Najma Agherdien University of Johannesburg

The Extended FYE in the

Humanities faculty at UJ

Najma Agherdien

Instructional Designer

Centre for Technology-assisted Learning (CenTAL)

Extended First Year Experience (FYE)

Every 1st year student has a “first year experience”

…make this experience as meaningful as possible…..

Today’s students “do not just think about

different things, they actually think

differently”. (Prensky 2001, 42).

X 5 Pillars of FYEX 5 Pillars of FYE

Humanities FacultyHumanities Faculty

Orientation

Orientation

TutorsTutors

FAQ Booklet

FAQ Booklet

TrackingTracking

LecturersLecturers

Tracking tool: a way to identify if students are

engaging with the online environment/Edulink

Benefits of the Tracking Tool

• Early warning detection – identify “at risk” students”

• Increase student throughput

Select type, then date & RunSelect type, then date & Run

Example of report

Example of “student tracking” report - exported

Using the Grade book tool for tracking

Click the “people link”

Click the “people link”

X3 “at risk” groups identified through tracking

separate emails sent at the end of wk 4/beginning wk 5 of term 1

Why at risk?

• Did not submit assignments

• Late registration (week 6 of term)

Beyond the

LMS/Edulink….

Why use?????

Students can reach out beyond the classroom - global or local

Explore new ways to communicate - fill the gap between email and instant messaging (IM)

Not confined to discipline….

More reasons to use Twitter…..

• designed with mobile phones in mind

• ask a quick question

•"eavesdrop" in an acceptable way.

•immediate feedback on the relevance of your class

•tweet interesting insights from the week’s readings

How Humanities have

used Twitter

Module: Development Studies 1A (OWS1A)

Twitter as Information tool:

….tweet as an 'ideal student' reminding students of submission dates, events, etc.

Lecturers Carina van Rooyen: & Sharon Ramborosa

Aim was to get students enrolled on twitter

Challenges:

“…most students don't have smartphones, and wifi not activated in lecture venues; most students must rely on computer access to tweet and follow discussion”

Twitter Feed in Edulink module

Twitter Feed in Edulink module

Module: Introduction to Anthropology (ATL1A)

Students: just under 550

Not used extensively – 4 tweets

Lecturers Prof Thea De Wet & Leigh Musgrave:

Facebook used far more actively: used to post links and send out reminders.

Ideas for Future use

• Back channel in class - responses during class

• Group discussion after class ?????

• use it for summarising - based on section of prescribed reading of specific week

• key message of class

Questions to think about:

• What is my pedagogical goal for using Twitter?• What’s working & what’s not?• How can I become a reflective practitioner

through using Twitter?

Dankie

Keya Leboha

Ngiyabonga

Thank you