7 Impact on teaching, learning and assessment

This section reports on the findings relating to the impact of networked learning on teaching, learning and assessment.

The interview questions focused on the impact of networked learning on the role of the teacher, pedagogy, the development of teaching materials, the role of collaboration and discussion, and the student experience.

7.6 Discussion

There is evidence to suggest that the majority of institutions participating in these case studies favoured the development of a blended learning approach where networked learning is one of a range of delivery methods used as appropriate rather than as the sole mode of delivery.

Evidence from a small number of institutions indicates that they are developing what might be termed ‘dual modes of delivery’. Campus-based learners on the majority of courses are supported through technology enhanced blended learning. A small number of students on niche market courses are offered courses, which are fully online. One of these institutions recognises that this requires a change in terms of academic roles and is restructuring the teams involved in this form of delivery. It is not clear from the evidence here the extent to which this is impacting across the institution.

The potential of networked learning to change the role of the teacher is noted by several of the respondents; however, there are few examples of this actually occurring in practice. In relation to assessment, networked learning provides a range of opportunities; the use of computer assisted assessment (CAA) to deliver quizzes and self-assessed tasks that provide feedback is increasing, particularly for formative assessment. The use of online discussion and collaboration to underpin assessment is in evidence but is much less prevalent than the use of CAA and is at a much earlier stage of development. Summative assessment through the online environment is not yet commonly used and two of the FE institutions identified concerns in relation to authentication of online assessment. A number of HE institutions thought that online assessments offered the potential to cut down on workload, especially in relation to marking, but little evidence of actually achieving this in practice was provided.

The evidence on the impact of networked learning on the development of teaching materials suggests that both HE and FE institutions are likely to produce the majority of their own materials in-house. However there is evidence that FE colleges were looking to source more reusable resources externally. This may be a reflection of the fact that the English Funding Council for FE has invested large amounts of money into creating teaching materials for networked learning through the National Learning Network, and in promoting them. It may also reflect the perceived role of HE institutions in terms of knowledge creation and using that knowledge in their teaching, and also the different levels of funding available to the different types of institutions, in addition to the availability of appropriate materials.

Since the student experience was not the main focus of this study, it was only commented on to a limited extent. This may account for the fact that the discussion that did occur tended to focus on the potential for interaction that networked learning provided with limited examples of this actually occurring. In some instances, there was a suggestion that the VLE is mainly used as a store for a range of course related resources, and that most communication was by individual emails rather than interactive discussion. It may also be that in a predominantly blended learning approach, most discussion and interaction still takes place face-to-face.