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Executive Summary

1 Introduction

2 Context

3 Methodology

4 - 9 Findings, Analysis and Discussion

10 Summary of Findings

11 Discussion of Findings

12 References

13 Case Studies

Acknowledgments & Partners

 

Case Study Map 
 

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Institution H1

10 Impact of networked learning on access

Documents suggest that the university recognises the need to engage with students who come from background that do traditionally enter higher education and has set objectives to expand this part of their provision.

Flexible access

There was agreement that networked learning has improved accessibility and flexibility for students. Two members of staff mentioned increased flexibility for student access as a particular success of networked learning.

There was an English lecturer who had made available all sorts of texts to students over the internet that wouldn’t be available [otherwise]. I mean you would have to travel to London to see some of them, you would have to travel to Oxford to see other documents but they are now available on the internet. (H1I6B)

I would say that it’s really good now, that students in general have access to things like, programme specifications, bibliographies, all sorts of online resources that they wouldn’t have access to unless they went to the first lecture. I mean often that’s the way the lecturer turns up and he’s got a certain number of handbooks or something and he gives them all out and someone misses out and then he’s lost for the rest of the session. We had to find a better way of distributing resources than photocopying and I think we are getting there. (H1I2A)

The networked learning has made things easier for these students because of their geographic dispersion. They have been able to access the course/resources from wherever they happen to live, there have been very few instances of students who didn’t have access to an internet computer at home and the one that I did have I told her that she could access it from her local library and solved that problem. They particularly appreciated the fact that I could send them reminders and things via email during the week when they weren’t there. (H1I2B)

Disability

Networked learning has been very useful in supporting students with disabilities, and the university, which provides a central assisted technology service, has taken this on board.

There’s part of a joint collaboration with the library. They set up initially an assistive technology centre, which [became] assistive technology service … they have a centre there, a room with several PCs with additional software, additional peripherals for braille printers, voice recognition, voice output and software to assist and one of the areas that there is a particular rise dyslexia … a lot work has been put in there and there are assistive technology officers, I believe two now, and they put the support into that and we put the support into the software systems. (H1I5)

Widening participation

Networked learning could be seen as enabling wider participation, in that distance learning courses are currently being developed, but one respondent also sees it as a barrier to widening participation.

Iinterviewer: Do you see the networked learning or e learning, … as helping [to widen participation]?
Respondent: No, its potentially a huge barrier.
Interviewer: You think so?
Respondent: potentially, depending on what these non traditional student are. I had a huge experience before I came here, I was working with mature students and in particular adult returners and what so many of these adult returners have is a real fear and anxiety of technology, of maths, of so many of the things that, of why they didn’t stay on at university or stay on at school back in the 1960s or 70s and then we expect them to come to university and grapple with the things that they hated before. So there are all sorts of problems there. Not necessarily problems we can’t solve, but challenges. (H1I2A)

Summary

There is agreement that networked learning has improved flexibility of working for students and can assist disabled students with appropriate support. There is little evidence yet of major impact on the issue of widening participation.