| The project aims at empirically establish a set
of guidelines for an effective and easy-to-use web-based
e-learning environment that is based around digital video
material. Teachers that use the guidelines will have available
successful e-learning strategies to support student learning
and to cope with increasing diversity in students' background.
The project focuses on how the teaching strategy and
technology can be aligned successfully to support student
learning.
The UK nationally endorsed aim to make Higher Education
more accessible demands learning environments that are more
flexible than before. Students should be able to study at the
time and place convenient for them in a format appropriate to
their needs. The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) seems to
answer this demand. Although software applications are
available (e.g. WebCT, Blackboard) to support these
environments, the teachers are left with the more challenging
question of how to use these environments effectively.
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| Background |
| Andrew Rae has run a self paced learning course
in Logic and Set Theory for first year computer science and
information system students at Brunel University for the last
25 years. The enrolment for the course has increased from 12
to a maximum of 300 students in recent years. The module has
evolved a web-based VLE, which includes: WebCT, videos
streamed and on DVD (100 video clips varying in size between 2
and 20 minutes,
web-based self-assessments, and 6 hours of fully interactive
computer delivered tutorial. Although, the learning material
seems to be effective for students that apply a deep approach
to learning, the results from the first semester survey in
2003-04 show a
relationship between a dislike of the learning material and
adopting a surface approach to learning. This indicates that
the web-based VLE of the module was not encouraging all
students to apply the more desired deep learning approach.
This suggested the need for a better understanding of how
web-based VLE's that are heavily supported by video material
should be designed to support learning. This involves both the
teaching strategy and the VLE. Studying the usability of the
new technologies is therefore an important part of the
project. The ease-of-use of these learning environments are
essential when making online courses successful. |
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The project started with make improvements on the current module VLE
environment, and gather data from student learning to evaluate
the effectiveness of the VLE. Lessons learned from this
exercises will be used to draw up a general framework
explaining the concept for setting up an effective VLE
environment. The framework will be supported by a set of
practical design guidelines to help teachers developing a VLE
and a suitable learning strategy.
The project has started with analysing the usage of the
current VLE of the module. All students were asked to
participate in an online web
survey. This survey helped to
establish a general overview of the usability of the VLE and
its effectiveness on students' learning. Follow up interviews
has been carried out to get a more in depth understanding of
the problems identified in the survey. Throughout the
development, the usability has been evaluated by conducting
usability tests in the VIVID usability laboratory. Small
number of students, who were unfamiliar with the course
subject, were invited to the lab to evaluate the usability of
the VLE.
The effectiveness of the improvements was analysed when
the module was taught in the academic year of 2004-05. The
analysis consisted again of several data gathering
activities: an end of term survey; automatically tracking the
students access and activities in the VLE, interviewing and
observing students in the lab sessions; and asking a selected
group of student to keep a diary of their learning activities
in the first term. A summary of the results of there
activities can be found in the end
report written for LTDU.
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Reports
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Project Data
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Start
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Summer 2004
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Investigators
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Willem-Paul Brinkman & Andrew Rae
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Funding body
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Learning
and Teaching Unit, Brunel
University, Curriculum Innovation Fund
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