Do students want personalised learning? Dr. Shalni Gulati City University London [email protected] k
Dec 21, 2015
Do students want personalised learning?
Dr. Shalni GulatiCity University London
Q. What are the underlying assumptions in the relationships between...
Q. How can we begin to problematise the notion of personalisation, technologies and learning?
What is the Learner Experience?• Research evidence:
– Increased use of Web 2.0, online and mobile technologies
• Digital natives ...... digital immigrants• Levels of engagement with formalised and informal
technologies• Some participate and others do not
– Learners desire more control over their learning processes
• Do learners want us to use their Web 2.0 technologies in formal education?
My research...
• How do professional postgraduate learners engage in and construct meaning during online and blended course?
Methodology
• Constructivist Paradigm– Personal Construct Theory (Kelly 1955)
• Methods– Repertory Grid Method– Grounded Theory Approach (Strauss and Corbin
1998)
• Sample– Heterogeneous 29 volunteer learners
E1 Email Colleagues (to share documents and PPT.: formal & informal are happening together)
E2 Search on the internet for visual resources & flowcharts
E3 Search databases & search engines on specific subjects
E4 Read web pages, articles on or off the computer
E5 Jot down ideas from what I have read
E6 Email peers for Informal discussion and to maintain contact when in placement
E7 Email tutors my essay for feedback
E8 Manage and organise my time and knowledge online
E9 Initially used VLE for online discussions
E10 Being part of a group
E11 Read other peoples' emails (re. Shared documents)
Betty’s Interview 1 (a) Eliciting Elements – ‘how’
Q. Can you describe the activities you engaged in that helped you
learn during your online course?
b) Eliciting Constructs – ‘why’
E1 Email Colleagues (to share docs and ppt.: formal & informal are happening together)
E2 Search on the internet for
visual resources & flowcharts
E3 Search databases & search
engines on specific subjects
PC1b Sharing knowledge that I have found
PC3b More focused knowledge
PC4b I am pin-pointing what I want to know and write
PC5b Not as fluid but limited
PC6b Here I build my point of view of learning
PC1a Me acquiring the knowledge
PC3a Broader knowledge
PC4a I am open to look at learning resources I find
PC5a This is more organic and fluid process
PC6a Here I learn from different views
c) Developing the grid
One construct to represent each row
One element to represent each column
Contrasting construct to represent each row
5 1
5
4
3
2
1
4
1
5
1
3
3
2
5
3
5
1
2
1
3
5
1
5
A complete numerical grid has a complete set of constructs rated for all the elicited elements.
c) The Repertory Grid
PCa E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 PCb
1a4 1 1 1 1 3 5 2 3 3 2
1b
2a4 1 1 3 5 5 3 3 4 3 4
2b
3a4 1 1 1 2 2 5 3 5 3 4
3b
4a4 1 1 1 3 3 5 3 5 3 4
4b
5a3 1 1 1 2 1 5 3 4 3 4
5b
6a3 1 1 1 1 2 4 3 3 1 2
6b
7a3 5 5 5 5 3 4 4 2 3 2
7b
8a2 5 5 5 4 3 3 4 2 4 1
8b
9a3 2 2 2 5 3 4 3 3 3 2
9b
10a2 1 1 1 3 3 3 2 2 3 2
10b
11a1 2 2 2 4 3 1 3 3 3 2
11b
12a1 5 5 5 4 1 4 2 1 1 1
12b
13a1 2 2 2 1 3 2 3 4 1 1
13b
14a1 5 5 5 4 1 2 3 2 1 1
14b
15a 2 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 5 4 2 15b
16a2 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 2 3 2
16b
MY PERSONAL
SPACE
My learning begins on my own
I rely on the Internet to find
information & communicate
Internet helps to organise
myself for distance learning
INFORMAL SOCIAL
SPACE
Trusting relationships with others are
important for social support & learning
Sharing informally with peers I trust
helps to process & validate information
before I can accept it as personal
knowledge
FORMAL SOCIAL
SPACE
I need to feel confident about
my personal knowledge before I
can share it formally for others
to judge
I build trusting relationshipsI feel responsible to others so they can trust me
MY CONTROLReliable access to the Internet and variety of information gives me some control. I do not
trust my initial ideas I need to check and validate my developing ideas to gain control
over defining personal knowledge
HERE I GAIN MORE CONTROLI control how, when and with whom I share and
deconstruct my developing knowledge.This process helps me to gain more control
through perspectives of others, whom I trust.
