Creativity for learner voice

Creativity - a keyword coming out from last weeks’ FutureLab Conference (Seen & Heard – Young people creating digital media) on how different kinds of digital media can be used in to get learners’ voice heard. 

If we are to truly hear what our learners are experiencing and thinking, different speakers pointed out the essential steps for success: Enagagement.  Our learners are more likely to be engaged, if they find what they’re doing interesting and relevant.  Technology, without any doubts, has a key role to play here.  E.g. colleagues from imitating the dog have demostrated how simple video making and editing techniques can facilitate students’ expression of their ideas and emotions.  They even invited all participants to give it a go, so to see how “accessible” these creative technological tools can be in a school setting.

So what role does creativity play in other context?  Every so often we try to collect students’ “feedback” by methods such as survey and focus group, there is also a question of “why should I bother?” in the air!  While these methods are valid and very useful, a more communicative and ”cross-discipline” approach would be needed if we would like to shed light on what our learners really want to share with us.  By combining “consultation” with other activities (such as curriculum-based tasks), not only can learners be more naturally “engaged” in the process, they are also more likely to relate to the topic.  A good idea from Oaklands College demostrates it well - Combining learner voice activities with citizenship education. 

So is there a room to borrow this idea for ICT policy consultation?  Safety and well-being in the online environment are so crucial in our daily lives, but often learners are not well-equipped with the knowledge, or supported in reflecting their own habits and behaviours.  So why can’t we have some learning activities around these issues, so that students can acquire new skills on one hand, and we can listen to their voice on the other?  At the moment, it is not very common for currculum development, ICT professionals and student support services to work together.  Gathering effort and expertise up from all parties is definitely the way forward.  Are you ready?

Embedding learner voice

Throughout the last months, we have talked about how different technological tools can facilitate learner engagement and participation.  Today I’d like to take a step back and reflect on how we can embed learner voice in our institutional ICT development and implementation.

Why is learner voice important?

As the “navigator” of the learning journey, learners play a crucial role in the process – Sir Andrew Foster has spelt out the importance of learner voice  in the report Realising the Potential in 2005.  By having learners’ input in shaping the provision, their learning needs will be better met, hence education quality can be enhanced.  When learners have a say and truly get heard, they’d also feel a sense of ownership, which is beneficial for both the learners and the institutions.  This’s particularly relevant to technological development, as emerging technology is simply part of their lives.

Many might think learners would put forth demands which are not feasible or pragmatic.  From my personal observations, however, this doesn’t necessary be the case.  Learners, ranging from 17 year-old doing their A-Levels or apprenticeship, to adult learners doing their basic skills courses, do understand the dilemma institutions facing.  Embedding learner voice is about maintaining the ongoing dialogue, and having learners as co-partners in the process.

How to involve learners?

Traditionally, learners’ view is mainly collected through survey.  It’s an effective way to take stock of the current situation and generate ideas for improvement.  Lots of colleges now have the “you-say-we-do” response to learners’ feedback, which is a good practice to encourage continued participation (who want to see their opinions sinking into the deep ocean?).  At the national level, LSC has been collecting learner satisfaction, which briefly touches on technology access; Becta also conducts FE survey specifically looking at learner experience, and the last survey can be found here.  These surveys give us a good overview on what learners think about their ICT experience.  In the last four years, JISC has also carried a series of research studies on learner experience, covering 200 learners in FE and HE sector.  Their recent publication, Responding to Learners Pack, is a very informative package for those of you who are looking at learner voice development at your institution.  Some of the suggested research methods, such as Interview Plus and Technology Prompt Cards, are very helpful to mix with traditional focus group method.

What’s next? Empowering learners!

While it’s encouraging to see learners’ view is taken into consideration, our effort to embed learner voice can’t stop here.  For example, when you receive a figure saying “80% of our students think that they have sufficient access to computers”, what does the figure actually mean?  When you talk to your learners and they don’t come back with negative feedbacks, does it necessary mean the current experience is excellent? 

