JISC

Audience  e-Learning sub-theme Middle and Senior Managers

Session Chair Paul Bailey e-Learning Programme Manager, JISC

Presenters

• Dr. Rhona Sharpe, Learner Experience Synthesis Team, Oxford Brookes University
• Ellen Lessner, Learner Experience Synthesis Team, Abingdon and Witney College
• Emma Purnell, student, University of Wolverhampton (Emma featured in the Learners' experiences video case studies)

Objectives of the session

This presentation will report on the findings from the studies of the Learner Experience strand of the e-Learning and Pedagogy programme and highlight the implications for managers.

The strand has funded two major investigations of learners’ experiences of e-learning (LEX and Learner XP) which have developed and trialled innovative research methodologies; collecting student experiences through interviews, questionnaires and audio diaries. These provide a unique insight into what learners are actually doing with their own technologies and those provided for them. The findings are rich and complex. They have demonstrated learners’ reliance on the Internet as the first port of call for information and uncovered a rich ‘underworld’ of texting, messaging and use of social software. We have learnt that to be effective, learners manage complex lives and choices and are skilled social networkers.

Throughout the investigations, we have concentrated on eliciting experiences for effective e-learners who have been able to articulate the impact of technology use on their learning in powerful ways. This has led to the creation of a series of video clips of ‘learner voices’ and some of the students who appear in these clips will contribute to this presentation, sharing with us their use of an e-portfolio tool during their PGCE. 

The programme is producing a number of briefing papers aimed at managers and others, which will form the basis of discussion and questions during the session. These might focus on, for example, learner expectations for the design of, and access to, facilities; skills for the net generation and e-citizenship; and staff development for course design. It is hoped that delegates will discover what their learners are actually doing with technology, consider how they might monitor this locally and discuss the implications for the planning and design of tools, resources and facilities, and courses.

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