learning - Academic Conferences Limited

Andrea Benn
Technology is already integrated into the existing course to varying degrees but is entirely subject to
the module tutor’s experience, innovation and aspiration to try new approaches. The technology
needs to complement the principle for the new course to be student-centred. The students will work
in teams and will have to work collaboratively to achieve their shared goal. Communication will
therefore form a major part of this collaboration but may not necessarily take place face to face.
Students too, will be required to leave the University premises for periods of time, and if not timetabled
to be together may find that their commitments to the activity in terms of time and hours spent
may not coincide with everybody else. Using the technology as an asynchronous tool may assist the
students here but does this tool need to be supplied by the University? It begs the question do we
want to or need to see the learning process exactly as it unfolds or are we happy to see the end result
in whatever format that is determined via the course assessment strategy? The issue of whether to
join the students in the environment of their social network sites need not arise, particularly if we are
timetabled to meet with the students on a face to face basis during the scheduled tutorial sessions
which would be required as part of the EBL strategy. It also puts the responsibility for this part of the
learning process onto the students, and in particular forming the virtual and actual group dynamics,
resolving conflicts and division of labour, just as they would in a social environment and without the
interference from the tutors.
It is here that the issue of assessment and in particular formative assessment may arise. The
students will be required to reflect as part of this learning strategy and one way this can be achieved
through IT is via the ‘journal’ facility currently available in the UoB’s virtual learning environment
(VLE). It can offer the students the opportunity to evaluate their own learning and because the tool
can be restricted to collaboration between one individual student and the tutor, it can offer 1-1
feedback which would be entirely relevant to each student and timely at the point that it is required.
Either online or with pre-arranged 1-1 tutorials the student can discuss specific points of concern. At
a recent UoB symposium relating to feedback and assessments, students advised that they needed
instant feedback and that waiting for 2 weeks or longer is of no use – the moment has gone.
The VLE that UoB has currently invested in is primarily used as more of a repository of information
provided by the tutors. Savin-Baden and Wilkie (2006) warn that some online environments can be
over managed by the tutors but there is scope on the VLE to permit the students to upload information
via the group forums/discussions.
Tuition to demonstrate exactly how this learning tool can be used should be offered during the early
stages of the course, and maybe now it is time to look to the Web 2.0 technologies that students will
experience in the field to see how businesses share documents and information and work across time
and geographical zones and prepare for the limited occasions when they will meet face to face. The
inference on this latter point is that the time spent face to face is to be regarded as precious and
should therefore be planned for to ensure that the time is maximised. This is another expectation that
the tutors need to advise students of from the outset.
Some information will still be disseminated by tutors or professional guest speakers via lectures or
electronic methods but the drive for information needs to come from the students, discovered and
shared between them but also allowing for peer feedback, amendments and additions.
2.4 Transition
Before looking at the transition period for the students it is as well to consider the transition period for
the tutors. Savin-Badin & Wilkie (2006) warn that for many there will have to be a recognition of a
loss of power and control because it will be about letting go of decisions about what students should
learn and instead trusting the students to acquire knowledge for themselves and accepting that
students will learn even if they have not been supplied with a lecture or a handout from their tutor.
Given the observations and statements mentioned earlier in this report, the transition period needs to
be carefully planned and supported allowing colleagues time to discuss and share ideas and to reflect
and evaluate.
Discussions with colleagues over the years have found that for many of us, the best teaching
experiences are those when we are presenting information for the first time, ie at the cutting edge of
our knowledge. Perhaps this is because we are yet to become comfortable with the new information
and so we take more time in preparing how we disseminate it. So, this may also be true with this new
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