Developing student learning online in History: research, approaches and their broader implications Dr Jamie Wood University of Lincoln History UK, 16 th November 2013 Digital T&L at Lincoln: http:// makingdigitalhistory.co.uk Twitter: @woodjamie99
May 24, 2015
Developing student learning online in History: research, approaches and
their broader implications
Dr Jamie WoodUniversity of Lincoln
History UK, 16th November 2013
Digital T&L at Lincoln: http://makingdigitalhistory.co.uk Twitter: @woodjamie99
This talk1. Survey of e-learning
in History HE: student and staff opinions
2. Digital literacy, active online learning and disciplinary identity
A. Social bookmarking and the questioning historian
B. Making Digital History @ Lincoln
Part 1: e-learning in History HE
• 2012-13: survey and desk research of staff and student experiences and perceptions of e-learning in History teaching
• HEA report, co-authored with Dr Antonella Liuzzo Scorpo, University of Lincoln
E-learning and History teaching survey
• What are benefits of e-learning for student learning and staff teaching in History HE?
• What are the challenges
and drawbacks of e-learning?
METHODOLOGY
• Survey (http://tinyurl.com/8kkz524) administered to 1st and 2nd year students at 5 UK History departments– 38 students responded (11 x 1st years/ 27 x 2nd years)– Mainly History, but also joint degrees
• Interview with 1 member of teaching staff at 5 UK History departments
RESULTS (from students)
Virtual learning environments 37
Discussion boards 24
Video (YouTube etc.) 19
Audio (podcasts etc.) 12
Social networking (Facebook etc.) 8
Blogs 5
Collaborative document creation (Google docs etc.) 5
Document sharing (Dropbox etc.) 3
Wikis 2
Twitter 1
Photos (Flickr etc.) 1
Other 2
TYPES OF TECHNOLOGY USED
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100
2
4
6
8
10
12
HOW IMPORTANT ARE TECHNOLOGIES TO YOUR LEARNING?
(between 1 and 10, where 1=not at all; 10=essential)
Freq
uenc
y
Rating (1-10)
WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY FOR
LEARNING?
• Virtual learning environments (31
responses); used as:– repository (21 responses)– site for assessment and
feedback (5)– means of communication (5)– site for enhancing learning (3)
• YouTube/ online library resources/ databases/ university portal (2 responses each)
Reported uses of technologyUses Percentage of
students using technology for this
purposeLooking up lecture slides and handouts
100
Communication with other students 55.3
Discussion 36.8
Communication with lecturers 31.6
Sharing materials with fellow students and teachers
31.6
Constructing resources for myself or with other students
18.4
Virtual learning environments: benefits and drawbacks
Discussion boards are useful because they make visible ‘the skills of other
students’‘they also helped develop my interest and
independent inquiry around the subject, as certain side topics were highlighted in the
lecture notes in that they were more featured’
‘with some modules, all readings were provided on blackboard so improved ease of access, and decreased the amount of time
wasted looking for them.’
Repositories ‘helped me to become more independent as the access to the slides meant that I did not necessarily
need to attend all lectures.’
‘The ability to hear historical speeches by the original speechmaker, or to see
original newsreel clips is an essential part of research of contemporary history.’
YouTube provides access to ‘better lectures’ and enhanced learning
‘tremendously’
‘YouTube was more beneficial than writing reams of notes or revision prep and even
attending lectures. The resources available on YouTube are vast and specific. I could easily find a video that was more specific if I want to delve
into a particular area of study.’
EXTENT TO WHICH TECHNOLOGIES ENHANCED
LEARNING IN FOLLOWING AREAS...
(students provided rating from 1-5: 1=not at all; 5=a great deal)
• Preparing for class: 4.26 (staff: 8.3/10)
• Preparing for assessment: 4.26 (6.6/10)
• Working independently: 4.05 (6.9/10)
• Reflecting on learning: 4.03 (5.9/10)
• Subject knowledge: 3.79 (6.9/10)
• Skills development: 3.03 (5.2/10)
• Collaborative working: 2.45 (3.1/10)
NEGATIVE IMPACTS• Technical issues• Too much reliance on repositories?
