In their own words: Understanding and Enhancing

Our Students’ Experience of BlackboardLindsey Martin, Edge Hill University

Overview

Drivers: National, Institutional, personal

Tools to aid understanding

‘In their own words’: what makes a positive EHU student experience of Blackboard?

Making use of our student data within EHU

Discussion: what can we learn from each other?

Drivers: National

New business model Student fees, student as consumer and assumptions of their expectations as digital ‘natives’

Institutional Audit 2004-2008

Strong messages from QAA outcomes reports around the need for a strategic approach to VLE deployment

National Student Survey (NSS)

League tables based on student satisfaction – increasingly looking to the VLE for enhancements to organisation and management, communications and learning resources

Drivers: Edge Hill University

Rapid expansion

Institution has doubled in size in past 5 years

Institutional Audits 2005 and 2010

QAA 2005 recommendation for a more strategic use of VLE resulted in an institutional ‘minimum entitlement’ to the VLE - phased in 2008-2010 which mainstreamed adoption

Much change around the VLE

2008 moved from WebCT to Blackboard CE8 and Managed Hosting

VLE Review 2009-2010

2011 upgraded from CE8 to Blackboard Learn 9.1 and rebranded Learning Edge

VLE: adoption on undergraduate programmes

2005 5%

2006/07 60%

2008/09 71.47%

2009/10 90.56%

Key tools to aid evaluation and understanding

Baseline data CE8 activity. Drilling down to Faculty and year of study, active use of Blackboard tools

Blackboard reporting tools

Usage statistics – users, live courses

Google Analytics Supplements Blackboard reports. Provides valuable user information – geographic location, browsers, mobile access

Annual eLearning Survey

Online survey, began in 2008/09. Mixture of closed questions supplemented with free text

NSS/Student Union surveys/focus groups

NSS and SU qualitative data is limited with regard to the VLE. Focus groups exploring ‘student experience’ only offer a glimpse of VLE

Evolving … evaluation for decision-making

Assumptions Satisfaction Expectations Impact

Rule of thumb

Experience

Similarities

Perceptions

Emotional

Behavioural

Will recommend to others?

Intentions KPIs/ performance measurement

Return on investment

Engagement

Access

‘You said……we did’

Checklists

Scale

Benchmarking

Value for money

L&T Literature

‘early adopters’ mainstream

The EHU Student eLearning Survey

A snapshot in time

An indicator of the extent that the VLE is integral to the learning experience of EHU students

Longitudinal 4 years worth of data

Not just a VLE survey

What other technologies do our students use (or want to use) in their studies – and what would they like to see more of? Where and how do they study?

But is also a VLE ‘health check’

Frequency of use, importance to study, impact on their learning, what works and what doesn’t

Survey Headlines

Never Rarely Sometimes A lot Never heard of this

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10

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09/10

10/11

11/12

How often do you use Learning Edge in your studies? Frequency

Survey Headlines

How often do you use Learning Edge in your studies? Importance

Very important Quite important Quite unimportant Unimportant0

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09/1010/1111/12

Survey HeadlinesLearning Edge has enhanced the knowledge and understanding I get from lectures, tutorials and practical sessions

08/09 09/10 10/11 11/120

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Agree/strongly agreeneutraldisagree/strongly disagree

Survey HeadlinesMy tutors regularly update Learning Edge with course information and materials

09/10 10/11 11/120

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Agree/strongly agreeneutralDiasagree/ strongly disagree

Key themes from the 2011/12 survey

Mobile technologies 55.8% participants own a smartphone (36.1% in 2010/11). Picking up notifications, grades, lecture notes ‘on the go’ often in preference to bringing a laptop

Importance of Learning Edge

Used frequently, rated important, enhancing learning, online submission, communication

2 sides of the same coin

4 themes identified: access (technical), access (content and resources), communication, design and layout

Social networking for informal learning

Facebook widely used for informal learning – Facebook ‘Hub’ and Learning Edge ‘classroom’ – largely student owned and managed

• “This is the first time I have used eLearning and I love it. It gives me the freedom to log on whenever I have time and continue my study and it is fast and effective. “

• “Consistent format across all modules means I know where to look for information. “

• “If used properly it has the capability to improve everyone’s learning experience – even just using the basic features. “

Student quotes from the 4th EHU Student eLearning Survey, 2011/12

• “It can sometimes be slow. “

• “Layout of Blackboard modules can be confusing, not always sure where to find information and material. “

• “Learning Edge is massively underused and handing in hard copies of work seems pointless when the facility is available. “

Student quotes from the 4th EHU Student eLearning Survey, 2011/12

Using our survey findings …

You said … we did activities

Identifying and rectifying touch points (build your ‘ideal’ VLE responses, needs and issues)

Influencing academic practice

Getting the message out that the student experience of the VLE is largely determined by how it is set up and managed by tutors – consistency, lecture notes, communications

Raising visibility and awareness

Demonstrating that we understand the needs of our key stakeholders. Disseminating through deliberative structures and informal channels, audit trail

Supporting business cases

Blackboard 9.1, Complex Managed Hosting, Mobile Learn, Mobile Central, Assignment Handler,

Lessons learned …

Have a prize draw!No brainer!

Make it mean something

Take any negative comments on the chin and do something about them. It has to inform real and visible improvement/enhancement

Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!

Before, during, after! Student email, Blackboard announcements, Learning Edge blog, Facebook, Student Union, Committees …

Learn from mistakes

Allocate lots of time – it generates a lot of data. Listen to students – they tell you if questions don’t work. Time your survey release for maximum uptake. Get some headlines out quickly afterwards

• Outcomes from Institutional audit and review, QAA, http://www.qaa.ac.uk/ImprovingHigherEducation/Pages/Outcomes.aspx

• Kyriaki Anagnostopoulou, University of Bath. Evaluating the Role of Technology in Supporting Students. Follow the Sun, 13-15 April 2011 http://vimeo.com/35129348

• EHU Student eLearning Survey Collection http://www.eshare.edgehill.ac.uk/1348/

References

Contact

Lindsey Martin Lindsey.Martin@edgehill.ac.uk