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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 

Institution H1

8 Impact of networked learning on teaching, learning and assessment

Blended learning

There was a clear view that the university intended to use networked learning to promote blended learning echoed in the strategy documents and in interviews.

The students come here to learn face to face, if they want an online course they can get one at the University of Phoenix at half the money so in just the same way that computer assisted assessment is just one assessment technique and you should use a blend of techniques to test the different aspects of the student’s understanding, then the online learning ought to be just one component of the course and should be nothing special. (H1I2B)

Changing role of teacher

The documentation suggests that the university wants to develop a more student centred approach to learning. There were suggestions from three staff in the interviews that teaching approaches may be changing; although many staff used the VLE as a repository for their lecture notes and as a method of communicating student notices, teaching is possibly becoming a little more interactive in some areas.

Lots of academics who are using the VLE, this is kind of the end of the first year that they’ve used it and in most cases their use has been quite simplistic, they’ve prepared resources and their lecture notes have been up there and they’ve used email notices to broadcast student notices and so on. So in those things I don’t think they make a great deal of difference to learning and teaching,

… At the same time I can easily identify a few individuals who have made much more exciting use of the system, who have taken it a lot further, who I hope will be an inspiration to their colleagues (H1I2B)

One respondent felt that his role might be changing from ‘teacher’ to ‘facilitator’.

I put all my work and lecture slides up on the VLE and the students have that for the lecture periods and I almost expect them now to have reviewed the lecture before they come along to the session. So instead of me putting up a slide and talking to the slide and talking about it I like to explain now what the information is about, so therefore I engage with the students more, so I think, the students get more out of it because we can interact, that’s the theory and I perceive myself now as a facilitator of the students learning experience rather than a teacher. (H1I3)

Impact on pedagogy

This was not discussed to any extent in the interviews. One respondent felt that modes of learning might be changing, students may be using the VLE to review materials before coming to lectures, but he also wondered whether there were really any pedagogical benefits in this approach.

… and I question in the back of my mind, and perhaps still do question where the pedagogy benefits come from for students in using networked learning and no great deal of research has been done on that itself to say what we are doing here in networked learning benefits the students as opposed to we are all jumping on the bandwagon because everyone else is doing it this way. (H1I3)

Development of teaching materials

This was not discussed in the interviews.

Discussion and interaction

This was not discussed in the interviews

Changing practices in assessment

As noted in previous sections, the university provides a central facility and support for online assessment, using QuestionMark Perception software. However in interview, there were few references to changing practices in assessments as a result of networked learning, most staff spoke about moving to computer aided summative assessment and the ensuing quality issues, but there were one or two references to the use of online groups discussion and quizzes in formative assessment.

We tried to make it as varied as possible, so some of it was group discussions on the VLE, or feeding the responses [to formative assessments] into the discussion groups. Part of it was quizzes… the university is now looking at QuestionMark Perception, and we may be going down that route to look at how we can better do the formative assessment. (H1I2C)

Student experience

In questionnaire responses seven of the eight respondents agreed that the student experience had been affected by the growth of networked learning, but their written comments suggested more variability; four respondents felt that the student experience was changing and that some aspects of networked learning may be supporting their learning and offering them a wider range of learning experiences. However, two other respondents did not think that networked learning had made much impact on learning so far.

A wider range of learning experiences are available to many students, offering more flexibility. (H1I4 questionnaire)

Technology in general affects our experience (eg use of email). It’s not so clear that networked learning itself (distinguished from new technology in general) has had a great impact. (H1I6A questionnaire)

Two respondents spoke about student experience in interview, and their comments supported the view that students might be appreciative of networked learning.

I think the students get more out of it because we can interact… I think the end result could be that it would be an enjoyable exercise for the students and therefore hopefully make them more motivated and engage more in their subject area and that would be the pay off. (H1I3)

Summary

Teaching, learning and assessment did not appear to have changed much, although there were signs of more interactive approaches. The wish to see more interactive teaching, expressed by three of the respondents, suggests that there is a real desire to enhance learning. The university has started to provide central support for computer assisted assessment but, at this point there has not been substantial uptake.