In their own words: Understanding and Enhancing Our Students’ Experience of Blackboard Lindsey Martin, Edge Hill University
Dec 05, 2014
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
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
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
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
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
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Agree/strongly agreeneutraldisagree/strongly disagree
Survey HeadlinesMy tutors regularly update Learning Edge with course information and materials
09/10 10/11 11/120
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
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 [email protected]