E-learning and history teaching in higher education
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This document summarizes the results of a survey of students and interviews with staff about experiences with e-learning in history education. The survey found that students most commonly used virtual learning environments and found them useful for accessing lecture materials and communicating with others. However, some students and staff noted that overreliance on e-learning repositories could promote passive learning. While e-learning enhanced independent learning and research skills, some felt it did not develop skills like collaboration. Overall, e-learning was seen as positively increasing access to resources but could also narrow learning if not implemented carefully.
![NEGATIVE IMPACTS
• Technical issues
• Repositories are useful, but too much
reliance on them:
•‘sort of dumbing down or levelling out
[...] these things might encourage a bit
more spoon-feeding’ (staff)
• Some skills are not developed:
•‘hasn’t really developed skills that I
believe are essential part of uni process.
i.e. teamwork, discussion and developing
your own interest of study’ (student)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/e-learningandhistoryteachinginhighereducation-130920091938-phpapp02/85/E-learning-and-history-teaching-in-higher-education-13-320.jpg)
E-learning and history teaching in higher education
- 1. E-learning and history teaching in higher education: A survey of student experiences and opinions Dr Jamie Wood University of Lincoln Image: http://bit.ly/14ynKR3 Website: http://makingdigitalhistory.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/ Twitter: @woodjamie99
- 2. Introduction • 2012-13: survey and desk research of staff and student experiences and perceptions of e-learning in History teaching • HEA report, co-authored with Dr Antonella Liuzzo Scorpo, University of Lincoln (source of the word cloud on p. 1) – Questions and methodology – Overview – Skills and learning enhancement – Negative impacts/ difficulties – Staff perspectives – Summary
- 3. • What are benefits of e- learning for student learning and staff teaching in History HE? • What are the challenges and drawbacks of e- learning? E-learning and History teaching survey
- 4. METHODOLOGY • Survey (http://tinyurl.com/8kkz524) administered to 1st and 2nd year students at 5 UK History departments – 38 students responded (11 x 1st years/ 27 x 2nd years) – Mainly History, but also joint degrees • Interview with 1 member of teaching staff at 5 UK History departments
- 5. RESULTS (from students) TYPES OF TECHNOLOGY USED Virtual learning environments 37 Discussion boards 24 Video (YouTube etc.) 19 Audio (podcasts etc.) 12 Social networking (Facebook etc.) 8 Blogs 5 Collaborative document creation (Google docs etc.) 5 Document sharing (Dropbox etc.) 3 Wikis 2 Twitter 1 Photos (Flickr etc.) 1 Other 2
- 6. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 HOW IMPORTANT ARE TECHNOLOGIES TO YOUR LEARNING? (between 1 and 10, where 1=not at all; 10=essential) Frequency Rating (1-10)
- 7. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY FOR LEARNING? • Virtual learning environments (31 responses); used as: – repository (21 responses) – site for assessment and feedback (5) – means of communication (5) – site for enhancing learning (3): • ‘refreshing my memory’ • ‘enabled me to easily organise my learning’ • taking ‘own personal notes’ to learn by ‘observing things’ • YouTube/ online library resources/ databases/ university portal (2 responses each)
- 8. Reported student uses of technology Uses (activities/ purposes) Frequency Percentage of students using technology for this purpose Looking up lecture slides and handouts 38 100 Communication with other students (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, discussion boards) 21 55.3 Discussion 14 36.8 Communication with lecturers (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) 12 31.6 Sharing materials with fellow students and teachers 12 31.6 Constructing resources for myself or with other students (e.g. wikis, blogs) 7 18.4
- 9. Virtual learning environments: benefits and drawbacks: some quotes Discussion boards are useful because they make visible ‘the skills of other students’ ‘they also helped develop my interest and independent inquiry around the subject, as certain side topics were highlighted in the lecture notes in that they were more featured’ ‘with some modules, all readings were provided on blackboard so improved ease of access, and decreased the amount of time wasted looking for them.’ Repositories ‘helped me to become more independent as the access to the slides meant that I did not necessarily need to attend all lectures.’
- 10. ‘The ability to hear historical speeches by the original speechmaker, or to see original newsreel clips is an essential part of research of contemporary history.’ YouTube provides access to ‘better lectures’ and enhanced learning ‘tremendously’ ‘YouTube was more beneficial than writing reams of notes or revision prep and even attending lectures. The resources available on YouTube are vast and specific. I could easily find a video that was more specific if I want to delve into a particular area of study.’
- 11. EXTENT TO WHICH TECHNOLOGIES ENHANCED LEARNING IN FOLLOWING AREAS... (students provided rating from 1-5: 1=not at all; 5=a great deal) • Preparing for class: 4.26 (staff: 8.3/10) • Preparing for assessment: 4.26 (6.6/10) • Working independently: 4.05 (6.9/10) • Reflecting on learning: 4.03 (5.9/10) • Subject knowledge: 3.79 (6.9/10) • Skills development: 3.03 (5.2/10) • Collaborative working: 2.45 (3.1/10)
- 12. SKILLS DEVELOPED Independent learning (29) Research skills (20) Communication (8) Knowledge and understanding (8) No skills improvement (8) No response (7)
- 13. NEGATIVE IMPACTS • Technical issues • Repositories are useful, but too much reliance on them: •‘sort of dumbing down or levelling out [...] these things might encourage a bit more spoon-feeding’ (staff) • Some skills are not developed: •‘hasn’t really developed skills that I believe are essential part of uni process. i.e. teamwork, discussion and developing your own interest of study’ (student)
- 14. Staff perspectives: potential positive impacts of e-learning • Enhancing communication due to (most) students’ familiarity with technology and expectation that technology will be used in their learning. • Improving engagement by (1) providing information and skills to students who may be intimidated by more conventional academic environments; (2) enabling students who might not be comfortable with contributing to discussion in class to do so in an online environment; and (3) providing fora in which students can create, share and comment on resources. • Increasing flexibility because students can access materials away from campus. • Providing materials to students, often in advance of classes to facilitate preparation, thereby removing the problem of lack of access to hard-copy resources. • Enabling independent and self-directed learning because students can learn at their own time and pace. • Enriching the learning experience by providing access to multimedia resources.
- 15. Staff perspectives: some warnings • Students are not necessarily ‘digital natives’, esp. within discipline • Researching using the Internet is challenging • Over-reliance on e-learning can reduce independence • A ‘narrowing’ effect, esp. among 1st year and weaker students (the VLE repository contains ‘everything’) • Some resistance to learning activities outside classroom and to interacting with one another
- 16. OVERALL SUMMARY • Limiting features • Consistency? ‘Getting all lecturers to embrace technology would be a step forward‘ • Staff AND students think that it doesn’t help that much in certain areas (team- working; developing some skills) • Narrowing/ a closed body of knowledge? Esp. for weaker students perhaps • Can promote teacher-centred/ transmission approaches • Virtual learning environments predominate and (along with other technologies) are viewed positively by students and staff • BUT danger of ‘miscommunication’ • Independent learning and research skills vs. ease of access to resources