Students Blending Learning

Matching student choices to institutional provision Mark Childs, Rossana Espinoza-Ramos, Dr. Ruth Ayres Students Blending Learner User Preferences University of Warwick

Which learners?

Pilot study of

8 students from Warwick

12 students from Northumbria

8 case studies from previous LXP project

Main study will draw data from 56 students

What experiences? Institutional Personal Physical environment Virtual environment Social Collaborative Learning Spaces, Forums Individual Library VLE, web pages, portals Physical environment Virtual environment Social kitchen, café, workplace MSN, Facebook, SMS Individual Bedroom, blogs, eportfolio

How are we researching learners’ experiences?

Broad based interviews involving 40 first year undergraduate students per year

Intensive study documented through reflective logs

Research-based study through four undergraduate research projects

Early findings

Information gatherers or communicators (or neither) but not both

Additional technologies only used when additional factors present

Early findings Online social Online individual Offline social These are social learners in any environment, choosing to use MSN and Facebook for forming social groups and also meeting face-to-face. These tend to be social learners, but without the familiarity with technology, or do not experience a sense of copresence online. Offline individual These are social learners while online, using MSN and Facebook to exchange information and seek help, but prefer to work alone physically. These individuals work alone constantly, either due to difficulty in communicating with peers, or their subject specialism does not encourage collaborative working.

Emerging themes