To truly embed learner voice and empower learners to shape their own learning experience, we’ve to go beyond feedback collection, dig deeper on various issues together with our learners.  This, however, doesn’t come easy.  Besides issues such as cultural change and resources limitation, we also need to put much effort in supporting our learners as co-partners!  Support with appropriate channels, information and training is essential for their participation in the process.  It is true that not every learner is interested in talking about technology, but it could also be the case where they’re not conscious about how much difference they can make with their participation.  If we believe learner voice is important, empowerment is the key to move forward!

Next time I’d like to share some initial thoughts on how learners can contribute to the institutional ICT development and implementation.  As for now, it’s your turn for sharing:  Do you have experience, ideas or tips on engaging your learners at your institutions?  If so please do let us know, your comments are welcomed, as always.

Being creative – Cornwall College’s video

A while ago we’ve talked about how we could use video to “spice up” the communication with your students, and you were invited to check out Cornwall College Students’ Union YouTube Channel.  Alex Ledbrooke, their Communication and Participation Officer, has shared with us their latest video production on the result of exit survey for 2008/09 academic year:

How did you come up with this idea?
The ideas were a combined effort.  The content itself was generated by the survey.  I took the “you could fit xx double decker buses…” idea to the students who gave me the topical themes to work around. 

What about the actual production of the video?
I then did the creation (which is using powerpoint and very simple animation) and finally the music was recorded by a student at our Camborne campus.

Although Alex explained his work in very simple terms, I’m sure you’d agree that there’re lots of creative work and effort in it.  Not only did the students’ union manage to report “boring” figures in an interesting, easy-to-understand way, the cooperation between students’ union and other students with talents is also brilliant!   And of course their committment to follow up the negative experience is encouraging too!

So have you been inspired?  If so, don’t sit and wait – make your own media today!

Virtual Learning Environment

Throughout the last weeks, we’ve been looking at how various technological tools can help us engage and communicate with learners.  While external tools such as social networking sites, blog, independent websites are effective and mostly free-of-charge, your organisation might wish to use something with can sit within the institutional infrastructure.  If that’s the case, what can you do?  The answer is Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)!

Virtual Learning Environment?

JISC defines a VLE as “a collection of integrated tools enabling the management of online learning, providing a delivery mechanism, student tracking, assessment and access to resources” (Quoted from JISC infoNet – Effective Use of Virtual Learning Environments).  Majority of colleges, and many learning providers, now have a VLE in place to support learning and teaching.  VLE can be a single platform (such as Blackboard and Moodle) or an integrated set of tools.  Many institutions are now looking at, if not already, connecting the VLE together with intranet and library catalogue, so staff members and students can use all the facilities with a single-login, anytime and anywhere.

When using effectively, VLE is a powerful tool to make learning more flexible, interactive and personalised.  There’re a lot of discussion on the role VLE can play in learning, and we’re not going to repeat it here.  Have a look around in the internet if you’re interested, sure you’d be able to acquire lots of insight.

Why VLE?

One of the reasons for VLE’s popularity is its security.  Your institution has control on who can access to the platform, which means your staff members and students can conduct activities and exchange ideas in a safe environment.  This is particular useful when safeguarding issues are taken into consideration.  Most VLEs support a wide range of functions, which is also a strength.  You don’t need to use site A for blog, download software B for instant messaging, and register page C for an online forum – You can have all the functions together in one place.  VLEs allow you to upload and store files, so you can have podcasts and videos, without using external host such as YouTube.  As you can probably imagine, if enough traffic can be driven into the VLE, it can serve as an information hub, as well as a starting point to establish a strong online community.

How to use VLE to strengthen learner voice?