‘sort of dumbing down or levelling out
[...] these things might encourage a bit
more spoon-feeding’ (staff)
• Some skills not developed‘hasn’t really developed skills that I
believe are essential part of uni
process. i.e. teamwork, discussion and
developing your own interest of study’
(student)
Staff perspectives: positive impacts?• Enhancing communication due to (most) students’
familiarity with technology + expectations about use• Improving engagement by (1) supporting students
intimidated by more conventional academic environment; (2) enabling reticent students to contribute outside class; (3) providing fora for creating, sharing + commenting
• Increasing flexibility, independence + self-directed learning as students can access materials away from campus, aiding preparation, enabling students to learn at their own pace
• Enriching the learning experience by providing access to multimedia resources + reducing pressure on hard-copies
Staff perspectives: some warnings • Students not necessarily ‘digital
natives’, esp. within discipline
• Researching using Internet is
challenging
• Over-reliance on e-learning can
reduce independence
• ‘Narrowing’ effect, esp. among L1
+ weaker students (VLE contains
‘everything’)
• Some resistance to learning +
interacting outside class
SUMMARY• Virtual learning environments predominate
and are viewed positively by students and
staff
• BUT danger of ‘miscommunication’
• Independent learning + research skills vs. access to resources
• Limiting features• Consistency? ‘Getting all lecturers to embrace technology would be a step
forward’ (student)
• Staff AND students think that it doesn’t help much in certain areas (e.g. team-
working)
• Narrowing/ a closed body of knowledge? Esp. for weaker students perhaps
• Can promote transmission approaches (even when not intended)
Part 2: Digital literacy, active online learning and disciplinary identity
• How to overcome some of shortcomings of over-reliance on VLE? – Use social media to facilitate engagement and
collaboration– Design activities that require active work/ thinking
by students= a constructivist approach, actually making stuff
Caveats• Not about replacing classrooms with digital spaces• Not about changing from developing historical
knowledge and skills to ‘generic’ skills and knowledge• Not about largely passive consumption of history (so,
no MOOCs)• Is about considering how technology can enhance
student learning in/ about history as apprentice historians
• Is about augmenting face-to-face time with online work
• It is about doing and making history online
PART IIA: Social bookmarking and the questioning historian
Social bookmarking
• Internet users manage bookmarks of web pages online
(not an individual browser) using tags/ descriptions, not
folders• Active engagement – students
have to do something• Online/ social element –
enables collaboration, sharing and visibility
See Taha and Wood (2011) for more on this
•Diigo education edition•Private, separate logins•Sharing•Highlighting •Sticky-noting
Basic weekly activity
• Students find online resources relating to the weekly topic
• Students ‘tag’, describe and share resources
• Then post questions based on reading to discussion forum in diigo
• Resources + questions = my seminar plan
• For some of resources see: https://www.diigo.com/user/pagansxtians
But variety is key...Locating and bookmarking source(s)• Find and bookmark primary/ secondary source• Add description and tags
Essay writing• Respond to feedback on essays by bookmarking a relevant site • Revise thesis statement from first essay and post to discussion forum
Non-written sources• Find and bookmark a non-written source (YouTube; Flickr)• In description, explain why this source is relevant to the seminar
Highlighting • Highlight and comment on relevant sections of a pre-selected document
Questioning • Post a (specific kind of) question based on reading to the discussion forum
...otherwise it gets boringSee appendix to Wood, 2011, for more on this
What happened
• 19 students• 147 posts to the forum
(over 11 seminars) • 314 bookmarks, using
590 different tags
STUDENT FEEDBACK1. Practical: for preparing
essays2. Independence: enjoyed
opportunity to find sources
3. Freedom: ‘There is more freedom of choice about what to read’
4. Variety: ‘it is much more interesting, and because you are not only reading, it is easier to absorb information’.
Setting questions – 3 conceptionsBy tutor: reassuring; makes sure what you are doing is relevant +
useful; student questions might not be challenging enough; more likely to lead to a ‘good’ answer; helps with new areas of study
Mixture: “A mixture is best to make sure key themes are not overlooked
by setting your own questions gets yourself and others thinking more.”
