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![“One of the group members was not able to make it today so what we did we were connected by using MSN Messenger so we were discussing notes. We were feeding back to the other person.” (Jefferies et al. 2009: 16)Creative appropriationBlending social and academic…‘Chun-Tao also blended the academic side of her life with social technology by using Facebook to find out about software and sites that would be useful for her work, like Zotero and ClickUni, which “looks something like iGoogle but it has things like Facebook [… and] College News.” (Thema Case Study)Learner produced outputs10/13/10| slide 13](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/sharpelidunov102-101013161937-phpapp01/85/Researching-learners-digital-experiences-15-320.jpg)
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Researching learners' digital experiences
This document discusses researching learners' digital experiences through holistic and participatory methods. It suggests that engaging learners over time can provide benefits like uncovering hidden practices and creative uses of technology. Learners' perspectives are valuable as they have new expectations of education due to technology. Various data collection methods are presented, including interviews and diary keeping. Challenges with this approach include sampling, eliciting meaningful data, managing large datasets, and properly representing learners' voices while protecting their privacy.
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Researching learners' digital experiences
- 1. Researching learners’ digitalexperiencesRhonaSharpeJISC Learner Experience Support & Synthesis projectsJISC SLiDA projectChair ELESIGOxford Centre for Staff and Learning DevelopmentOxford Brookes UniversityGreg BenfieldJISC Learner Experience Support & Synthesis projectsJISC SLiDA projectOxford Centre for Staff and Learning DevelopmentOxford Brookes UniversityHelen BeethamConsultant to JISCJISC Llida project
- 2. Why research learners’experiences of e-learning?Learners’ experiences are a key measure of our success Technology is pervasive in learners’ livesLearner’ perspectives are surprising, demanding, innovativeLearners have new expectations of education, thanks to technologyLearners need new skills and strategies for the digital age
- 4. Data collection methodsInterviewingInterviewplus (E4L, LexDis)
- 5. Email interviews ‘pen-pal’(Thema)
- 6.
- 7. Telephone interviews (PB-LXP)DiarykeepingVideo logs (Stroll)
- 8. Diaries in formatof learner’s choice (Lead)Holistic“Liling’s case study gives an insight into the challenges faced – and overcome – by anoverseas student for whom English is a second language and who has had to adapt to adifferent educational culture from the one with which she was familiar. It also shows theimportance of technology for keeping in touch with her family and friends and, conversely,the barriers that it can raise in this respect.”
- 9. Sustained engagementStudents feelinvolved, feel part of the project, (logo, contact).Using a flexible and responsive approach to data collectionHigh involvement from academic staff in each of the disciplines.Providing incentives and benefitsStudents get something out of the project, including the benefits of reflection on their learning
- 10. Participatory approach“Nothing aboutme, without me”Involving learners as consultants and partnersEarly and continued participationMeaningful and useful outcomes
- 11. What if youcan engage learners over time, in holistic, participatory research?
- 12. ContextTechnology use wasprompted by the course, the tutor, peers, work and/or specific learning requirements.Learners use technology to create their own environments which meet their needs and the demands of their context. We noted the agility of some learners at finding and using tools, skills and social networks to support their study in creative ways.
- 13.
- 14. Creative appropriation Driven bycontextual or individual need, not provided by tutors, e.g. ‘Had a phone tutorial with my supervisor referring to a support document he emailed to me – I digitally recorded the tutorial and saved it as a digital file on my laptop. This has then been playing while I make the adjustments to the document’ (Clarke 2009: 12)
- 15. “One of thegroup members was not able to make it today so what we did we were connected by using MSN Messenger so we were discussing notes. We were feeding back to the other person.” (Jefferies et al. 2009: 16)Creative appropriationBlending social and academic…‘Chun-Tao also blended the academic side of her life with social technology by using Facebook to find out about software and sites that would be useful for her work, like Zotero and ClickUni, which “looks something like iGoogle but it has things like Facebook [… and] College News.” (Thema Case Study)Learner produced outputs10/13/10| slide 13
- 16.
