Mobilising Remote Student Engagement

Dr Richard Hall, De Montfort UniversityDr. Tim Linsey, Kingston University

http://Morse.ac.uk

Afternoon Overview•Project Overview and context•Students on Field trips: assessment

and feedback•Students on Placement : assessment

and feedback•Some questions for you

The MoRSE TeamDr Tim Linsey, Kingston UniversityDr Richard Hall, De Montfort University

Leicester School of Pharmacy, DMU• Dr Malcolm Andrew• Dr Peter Taylor, De Montfort University

School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, KU• Dr Stuart Downward• Dr Ken Field• Dr James O’Brien

Academic Development Centre, KU• Dr Ann Ooms

Project Context

•Joint project between Kingston University and De Montfort University

•Builds on earlier HEA Pathfinder projects at KU and DMU

•To develop a situated understanding of the impact of mobile and personal technologies on student and staff practices, beyond the institution, and on institutional processes▫Work Placements (DMU)▫Field trips (KU)

Assessment and feedback headlines•The disruptive nature of being away from ‘home’

affects the nature of assessment and feedback.•For some staff the use of edtech to support these

students is problematic.•A mix of stakeholders involved in tasks impacts

student assessment: mentors, staff, industry.•Never underestimate the need for induction

linked to both personal edtech and the curriculum.

•The use of students as mentors augmented the quality and types of feedback.

Field Trips

•Centred in the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment.▫Dr Stuart Downward▫Dr Ken Field▫Dr James O’Brien

•GIS and Geography•Field trip locations include the Isle of

Wight, Malta and south-east Spain.

Field Trips: assessment issues

•Integration of fieldwork and other aspects of the curriculum

•Co-ordination and collaboration amongst staff and student groups distributed over a study area.

•Sharing resources/collaborating synchronously and asynchronously

•Access to resources, real-time databases, ‘experts’ and support from the field.

Tools used / trialled

•Specialist ‘Geographical Information Systems’ mobile technologies

•Geo-coded micro-blogging ‘ Cartoblography’ (Twitter mash-up) / Ubertwitter

•SMS for communicating with staff (Txttools)

•Live video / video sharing (Qik.com)•Mobile Skype•Mobile phone voice recording

Photo sharing (Flickr)

Latitude: 50 deg 41' 52.92" NLongitude: 1 deg 5' 54.42" WDate: 2009:10:18 12:41:25Comments: Looking North. Concrete walk / sea defence. Groynes visible with sediment banked on their north side indicating sediment migration southwardsTags: IoW, Duver, Coast, Groynes,

Map of photograph locations

Sharing via many channels including the VLE

Photo sharing: assessment lessons•Enables sharing between students in the field,

and with those at University. (Geo)Tagging and comments extend feedback and understanding.

• Impact on core skills of observation, identification and sketching needs further evaluation.

• Integrating mentor feedback and student/staff commentary into the production of a student’s final summative assessments needs agreement.

Live Tracking (Instamapper)

http://www.instamapper.com/trk?key=2642287017959854978

18/10/2009 12:37 N 50.69961° W 1.09922° 35 0 0

18/10/2009 12:38 N 50.69965° W 1.09904° 49 0 129

18/10/2009 12:39 N 50.69967° W 1.09905° 51 0 49

18/10/2009 12:39 N 50.69922° W 1.09888° 52 6 167

18/10/2009 12:40 N 50.69877° W 1.09872° 51 5 165

18/10/2009 12:40 N 50.69830° W 1.09860° 46 5 173

Altitude Speed Bearing

Synchronising GPS Units with Personal technologies

Using GPicSync &Google Maps

Synchronous tasks: assessment lessons•Enables students back at the institution to

access relevant resources/real-time databases/perform analyses relevant to the location, and give feedback to the field group.

•Confirmation of sampling strategies and gaps in data collection.

•Enabling students to capture and integrate feedback in the production of their final summative assessments needs identification.

Personal technologies

•High level of Laptop usage (83% )•All students possess a mobile (40% PAYG)•Some student usage of dedicated cameras

and MP3 players.•64% of students interested in taking

personal technologies on field-trips•77% of students willing to use their own

text credits for educational purposes

Initial Student FeedbackGenerally positive response to the use of SMS somewhat agree agree

Positive impact on my motivation to study 51% 16% Useful for feedback on my understanding 49% 40% Advise staff to continue using 37% 54%

Positive in using personal technologies

Field-trips: assessment issues

The mix of edtech to be used needs consideration in light of tasks: synchronous, asynchronous etc..

Mentors and induction help develop engagement with real-time feedback. This is crucial where reflective assessment asks are developed.

Students need support in manipulating digital resources that they capture.

“For assessment or for knowledge?”

Placements• Leicester School of Pharmacy

– Dr Malcolm Andrew: HLS e-Learning Co-ordinator

– Dr Peter Taylor: Placements Tutor• Pilot and develop the learning experience of

placement students by aligning structured reflective tasks and web-based technologies

• Tasks and delivery methods planned with students, and trialled with 8 Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Sciences’ students on Placement

Placements: student social issues

• Structured interactions to overcome isolation

• Structured interactions to maintain connection

• Social networks and socialisation

• Need for sharing of experiences between staff and students, and those preparing for placement.

• Use of returning Placement students as mentors

Placements: student assessment issues

• Ongoing feedback from tutors and peers

• Reflective learning, linked to a portfolio

• Increasing motivation and understanding of students preparing for placement

• The importance of a range of feedback mechanisms, including face-to-face

Placements: edtech-assessment issues

• Before: favour the use of mobiles and social networks for feedback on tasks/experience

• Before: the use of technologies for reflection that might be assessed not favoured

• During: use correlates with academic support/industrial setting demands

Feedback on Placement•Theory-in-practice: future-proofing; resilience;

pressure; team-work; business context•Managing project issues and taking

responsibility•Emergent networking in a range of contexts•Emotive: warm; no regrets; slowly enjoying it•Developing kinaesthetic/physical skills

•Key for the tutor: “can you come and tell the first and second years about it?!”

Placements: staff assessment issues

• Workloads: feedback, communication, reflective learning, portfolio assessment

• The importance of a range of contact mechanisms, including face-to-face visits

• The value of enhanced communication

• Enhancing the role of industrial supervisors/student mentors

Placements: industrial supervisor issues • Support for personal, private tools that are

“low cost”• Recommended formats/structures for concise

and positive outputs: newsletter style• Focus on impact, surprise, originality, learning• Understanding the curriculum and its delivery

• Risk: social tools that have no business benefit• Risk : confidentiality and reflective tasks

Placements – curriculum delivered • Defining a robust curriculum leading to a

UCPD in WBL – enhancing motivation.• Private [blogging, multimedia] and public

[wiki , multimedia] tasks: reflection, theory in practice

• Mix of institutional and external tools• Pre-placement work is key• Input from industrial and academic

supervisors in reflective activities• Share outputs with prospective placement

students

Assessment: lessons learnt

•Pre-work with all staff and students is critical before the start of the placement/fieldtrip▫Tools to be used▫Activities to be undertaken▫Ground rules for collaboration

•Contextualisation, and scaffolding the experience, is the key determinant of technologies to use for assessment.

Afternoon workshopIn small groups, think about one context or learning task in which you might wish to extend the application of mobile and personal technologies for assessment and feedback.

1.What opportunities would there be in this approach for you?

2.What threats or barriers exist?3.What do you need to do, in order to trial or

pilot one intervention?