Using Moodle as an example, the basic functions you need to create dynamic and interactions are all in place.  For example instant messaging, survey, forum, blog and wiki (Wiki is very useful if you wish to have collaborative writing with a group):

To use VLE effectively in engaging your students, it’s important to:

• Be interactive: a lot of students find their VLE systems “boring”, like a “warehouse” which stores materials only. To attract students to actively log-on and use the system, it’s essential to make it interactive, so they can participate and feel being part of it.  Online forum and “user-generated” content are always good points to start.
• Have a presence: most institutions use their VLEs with a discipline-based approach (it’s natural, as VLE primarily supports learning). While as sudents’ union or student support unit you can’t control how others use the system, but it’s definitely helpful to establish a presence in the system.  Having a quick link or a pop-up box right after students login the system can definitely catch their eyes!
• Link up: Even if you’ve an independent website, a Facebook group, etc. it’s still worth to link them up with the VLE, so as to maximise your chances to reach out to your students.

Remember to work closely with your colleagues at the IT department, they’ll be able to give you advice and support that you need!

FEstival

Two days ago, NUS hosted the first annual networking event for FE student officers and learner voice professionals.  We had altogether 80 participants joining us to share experience and ideas on various campaigns and issues in the FE sector.  Becta is also very pleased to support the event as sole sponsor.

As this blog is about using technology to strengthen learner voice, I’m sure you already expected something about technology!  Yes technology played an important role in facilitating the whole event - We’ve built a social networking site using Ning, for delegates to check out agenda, discuss different issues and share thoughts before, during and after events (Ning is a good platform if you wish to have more customised and secure environment for a specific target community).  Some delegates volunteered to use flip cameras to record their fellows’ actions and feedbacks throughout the day.  We also had a breakout area with laptops, so delegate could comment, blog or upload files onto the Ning website real time.  Besides, we also had a Twitter hashtag (#nusfestival), and invited delegates to text us feedbacks at the end of the day.  As some delegates mentioned, technology was everywhere and it proved to be very effective in creating and facilitating the dynamic!

We’ve also held a workshop on how technology could help engage students.  Delegates shared how they currently used technology at their colleges, and what more they would like to see in the coming year.  Many students’ unions are now looking at setting up their own websites, using online registration for their activities and events, introducing online forum and blogs, installing video conferencing and texting system, as well as improving the use of their virtual learning environment.  It’s encouraging to see more and more officers seeking technological solutions to better support their students in multiple campuses, with various engagement alongside their learning journey.

The best quote I heard about technology during the day was – It’s about finding a solution, even simple things like a phone call can be very useful! - It’s not about making life fancy, but making good use of technology to get the right things done!

Blog – Online presence with a voice

In the last few blog entries, we have discussed how an online presence can be established through social networking sites and independent websites; while these tools are powerful and can effectively disseminate information and maintain a searchable platform, there is one single tool I’d highly recommend on top of them – Blog.

Why blogging?

Unlike other formal communications, blogging enables a mixture of formal and informal communication approaches: Company CEOs talking about their ambition, travellers sharing their experience, students’ union presidents expressing their ideas and thoughts… the unqiue “voice” in between the lines is more engaging and reflective, just like our old friends telling their stories.  At the same time, blog is also a very good tool to provide information and collect feedbacks.  It’s therefore a very popular tool in this social media era.

If you don’t want to spend a lot of time maintain an independent website, and you don’t want to use social networking tools such as Facebook and MySpace, blogging tools can also help you establish an online presence quickly.  For more information on how blog can be used as an alternative to a website, check out information 1 and 2.

What to blog?

The essence of a blog is its update – so you can keep your audience informed anything that you think they’d be be interested in.  For example:

• Event information
• Call for campaign support
• Policy updates
• Meeing highlight
• Discussion of learning issues

Want some ideas on the content and the tone of communication?  Why not checking out some excellent examples from various government and political organisations?

 

 

 

How to blog?

