“Satisfied students – we should have them stuffed…”

Dealing with (mis)perceptions and realities of e-learning

Paul MahargScott Slorach

Webcasts…

Webcasts…

http://www.ggsl.strath.ac.uk/ltdu/research/default.htm

i-Tutorials

• Achieving appropriate learning outcomes

• Flexible• Reusable

• Consistency of quality

“I’ve got issues…”

• Communication

• Validation

• Integration

Communication

“…Can't we get you on Mastermind, Sybil? Next contestant - Sybil Fawlty from Torquay, special subject the bleedin' obvious…”

Communication - why

• Understanding – the media, channel, learning design, social context

• Misperceptions – can occur on all the above topics, and much more

Communication - what

• Content – was there significant change?

• Design – of the application, as well as the learning context

• Features and benefits

• Learning methodology

• User strategies

Communication – how

• Frequently:– Variety of media– Variety of personnel

• Strategy for introduction of new ICT is essential

Validation

“Well, what did you expect? Krakatoa? Herds of wildebeest…?”

Validation – why

• Reassurance is essential…– teachers felt a loss of power, control, authority – were suspicious of technology: largely disruptive,

not sustaining of current practiceKlem, E., Moran, C. (1994) Whose machines are these? Politics, power and the new technology, in Sullivan, P., Qualley, D. (eds) Pedagogy in the Age of Politics, Urbana, Illinois, National Council of Teachers of English, 73-87

Validation – why

• Technology is always negotiated…– confrontation between old and new is inevitable– teachers using technology are forced to move from

comfort zones into risk zones. – As a consequence, and at a deep level, teachers

have to re-negotiate their educational practice in order to use technology

Penteado, M. (2001) Computer-based learning environments: risks and uncertainties for teachers, Ways of Knowing Journal, 1, 2, 22-33

Validation – how

• Staff development

• Research

• Use by other disciplines• Macro/micro-validation

Validation – what (and to whom)

• Design and methodology

• Ability to achieve learning outcomes

• Students, tutors, Law Society, market

Integration

• “Don’t mention the i-Tutorial…I think I mentioned it once in the workshop but I managed to get away with it…”

Integration – why

• Creation of a coherent learning and teaching environment

• Convergence of media is the Holy Grail… but until then, integration is even more essential

Example…

Users often have ‘metacognitive’ queries that arise from their learning in workshops and i-tutorials, eg:– closure – ‘Am I finished?’– comprehension – ‘Do I understand this?’– progress – ‘How long to go…?’– altering strategy – ‘This isn't working; what else can

I try?’.

Anticipation of user response was necessary, as was building this into tutorial design and the larger curriculum design.

Integration - what

• Workshop is at core of design

• Learning resources and media support developmental learning

• i-Tutorial learning is useful in workshops

LPC learning media

Guide

Texts Test

WORKSHOP

i-Tutorial

Preparatory activities

Sources Documents

Integration - how

• Design

• Tutor validation

• Student discovery

…but how does discovery take place?

• Students learn by moving between affordances• i-tutorials and workshops are designed to integrate

and enrich each other.• See Marton (1976):

‘[t]he task of reading the text became trivial and mechanical rather than challenging and reflective. Such a text manipulation was dubbed pointing out and its effect on learning, the erosion effect, the whole being a technification of learning.’Marton, F (1976) On non-verbatim learning. Some theoretical and methodological notes, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 17, 125-28

See also:Howard-Jones, P.A., Martin, R.J. (2002) The effect of questioning on concept learning within a hypertext system, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 18, 10-20

Comms, validation & integration are co-dependent…

• Communication of intention is critical• … and validation helps confirm

intention, and move students to places in the spectrum of media at which they are most effective

• … and with integration the new intervention becomes an accepted way of creating knowledge objects