What the learners say: FE learners' expectations and experiences of technology - Jisc Digital...

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Transcript of What the learners say: FE learners' expectations and experiences of technology - Jisc Digital...

Further education learners’ expectations and experiences of technologySarah Knight - Senior co-design manager, Jisc

John Webber - Professional learning and development manager, Sussex Downs College

Ellen Lessner - FE Digital Student consultant

Chris Fuller, Jordan Holder,Tyler Bond and Nikolas Melo

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The project aims to support colleagues in FE to:

» decide how and how often to monitor changing learner expectations

» decide where to direct efforts in managing and meeting learner expectations

“I look forward to the findings. Too often we try and guess what our student expectations will be and often get things wrong.”

FE Digital Student project

09/03/2015 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk

» Introduction to FE Digital Student project

» Activity: key themes from focus groups

» Showcasing institutional practice: from student voice to studentagency and leadership, Sussex Downs College

» Resources to follow up: Jisc Digital Student online guide, videoclips, posters and postcards

Plan for today

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» National projects, surveys and collections ceased after 2008-9

» Little quality research from the sector published

» Reports of practice from a teacher’s perspective

» Collections not tagged for learner experience

Review of research into learners’ experiencesand expectations in FE (2006 – 2014)

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We conducted 12 Focus groups at six colleges, comprising 220 learners from:

» Child Health and Social Care (Level 3, L1B & Higher)

» Creative Media (vocational)

» Animal Management (vocational)

» IT (Level 3)

» Sociology (AS & A2)

Focus groups

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Tools

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» Learner profile

» Protocol

» Card sort

» What we learnt about conducting research in the FE setting

Focus group protocol

Skills

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» Their learning to be enhanced by the college’s use of technology e.g. VLE, online submission and assessment, mobile learning

» To have anywhere, anytime, any device access to course materials

» To have access to both formal and informal (e.g. social media) supports on and off campus

» To learn at college how technology is used in the workplace

» To be asked about their views and for them to make a difference

What do learners expect from the digital environment in FE?

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Differentiation: how learners experience the digital environmentChris Davies, the learner and their context, Becta

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Intensive and specialist enthusiast

Mainstreampragmatist

Unconnected and vulnerable

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» 91% people aged 16 - 24 have access to the web at home, 71% have a smartphone (Adults Media Use &Attitudes Report, Ofcom, 2012)

Experiences of the minority…

For the unconnected and vulnerable

Their experience is access-led

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» Without the guidance of a creative teacher, learners tend to use technologies in passive, unimaginative ways

» Teachers lack time to experiment, funding to purchase digital tools and convenient ways to access appropriate professional development or share innovations (Rebbeck et al., 2012; FELTAG, 2013)

Experiences of the majority…

For the mainstream pragmatists

Their experience is tutor-led

09/03/2015 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk

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» Some learners mobilise their personal digital literacy practices between the contexts of home, college and work (Bhatt, 2012)

Experiences of the majority…

For the intensive and specialist enthusiast

Their experience is learner-led

09/03/2015 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk

How can we best support all learners?

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FE learners who are:

Experience the digital environment as:

Are supported best where:

Mainstream pragmatists

Tutor-ledPedagogy-ledInstitution-led

Staff have confidence to experiment with activities

and tools

Intensive and specialist enthusiasts

Learner-ledTechnology-led

Social digital literacy practices are valued and

new practices made explicit

Unconnected and vulnerable

Access-led

Access solutions targeted at this group

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Meetingtheneedsofalllearners

Learnersarechallengedwhen…SuggestionsfromFEDigitalStudentConsultationEvents

Unconnectedandvulnerable Mainstreampragmatists Intensiveandspecialistenthusiasts

Learners’ specific access needs are not

taken into account.

Technologies introduced are unfamiliar.

Social stigma associated with not having

access to technology.

Online submission of assessed work is

mandatory.

Rural areas with reduced bandwidth.

Assumptions are made about learners’ skills. Either assuming skills that are not yet

developed or assuming low expectations of

vulnerable learners e.g. disabled learners frequently make intensive and specialist use of technology.

Induction is limited to Week 1.

Learning Resource Centre is closed.

English/literacy skills are too weak to read

instructions or navigate tools.

Lecturers lack time to experiment, funding to

purchase kit or confidence to try using unfamiliar technologies.

Assessment boards do not support use of technology.

Access to college systems is not available from home.

Technologies used in college are not the same as

those used in life and employment e.g. E stream

rather than YouTube.

Lack of funding limits innovation.

Learners’ attempts to appropriate personal and

social uses of technology for learning purposes are dismissed or ignored.

Learners are not connected e.g. logged out of wifi

after set period.

Infrastructure is not reliable and robust.

Learners are not permitted to use their preferred

hardware and software.

Hardware, software and infrastructure provided by the organisation is not up to date e.g. old

operating systems, slow wifi.

Learner expectations exceed what colleges/providers have the resource to provide.

Learners are not aware of relevant apps support

their study.