Exisiting blogging tools are pretty user-friendly, so you won’t need a long time to pick the skills up.  However, there’re other issues you need to consider.  Resource planning is very important:

• How often do you plan to blog? (If it’s left in the cold for too long, your audience might lose interest!)
• How many people are involving? (Bringing in different voices is brilliant, but that needs a bit of coordination.)
• Who is responsible for what?
• What kind of tone of language would you adopt?
• Do you have other tools to help you create content? (E.g. Camcorders, audio recorders, etc.)
• Should your blog be hosted externally (E.g. with WordPress or Blogger)? Within your organisation’s website? Or within VLE (Most VLE supports blogging function)?
• How would you integrate your blog to your wider communication strategy?

Need more ideas?  Check them out:
Imperial College Union Blog
Your Lewisham College (This blog is establised by college members, but open for individual students to submit entries for publication. This idea is quite interesting and has made good use of the “collaborative power” in the social media era.)

Engaging students by videos

A while ago, we have discussed how videos can spice up your communication with your students.  Lancaster and Morecambe College Students’ Union has just finished their new promotion video, which is really informative and with a great sense of humour!  Here is the video:

We have invited their Student Liaison Officer (SLO), Adele Burrow, and Film & TV Tutor, Janine Bebbington, to share their experience:

What are you planning to use this video for?
The film was primarily made to be used in the Induction Talks to new students this September so it will be seen by all new students to the college. It is also on Facebook and U-tube, and was shown on a TV by Main Reception throughout the Summer Term 2009.

How did you start the planning and preparation?
The SLO contacted the tutor on the Film and TV course and asked if it was possible for her students to put together a promotional film for the SU. This fitted in well with one of the modules on the course so she asked the SU to put together a brief for her students (first year National Diploma Film and TV). The SLO presented the brief to the students as ‘an external client’ to give them real-life experience.

How much did it cost?
The SU decided that they would contribute £200 towards the film so that the students could purchase a new group tripod and individual mini-disks.

Who decided the content and presentation of ideas?
The students on the course split into groups and came up with ideas, which were then pitched to the SLO over an afternoon (unfortunately the SU officers couldn’t make the time of this session – hopefully they will be able to do the judging next year). The winning group was selected and the other groups then fed their ideas into the idea for “SU TV”. None of us was too prescriptive – that way everyone was allowed to gain from the project – the SLO and tutor were open to suggestions from students and willing to trust their ideas. Projects like this could become unstuck if too many “directors” emerge

How was the production process?  Did you encounter any difficulties?
The filming was made over just a few weeks and there were a few challenges along the way – e.g. the module fell in the Autumn Term and thus the SU volunteers were new in their roles – some didn’t want to be filmed and some couldn’t meet at the times the film students were available.  In spite of the challenges and the short turn around, the students put together a fantastic film with the support of their tutor. We also had a fairly tight structure that the students operated within, so that things did not run away with themselves. 

What do you think are the advantages of using videos?
It’s a fantastic medium that reaches a wider audience. Student feedback is always to cut down text on flyers and that many don’t read lots of text information. Creating a vibrant and amusing short film captures the imagination and represents the opportunities much more clearly.

If you were to give one advice to others who are interested to use videos, what would you say to them?
Make links with departments with the expertise e.g. Film/ TV courses! The tutors can then look at where it could fit into the curriculum and choose motivated groups who are interested and up for the project.

Engaging adult learners

A little ago, JISC Regional Support Centre Yorkshire & Humber has published a case study on how Facebook can be used to engage learners and improve retention.  Many people tend to link Facebook, or technology in general to young people studying at colleges or universities, but Theresa Rowland from the Hull City Council Adult and Community Learning Service (Hull ACL) has shared her experience with us and said it was not necessary the case.

Technology is also part of adults’ lives

According to Theresa, technological tools such as Facebook and texting are really useful to help them stay in touch with their learners.  They use Facebook instant message function, in a specific timeslot in the evening, to support learners who are undertaking NVQ courses.  Most of these learners are in their 20s and 30s, they have their own Facebook profiles.  It is, therefore, easy for tutors to answer learners’ questions, discuss their learning progress, etc. outside the “normal learning hours”.  It’s really helpful for learners with family and other obligations, as it gives them timely support without them juggling to meet their tutors face-to-face. 