By students:“I like the fact that we've got to set our own questions as it
means that we focus on areas that I or other members of the group are unsure about. I think I've learnt more from it.”
LEARNING FROM OTHERS• ‘it has been good to see what
other people have put and there was probably more variation in the questions than if the tutor was to set them.’
• ‘it allows you to see a wider range of issues that come up from sources - some that you may not even have thought about.’
+ 12 out of 15 students felt that their research skills had improved
POSING QUESTIONS AND SOURCES• ‘it forces you to think
about the source material and be analytical in response to it’
• ‘it […] opens up the area of reading to different paths of thought.’
‘I used to prefer having the questions set for me but I think it has been more useful setting them myself as it has made
me think about the reading more.’
• Models disciplinary processes (= what historians do)– [+ it’s realistic and honest]
• Develops – Disciplinary skills:
summarising; using sources
– Knowledge: students have to read AND think
– ‘Generic’ skills: technology; information literacy; research
For more on this see Wood, 2011 and Wood and Ryan, 2010
PART IIB: ‘MAKING DIGITAL HISTORY’ AT LINCOLN
• Enable students to make digital resources using the Xerte online toolkit– Online learning design tools have been
around for a while – But they have generally been used to
present information to students in a linear fashion
– Interactive elements are limited– And not much room for ‘open’,
student-led activities
Generative learning objects
http://makingdigitalhistory.co.uk/resources/learning-design/generative-learning-objects-glos/
Xerte• Online editor (not based on specific PC/ laptop) in which
users manipulate content– Text– Images – Video, audio– Questions and activities– From other online sources (e.g. YouTube, GoogleMaps)
• Many different page types, levels of activity and presentation
• Possibility of collaborating (sharing, reviewing)• Publishes online and generates code to enable embedding
– More information: http://www.xerte.org.uk/index.php?lang=en
Context
• Student as Producer– Underpins T&L strategy at Lincoln• http://studentasproducer.lincoln.ac.uk/
• Digital Literacies in the Disciplines – Higher Education Academy– Student as Partner approach– Mandatory use of Xerte toolkit• http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/learnin
gandtech/ELT-DLinD-SP
Making Digital History: students as partners in online learning, teaching and research
• Students learn by making Xerte learning objects that instruct others about historical topics
• Based on independent research (group and individual)• Replaces ‘traditional’ element of assessment• Assessment criteria stress historical skills/ knowledge, not
‘bells and whistles’ • Adds variety + develops skills, esp. digital literacy • Thinking about form of presentation/ audience/ register• Summarising and explaining learning
For more see: http://makingdigitalhistory.co.uk
5 modules• Y1, Y2, MA– East meets West: primary source report– Representing the Past: student research questions
inform museum visit or analysis of a film– Urban Life in Middle Ages: student defined
topic/question on a primary source– Gender in 19th century Britain: primary source
analysis– MA Research Methods (Medieval Studies):
reflection on previous research project
An example
• Friendship: Medieval Perspectives
• For more examples (student work coming soon…!), see:
• http://makingdigitalhistory.co.uk/resources/learning-design/xerte-gallery/
Concluding thoughts• VLEs support learning and are viewed positively• But remaining gaps may be addressed by
thinking more about online pedagogies and technologies– Active online learning and user-generated content
• Not about replacing the classroom, but about augmenting it– Also, develops useful skills and knowledge that are
NOT necessarily opposed to developing historical skills and understanding
– …and it’s fun…
More about me
• http://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/jwood (homepage at
Lincoln)
• http://ulincoln.academia.edu/JamieWood (L&T
and other presentations/ papers)
• [email protected] (email)