1. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Widening online
engagement with courses:
enhancing the student
experience?
Dr Tony Blackett (Senior Lecturer)
Mr James Little (Learning Technologist)
07/07/2012

2. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Online Masters programmes
• Students located anywhere in the world
• Programmes studied part time
• All course materials available online
• All course communication online
• A virtual learning environment (such as
Blackboard) brings all facilities together
Master of Midwifery Masters in Advanced
Nursing Studies
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

3. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Full time students based in Sheffield:
* Post Graduate Diploma in Nursing
* BMedSci in Health & Human Sciences
What manner of online course support do
they expect / need?
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

4. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Expectations of digital technology
• Is it about added value or cost saving?
• Is it to do different things or the same things
differently?
• Is it a benefit to replace paper-based methods?
• Do different groups feel ‘ownership’ of the system?
• Is a feeling of ‘ownership’ necessary?
• Does it play a social as well as academic role?
• Do staff and students have the same expectations?
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

5. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Alternative 1 Alternative 2
• MOLE - a rebranded • uSpace - a ‘social
version of Blackboard media’ system
• More structured • Less structured
• Less flexible • More flexible
• Controlled centrally • User controlled
• Allows dissemination • Allows dissemination
of materials and of materials and
communication communication
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

6. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Course homepage on MOLE*
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield * = MyOnlineLearningEnvironment

7. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
uSpace – ‘social media’
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

8. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
User Groups:
• BMedSci 2009 cohort – MOLE users
• BMedSci 2010 cohort – uSpace users
• PGDip 2010 cohort – MOLE users
• PGDip 2011 cohort – uSpace users
• Staff – users of both systems
Views obtained through focus groups and
individual interviews
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

9. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Findings: Familiarity with technology
• All student groups were conversant with digital
technology
• Older students on PGDip had recent University
experience and were ‘up to speed’
• Student groups familiar with PC/mobile phones/social
media – sometimes too familiar (e.g. texting in class!)
• Staff often felt one step behind….
We are the
mouse
generation!
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

10. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Findings: Communication via uSpace
• All bar two of the PGDip 2010 group were Facebook
users (the other two soon gave in and joined up)
• Unfavourable comparisons were made with uSpace
• Facebook was considered preferable on grounds of
speed, flexibility and convenience
• When snow brought about University closure in Dec
2010 Facebook spread the message and
saved the day We use
Facebook. This
isn’t Facebook!
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

11. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Findings: Communication via MOLE
• The online masters programmes rely on MOLE entirely for all
communication between student groups and with staff
• Student groups who meet together on a regular basis do not
need to use such a system and prefer flexibility of other
technologies (often texting) when they need to make contact
• Even nursing students on clinical placements were not
convinced that this was the best way to
communicate with classmates and
found alternatives Why would I
want to?
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

12. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Findings: Documents via uSpace
• Not easy to find correct uSpace area
• By default all uSpace groups freely accessible to whole
campus
• Easy for staff or students to upload documents
• Not so easy for anyone (staff or students) to find them
subsequently
• Retrieval requires a search based on Finding things is
filename – which may not be a real pain in the
sufficiently descriptive / unique ‘posterior’!
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

13. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Findings: Documents via MOLE
• The structured nature of the environment means documents
can be added to a specific labelled area, where they can
always be found
• Some staff members find it hard to upload material (too
‘techy’) and prefer to use the services of a ‘third party’
At least I know
where to look for
things.
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

14. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Findings: What do students want?
• Students expect to have timely access to lecture notes /
slideshows, timetables, handbooks, readings lists etc.
• They want a system that allows rapid, easy and reliable
access to materials
• They do NOT want another way of communicating with their
class and/or tutors as they have other (better) ways of doing
that
• ‘Ownership’ of the system does not I just need to
appear to be a live issue get my hands on
the information!
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

15. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
He who pays the piper calls the tune…
From 2012/13 we
will be piping for
students who will
be paying us
directly and at a
level where they
will expect us to
play tunes the
way they want to
hear them!
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

16. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Findings: Student views of paying
£9000pa fees from 2012/13
• Students’ expectations are likely to rise commensurate with
the rate of the fees increase
• Academic inefficiency and lack of professionalism will not be
tolerated in a competitive commercial marketplace
• Added value must be provided to justify
increased expenditure and ensure If I were paying
the ‘customers’ are satisfied that much I wouldn’t
expect to print my
own lecture notes
as well!
07/07/2012 © The University of Sheffield

17. The School Of www.sheffield.ac.uk/snm/online
Nursing
And
Midwifery
Thank you for
your attention!
To
Discover
And
Understand.