Is technology only for younger people?  Theresa does not think so: their learners, who are aged 60 or 70, also use tools such as Skype to keep in touch with their grandchildren in Australia or New Zealand.  Therefore technology does have a role to play to support learners in all ages, when the right tools are chosen – tools that can be easily accessed by learners. 

Adult learners’ access to technology

Accessibility is one of the key criteria for choosing “the right tools”.  As not all adult learners have time to sit in front of the computers, Theresa pointed out the potentials of mobile technology, as most of their learners use mobiles everyday.  Not only can learners access to internet via their mobiles (therefore contacting their tutors via Facebook, for example, is possible), they can also keep them informed and collect feedback through texting. 

Besides mobiles, she also believes that access to computers and internet service is no longer a problem, as learners can get access in their local libraries, BBC Learning Centre, or their children’s schools which make their facilities available.  To maximise the benefit of the reosurce sharing, Hull ACL also actively listens to learners’ need, e.g. to open their own learning facilities in the evenings besides normal day time opening hours, so that learners can drop-in and use their computers.

Listening to learners

Hull ACL’s experience once again reminds us the importance of listening to our learners – it’s wonderful to make e-learning and other technological facilities available; to truly benefit our learners, however, it’s essential to plan according to the learners’ needs.  We’ve to consider how they access to computers, when it fits their daily engagement the best, or which tools they find most user-friendly.  With the improvement of technology accessibility and our increasing awareness of learners’ needs, together with some creativity and flexibility, we can for sure harness technology and make better learning experience for our learners.

Reference: LSIS Excellence Gateway – Hull City Council Adult and Community Learning: Facebook your learners for engagement and retention
Special thanks to: Theresa Rowland, Learning Development Officer and e-CPD Advisor

More on Online Presence

Last time we’ve discussed how social networking sites could establish our online presence.  While these tools come handy, it might not be able to give the much control you wish to have (e.g. layout, colours, functionality, etc.).  In that case, building up an independent website (not pages attached to a wider organisational website) might be a better option for you.

How to build up a website?

If this question was posed 10 years ago, you probably would come up with things like Html, Dreamweaver, Frontpage, etc.  While harnessing those tools can give you space and freedom for creativity, these days we don’t need to sweat for it.  If you are from an educational establishment, there are website service providers which provide their supoort with no cost (Note that there are terms and conditions which you might wish to consider carefully before commissioning) – BAM and On Campus are two commonly used providers in FE and HE sector. 

This kind of service can help you handle ”problems” of hosting your website or file storage (e.g. media files such as videos and podcast can take up much space).  They usually have a standard website layout, but you can tailor the colour scheme, banners, breakdown of the websites and applications plug-in to suit your needs.  Alternatively, if you’re not planning for a very complicated website, you can use blogging services to present the essential information and updates of your organisation (WordPress is getting more popular for this purpose).  Check out explaination 1 and 2 if you’re interested in this option. 

How to present information on the website?

Once you’ve the website structure set up, you can then think of the information you wish to present to your audience.  Castle College Nottingham Students’ Union website demonstrates a user-friendly, simple and clear example:

I’m sure you’ve the same experience which you found a website disorganised, out-of-date or you couldn’t find the piece of information you needed until the 10th click.  That was not pleasant was it?  Bear this in mind, it is important to plan ahead:

• Analyse what your audience mostly need and are interested in, so to make the website accessible.
• Arrange the information in such a way that people can find the essential info (such as organisational introduction, staff contact, important resources, etc.) easily, while picking up news and updates at the same time.
• Use simple applications and plug-ins such as event calendar, comment box and survey tools to support your operation and interaction.

What else to consider?

