social

Technologies for learning

Technologies for life

Implications….

Pervasive and integratedExtensive use of tools for everything

PersonalisedAdapted to personal needs

SocialNetworked peer community

InteractiveContent not fixed

“Underworld” and mismatchUsing tools in unintended ways

Policy directives?Lifelong learning,

widening participation,

digital divide,

knowledge economy

How can we maximising the potential of the technologies?

Role of policy?Can we let go??How can we best scaffold this new net generation?

How can we exploit the social dimensions: for collaborative design and in how students engage with activities?

Further information• JISC learner experiences programme

– www.jisc.ac.uk/elp_learneroutcomes.html (phase one)– www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning_pedagogy/elp

_learnerexperience.aspx (phase two)

• Conole, G. (forthcoming), ‘Relationship between policy and practice – the gap between rhetoric and reality’, in The Sage Handbook of e-Learning Research, E-learning Research Handbook, pp 286-310, R. Andrews and C. Haythornthwaite (eds), London: Sage

• Beetham, H., and Sharpe, R. (2007), Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age, H. Beetham and R. Sharpe (Eds), Oxford: RoutledgeFalmer.

• Conole, G. and Oliver, M. (eds.) (2007) Contemporary Perspectives in e-Learning Research: Themes, Tensions and Impact on Practice, Oxford: RoutledgeFalmer

• Oblinger, D. and Oblinger, J. (2005), Educating the Net Generation, Educause e-book