Learners are challenged when…

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Learners are challenged when…

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Meetingtheneedsofalllearners

Learnersaresupportedwhen…SuggestionsfromFEDigitalStudentConsultationEvents

Unconnectedandvulnerable Mainstreampragmatists Intensiveandspecialistenthusiasts

Solutions are developed for learners’ specific needs e.g. portable classrooms, use of

mobiles and tablets, gaming, kindles.

Loan equipment and bursary schemes are in place for e.g. USB dongle, tablets, mobiles,

netbooks, laptops. (Targeted schemes seem

to be more successful than comprehensive roll outs). Include overnight and weekends.

Library and ICT support open all hours.

(Could be combined with teaching half days).

Learners have access to support sessions and ‘how to’ guides and videos. Induction and ongoing support is tailored to the curriculum

and employment.

Good quality online content can be accessed

on a range of devices.

One to one coaching and support is offered. Support builds confidence as well as skills.

Peer learning is offered.

There are opportunities to discuss why

technology is beneficial. Tutors inspire use of technology. Guidance is given on purposeful

use of technology.

Colleges/provider assess learners’ skills in, and access to, digital technology.

Lecturers encourage use of technology to develop relevant skills e.g. criticality, self-management and

skills for employment.

There are clear expectations about technology use, shared by learners and staff.

There is management and strategic support for digital engagement.

Lecturers are well supported by e-learning specialist teams and tutor technology champions e.g. ideas for

apps to use the classroom.

CPD for ICT offered in INSET days.

Learners are supported in applying their technical skills for learning.

Learning activities are scaffolded with good quality content.

Technology use is embedded into lessons.

Teachers are enthusiastic about technology use.

Technology use is under learners’ control, without restrictions. Learners’ choices are valued and

supported.

Learners are set challenging goals. Opportunities are there for leaners to explore and use

technology independently. Access to social media

sites is permitted.

The college culture and infrastructure is

orientated towards mobile, personally owned

and/or loaned devices e.g. can print from wifi,

mobile ready websites, cloud file storage, software licenses available for home use, remote

desktop services, charging facilities and secure

storage are provided.

Lecturers are not afraid to learn how to use

technology with learners.

Digital literacy support includes e-safety. Don’t let learners’ ‘saviness’ fool you.

More creative and flexible assessment strategies

e.g. choice of how to present work.

There are good peer support networks. Learners are given the opportunity to mentor other learners

and tools to perform peer assessment.

Learners are involved in decisions about IT purchase and implementation. Decisions are

negotiated.

09/03/2015 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk

7 key themes

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Don’t assume we are digitally literateWe need ongoing

development

We expect the same (or better) services as in

school…

We expect college to provide what we need…

We expect modern learning resources that are easy to

find and use

We want to work with lecturers…

Ask us what we need…

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Instructions Possible questions for discussion

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» Each table has been allocated a card

» Each card represents a key theme from the focus groups

» Share ideas on the padlet:padlet.com/sarahknight/onething

» What does your college already do in response?

» What more could you be doing? (see support and challenge handouts)

» What suggestions will you take back?

Activity: key themes from the focus groups

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Steps towards students as digital leaders

From student voice to student agency and leadership

John Webber – Professional learning and development manager at Sussex Downs College

Chris Fuller, Jordan Holder ,Tyler Bond and Nikolas Melo

From student voice to student agency and leadership

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Student voice as part of Quality Assurance

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» Student surveys and focus groups to inform quality judgments:

» Usually closed questions against pre-determined standards

» Limited opportunity to unpack students’ views

» Generally do not invite suggestions from students

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» Introduced as requirement for funded action research projects

» Helped inform judgments of the effectiveness of the innovation

» But still treated students as passive recipients

Student feedback to inform summative evaluation of piloted innovation

From student voice to student agency and leadership

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From student voice to student agency and leadership

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» Proposed innovation discussed with students in advance

› Establish shared understanding of the goals

› Agree key principles

» Students seen as partners in the process

› Encouraged to provide feedback throughout via polls and focus groups

» In-depth focus groups and interviews

› actively inform adaptation and refinement of process

Students as active participants in innovative practice

From student voice to student agency and leadership

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Case study of students as partners in innovation:Flipped Learning

Initial response

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Case study: Flipped learning

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“Set and maintain clear expectations”

“The iPad of shame”

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Flipped learning – what the students told us

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What the students told us

“We like:”

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What the students told us

We like:

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Students as leaders of innovation

Student digital advisory team

Students leading digital innovation

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Find out more…

Contact…

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND

John WebberLearning technology innovation

[email protected]@jwwweb

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» 50 institutional exemplars (based round seven challenge areas)

» ‘Digital students are different’ posters

» ‘Enhancing the digital experience for students’ cards

» FE Learner voices videos

» ‘Enhancing the student digital experience: a strategic approach’ guide – jisc.ac.uk/guides/enhancing-the-student-digital-experience

The Digital Student – resources you can use

digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org

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Digital students are different posters

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Enhancing the digital student experience postcards

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Find out more…

Contact…

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND

Sarah KnightSenior co-design manager, Jisc

[email protected]