Establishing and maintaining an online presence is about building up a connection – a platform where your audience can get to you, and give you feedback when appropriate.  Merely “having a space” somewhere on the World Wide Web is not enough, when you think about the endless number of websites and resources in the virtual space.  It is important, therefore, to keep your audience engaged and coming back to you from time to time.  A few tips on that:

• Interesting materials such as videos, photos, podcasts which are relevant to your audience can always spice up the website a bit, compared to pure text.
• It’d be advisable to have functionalities in place to assist people with visual impairment.
• Make sure your website are up-to-date: who wants to click into a page with nothing newer than 6 months?
• Keeping up the content and maintainence can be time-consuming: do share the workload in your team systematically.
• Also service providers in the market can usually give you technical support, it’d be helpful to have in-house support, e.g. IT students volunteering for website maintenance.

Next time we’ll talk about blogging – another option for online presence, or a good tool to engage with your own voice!

Texting

At the beginning of this year, technologists around the world have predicted that Mobile Technology would be the next huge development.  As individuals, I’m sure you can also feel this leap – not only do we have more advanced mobiles and applications available, text messaging also becomes one of our major ways to keep in touch with family and friends, colleagues and other fellows.  According to the Mobile Data Association, we have sent a total of 78.9 billion sms in 2008!!  With this striking figure in our mind, we might wish to think about ways we can better engage our students, through a device we all carry around everyday.

Why texting?

Contacting students through texting service is not a new idea: Schools use that to keep parents informed, libraries message users about their loans and release of new books, colleges give out information and events to perspective students… Texting provides an efficient way to reach a large group of students, quickly and directly, anytime anywhere.  By deploying it effectively, it is particularly powerful in reaching work-based learners (such as apprentices), adult learners, part-time learners, etc. who are not on campus (or in front of a computer) all the time and cannot participate as much as they would wish to.

According to the feedbacks from front-line practitioners, texting is a means to uphold retention and give timely support for students!  It is not only efficient, but also easy to use.  More and more colleges now have their own texting system in place.  Service providers usually allow users to send messages out from their virtual learning environment (VLE, e.g. Moodle and Blackboard), via desktop software, linkage with existing email systems, or using website facilities (remote access is therefore possible). 

What to do with texting?

Primarily, texting allows us to disseminate information quickly.   So anything you wish your students to know can be passed on via text messages, or draw their attention to find out further details online:

• Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG)
• Social events
• Study tips
• Examination reminders
• Learner Rep meeting info
• Career information
• Call for campaign support
• Call for nomination and election

Student participation is by no means a one-way street, texting can also facilitate interaction as such.  Nowadays most service providers support two-way communication – students can send their questions, comments or other things back to designated “mobile numbers”, staff members can then check them out in their email/text inbox.  This not only opens one more channel to collect students’ feedback throughout the year, one can also send out simple questions on certain issues to students, when necessary.  By the same token, this interactive approach of engagement is becoming increasingly common in large meetings and conferences, through the support of “text walls” (with which one can see participants’ feedbacks quickly, all on one page).  Maybe we can also consider allowing polling through texting as well?

How to start texting?

It might sound obvious, but I have heard of situations in which people needed to send sms to students through their own mobiles (!), typing in a list of numbers one by one.  By seeking technical support from service providers, we can send out messages more efficiently; we can also manage and target particular groups of students with information relevant to them (e.g. apprentice induction day, change of evening class venue, etc.). 

If your college/organisation has already commissioned a texting service, you might wish to make use of the exisiting service by requesting for additional user accounts (so that you can have independent right to send/receive text messages) and purchasing extra credits through your budget.  By doing so, you can save up the start-up cost of putting the system in place.  If not, there are a number of large providers in the sector which can offer you technical support.  For instance, JANET txt provides services for colleges/organisations in the sector by waving the start-up fee.  Other companies such as edutxt and fastsms  also provide different packages you can choose from.

So what are you waiting for?  Let’s get your text going!