I HAVE LESS CONTROL HERE over who can see my shared
knowledge. I maintain control by sharing end products. I do not use this to
question and process information to develop knowledge
I question others perspectives on my and their shared work to help me learn and build personal knowledge
Tutor feedback is useful to review personal knowledge
VLE discussions are situated in the formal social space
Betty’s learning is an iterative process between self / online sources / colleagues / tutors
(TUTOR-DEFINED) MAIN LEARNING RESOURCE
Online access to lecture material, online activities and reference links
MEETING THE COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Evaluation and Validation of personal understanding
EXPANDING COMPREHENSION in face-to-face class discussions
EXPANDING COMPREHENSION in face-to-face informal interactions with peer and tutors
ONLINE COMMUNICATION USING VLE AND EMAIL
ME: SELF-LED & SELF-PACED READING: in stages. Re-reading for comprehension. Karan chose his focus
Re-read to address gaps
Gave access to multiple views
Processing information to build confidence in understanding
Helped to plan, prioritise and control learning process
Opportunity to link theory-practice: evaluating understanding & building confidence
No feedback; reduced confidence in written English; did not help with processing knowledge
Online lecture notes: & offline discussions: Allowed freedom to express learning need; Ensure feedback; Allow discussion to link theory-practice
Reduced confidence due to lack of critical writing skills
Karan’s learning is an iterative process between self / course materials / colleagues / tutor feedback
(JA) Me &
my learning space
My control
Self-reliancePersonal organisation
Low relianceon others
My learning is supported by my
my work place interactions
Others are not always receptive
to me
I value and
trust experts input... Tutor’s notes
& feedback
I sometimes
lack confidence
to say thingsIn the open
Study late into the night;
Online regularly after work;
Use Hospital library;
Use Hospital computer;
Jaya’s learning is a self-reliant process with some tutorial and workplace interactions
Content not always relevant to work
“It looks like that I can do a lot on my own. I can
organise, I can control, I can judge. When I interact with other people they not give me information I
need. Some will give me, but not all.”
“Its my style of writing. I like to critically analyse
things and say something critical. Like any
research things, I like to analyse this, and then you have to
support what you say. You have to look for articles and you have
to go to the internet again”.
e3
e1
e5
e6
e7
e2
e4e8
e9
e10
Faith Relevance &
M
otivation
Progress & a fe
eling
of achievement
Experiential learning & control over my sense of being in the centre, and understanding
Peripheral elements
Main elements
I am here at work
I am here with formal learning
Need more elements of time: for reflection; scoping and planning
It needs to be relevant to my world
Multimedia and relevance help with the spark factor that engages me
Desper
ation &
conce
rn ar
e also
driver
s
Desperation and ongoing thought about learning during day to day activities lead to a more successful and rich result.
Coerced and required working does not always lead to creative results for sometimes it could)
2. Results
Two main personal constructs or main lenses with which learners viewed their learning worlds:
Personal Control Emotions
3. Three main tenetsT1 Individual and social learning preference
Learners engaged in online, offline, individual and social activities
depending on their learning preferences and their construction of
personal control and emotions during a learning activityT2 Online social identity
A positive online social identity was an important precursor for successful engagement and learning during in online discussion participation
T3 Practical and technical factorsTime for learning, IT access and a sense of ownership of the virtual
learning space influenced control and emotional engagement during online learning activities including online discussions
Online Social Identities!
Self as an online learnerSelf as an
national/international learner in the UK
Self as a (developing) professional
Personal control Emotions
T2 Online Social identity
Self as a Post-graduate... An adult learner
Conclusion
• There were similarities and differences in how different learners constructed meaning
• Personal control and emotional connectedness in online space enabled some learners to feel empowered;
• Lack of control and emotional connections led to feelings of disempowerment in online and blended courses
Conclusion
• In order to understand how technologies should be used to facilitate learning, it is important to understand how learners construct and accommodate these technologies in their diverse ways of knowing
e-learning seminar University of Oxford
Implications for practice
• Significance of personal control calls for online course
designs that allow learners to construct personalised
learning pathways
• Significance of emotions calls for more time and activities
where learners can get to know others and are able to
build trust in sharing ideas and questions
• Use of technology for learning does not facilitate a power-
neutral process
From this we need to question...• Are learners already personalising their learning :
– To match their preferences?
– To adapt to the given requirements?
– Take initiative to make learning relevant to their personal and professional goals?
– If yes... What needs to change in our approach to HE provision to support these processes of personalisation?
– If no...What is preventing learners from personalising learning experiences?
Personal versus Social
• Can personalisation of learningthat aims to shift from tutor transfer of knowledge towards enabling students to self-regulate their learning pathways and processes and set own targetsresult in loosing the significance of social and emotional connectedness for meaningful learning?
• Can personalisation focusing on personalised journeys result in social disconnection?
The issue of power discourses and personal control
• If personalised approaches can enable greater learner control over a learning situation, can personalisation make learning power-neutral?
– Can use of personalisation strategies (as described in today’s conference) enable different learners to experience similar (if not the same) sense of personal control over their learning?
Technologies and personalisation
• Can personalisation supported by Web 2.0 technologies enable personalised learning journeys & engage participants from socially disengaged groups? How?
• What if the teacher is defining how and which technologies are to be used for personalisation??