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www.le.ac.uk/accessability
AccessAbility Centre
Online Study Guides for students with specific learning difficulties
Matthew Mobbs and Claire Graham
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
BackgroundAccessAbility Centre offers:
• Face-to-face study support for students with Specific Learning Difficulties
• 4 Study Advisers offering 6 hour long appointments per day
• 591 students with splds registered with Centre
University of Leicester
• 22,048 students in total
• 8,651 (39%) distance learners
• Only 27 distance learners with splds registered with Centre
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New Approach
To engage and support DL students and a new approach for campus based students
• 10 Online Study Guides
•Designed based on ‘most frequently requested’ study support sessions
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
Pedagogical Design
• Multisensory approach preferred by students with splds (Mortimore, 2003).
– Visuals – colour, images and subtitles
– Audio – Voice over
– Kinaesthetic – Interactivity
• Length and style
– Kept short to hold students’ attention. Approx 10 minutes each (Edirisingha, Salmon, Nie. 2008)
– Mixed approaches: interactive activities, information and guidance and informal tone (Edirisingha, Salmon, Nie. 2008)
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
The GuidesWriting an Essay 480 hits
Active Reading 353
Time Management and Organisation 275
Improving Concentration 267
Exam Skills 255
Writing a Dissertation 230
Note Taking Skills 212
Improving Memory 206
Spelling Strategies 195
Making Notes 138
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How they were made
PowerPoint
Adobe Presenter
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
How they were made
PowerPoint
Adobe Presenter
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
How they were made
PowerPoint
Adobe Presenterhttp://audacity.sourceforge.net/
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
How they were made
PowerPoint
Adobe Presenter
Adobe Presenter• PowerPoint Plugin• Combine Audio and visuals• Published to the Web
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
Alternative Free Tools
www.screenr.com
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
Alternative Free Tools
www.slideshare.net
http://www.slideshare.net/uolssds/writing-an-essay
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Raising Awareness
• Cards - posters
• Web
• Bb
• YouTube
• Podcasts
• Course Handbooks
• Direct mailing to distance learners
• Email to all dyslexic students
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
Methodology• Monitoring hits
– 2611 in total by October 2010
– Indication of support needs
– Patterns of use (seasonal and time of day)
• Survey (online)
– Capturing learner type (distance or campus-based)
– Qualitative written feedback
• Focus Groups
– 2 focus groups
• Formal Student interview
• Informal feedback via study advice sessions
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Feedback
Students have been positive about the resources:
• appreciating different elements of the delivery depending on learning styles;
• using the guides in a variety of ways, ie.
1) when it was difficult to get a face to face session,
2) to prepare for a meeting with a Study Adviser,
3) as consolidation after a study advice session.
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
Feedback
• Some students viewed the guides a number of times.
• They appreciated being able to access the support 24/7.
Comments included:
‘I liked the ‘Improving Memory’ one in particular: they had a sort of practical memory test right there and then. You can see that it actually works; and it stayed in my memory for longer…’
‘…it’s nice to have this preliminary stuff done and out of the way so you can really concentrate on a specific area…You’ve built on something so when you get to the study adviser she can push you further’.
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Feedback – Points for improvement
• Students didn’t like the fact that the text that mirrored the audio input was very small and in Times New Roman font.
• Some students wanted to be able to skip whole sections of the presentation.
• Students wanted more control over the pacing of the material.
• Some students wanted more examples.
• It was suggested that more in-depth presentations follow on from these ‘short intro’ guides
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Future Developments
• Study guides to be signposted to every student booking a study advice session
• iTunes U
• One to one study advice sessions to be offered remotely using adobe connect from October 2010
www.le.ac.uk/accessability
Examples of study guides
• Improving Memory
http://connect.le.ac.uk/memory
• Essay Writing
http://connect.le.ac.uk/essaywriting
• All guides
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ssds/accessability/study-skills/study-guides