- 17. What if youcan engage learners over time, in holistic, participatory research?Uncover hidden practicesCreative appropriationAgile adoptersSituated practices
- 18. What if youcan engage learners over time, in holistic, participatory research?Improves impactPersuasive evidence
Editor's Notes
- #5 The recognition that learners are using numerous personal and social technologies, outside those recommended by tutors was termed the ‘underworld’ by Linda Creanor and colleagues in their report of interviews with 52 adult learners (Creanor et al, 2006). Their choice of terminology exemplified the extent to which their research approach had revealed aspects of learners’ lives which previously had not been observed in the course evaluations typical of the time. The unexpected use of technology by learners included the use of the Internet as the first port of call for information and the pervasive use of social networking tools. Such findings have been replicated in larger samples since (JISC student expectations and great expectations surveys, annual surveys at Edinburgh and oxford, Melville, 2009). This has led to a desire to find out exactly how learners are making use of the technology available to them, if not in ways which their teachers and tutors expect.Creanor et al used interviewing with a very open set of questions, analysed carefully by a team of 3 using IPA. Phase 2 used these tools, nothing surprising here, except it might seem obvious to say, but needs mentioning - learner experience research needs methods which capture and retain student voicesbut it’s the approach that underpins them that is more interesting ...
- #10 Well, first up, we found that context is incredibly important. Everyone has been saying that for a while, but ‘context’ used to be seen as the course (when research = course evaluation) or then more recently as the VLE. If you do holistic research, you find the different learning environments learners are operating in, and for some (agile adopters) those they are creating. But even for the agile adopter, that is context dependent, they might be expert in one environment but not in the next. The only way to see this is by close examination of a person. You can’t get at it from a survey or even from a single interview. THIS IS IMPORTANT when you are concerned, as we are, with learner development and teaching practice. This careful understanding is so important when faced daily with this kind of *&?! (charleswankels new book)
- #14 Also see STROLL’s guidelines for induction
- #16 So, in summary, the benefits of conducting holistic, participatory research are: (while remembering LexDis’s warning that not all LE research is participatory).1. It uncovers hidden practices: we found situated learning practices, and a few examples of creative appropriation (not many)
- #17 Second, it improves impact.We saw Student produced outputs e.g. LEXDIS, which help us to work out not just what the experience is, but how we should respond as well.The SLiDA case studies are examples of impact. And we are starting to produce conceptual accounts which arise from the actual learner experience, but these have some way to go I think.
- #18 SamplingThe classic problem with sampling in online research is that you don’t know quite who you are talking to. Our research shows that this doesn’t always have to be a problem. Most of our projects used purposive sampling. Want the articulate, reflective, skilled learners, but issues about representativeness. E.g. Dujardin talks about the need to have a ‘key informant’ willing to engage in reflective conversations with tutors, to help us all understand participation patterns in an online learning community. For example email interviewing already been noted to have problems with providing data from IT literate individual who have a preference for the written word (hunt & mchale, 2007). Do note though that attrition tends to be better with participatory approaches e.g. thema, Lexdis, lead, all exceeded their expected numbers.ElicitationIn qualitative research, it is so time consuming and disheartening to spend time conducting interviews and transcribing and not get the data you needed. The methods described here help students to feel part of research project, to understand what is wanted from them, to have opportunities to clarify, question and validate their responses e.g. The researchers personalised requests for information, conversational style and replies, were important in eliciting the data needed. Elicitation is also helped by having artefacts to prompt conversation e.g. interview plus and card sort, although Towle & Draffan (2009, Greenwich presentation) note that interview plus takes time for the researcher (they advise seenign the artefacts in advance, and that researchers need to understand the context in which the artefact has been produced , in order to be able to talk about it. Also popular is using students are researchers (Ainley, 2009)Dealing with the data The powerful nature of learners’ voices. Avoiding the temptation to over emphasise selected verbatim quotes at the expense of analysis and synthesis of qualitative data. Remembering that storytelling still needs to come from a research methodology e.g. Thema’s good explanation of what case studies (after Yin 2003) can and can’t do.handling large amounts of multimedia data e.g. stroll mindmapsRepresenting learners’ voicesProducing easily digestible and readable findings from large amounts of data e.g. personalized, vivid case studies of individual learners (e.g. Thema)Ethical issuesThema – how to deal with students who let the researcher know that they were having problems. Informed consentThema – difference between being anonymous and being impossible to identify. Our participant information sheets have to acknowledge this danger up front. Explaining to students just how widely their middle of the night study bedroom video diary will be disseminated at national conferences