Arrive UK Julie Watson University of Southampton [email protected] .
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Transcript of Arrive UK Julie Watson University of Southampton [email protected] .
Online encounters across the globe: providing pre-arrival support and induction for international students preparing for EAP and further study in the UK
eLanguages – what do we do?
• Reusable Learning Object (RLO) production
• Deliver e-tutored online courses across campus and across the world
• Licence various study skills toolkits to other institutions
• Collaborate on development of discipline-specific toolkits
• Research projects– template development; sharing/re-using/re-
purposing LOs; contextual metadata
Arrive UK
• A pre-arrival course • Prepares international students for living
and studying in the UK• Languagehouse (customised Moodle)• Uses various new technologies and e-
tutored• Piloted 2004 (blended mode)• Summer 2005 and 2006 courses delivered
to pre-sessional students and others
Structure and components
• Weekly themes • 4-5 Learning Objects (LOs) per week• The Meeting Place (asynchronous D/B)• The Chat Room (tutor-facilitated,
synchronous, weekly meetings) • A weekly podcast to download
Design features of LOs
• Self-contained and separable from individual context of use
• ‘Building blocks’ for designing online courses or resource sets
• Interoperable• Consistently styled and sized• Allow re-use or repurposing
Pedagogic features of LOs
• Learning point, topic or theme-based• Activity-led and interactive• Engage student in reflection and active
involvement• Enhanced with significant amounts of
feedback• Accommodate different learning approaches• Use multiple media – text, audio, video, web
links, images etc
The Meeting Place
Uses: – Initial student contact,orientation and first
week ice-breaker
– Tutor-facilitated course progression
– Discussions triggered by themes of LOs and podcasts
- Social networking
Podcasts
• Downloadable MP3 audios• 3-5 minutes in length• Informal ‘radio style’; unedited; natural
speed• Talk / interview format • Topics: travel stories; a pre-sessional
course director’s view; common academic problems
Changes in course design
2005– discussion forums in each unit– layered structure by unit/sessions – fixed size student groups
2006– one discussion forum– linear structure by week– podcasts added weekly
Comparing 2005 and 2006
No. of registered students participating
Hits on Meeting Place
Postings by students in Meeting Place
Hits on Learning Objects
Hits on Podcasts
Summer 2005 37%
(71/190)
4078 116 969 N/A
Summer 2006 69%
(93/134)
8434 432 1438 (117)
567
(25)
Student course evaluation
• Overall course rating: 85% excellent/good
• E-tutor rating: 82% excellent/good• Podcasts: 70% excellent/good• Interesting activities: 80% strongly
agree/agree• Helped confidence: 67% strongly
agree/agree
Student comments
This course made me familiar with the (pre-sessional) course, the people and the School which I have chosen. I appreciate this course.
The main benefits are to know someone else before coming to UK and it’s very good for making friends. It was really beneficial to me. By means of POPC I learned many things about British culture, cost of living, studying in the UK, and many, many useful other things.
When I arrived in Southampton everything was familiar to me and I didn’t feel alone. I could find much information about the University and Southampton through this and it was so fun.
The way forward
• Continue to offer Arrive UK to pre-sessional students
• Develop use of Podcasts
• Introduce Vidcasts - blended mode with D/B
• Add student mentoring
• Roll out to other student groups/ explore recruitment potential?
• Customise course/ training for e-tutors
For more information…
Go to http://www.elanguages.ac.uk
Follow the link to Arrive UK