Transcript Electronic Learning and Assessment: Intranet and Internet

Electronic Learning and
Assessment
Intranet and Internet
Leon Litvack
[email protected]
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Aims
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Examine the context for use of C&IT in
English studies
Demonstrate model from intranet VLE, for
undergraduates
Demonstrate model using internet at
postgraduate level, in constructing
research resource in the public domain
Consider how C&IT can be used for
summative assessment, in context of
degree in English studies
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Benchmark statement: defining
principles for English degree
Develop critical thinking & judgement
 Engage students imaginatively in reading &
analysing literary & non-literary texts
 Develop range of subject specific and
transferable skills, including high-order
conceptual, literacy & communication skills
 Provide intellectually stimulating &
satisfying experience of learning & studying
 Encourage enthusiasm for subject, &
appreciation of continuing social & cultural
importance
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Source: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/crntwork/benchmark/english.pdf
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Skills
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Transferable outside the discipline:
 oral & written communication skills
 interpersonal skills (work in a group context)
 time-management skills
 collate & process information from a variety
of sources
 respond positively and productively to
feedback
 think creatively and flexibly in diverse
situations
 basic word-processing & other IT skills
Source: QUB English programme specification
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Dearing Report (1997)
‘We believe that the innovative application of...
C&IT holds out much promise for improving
the quality, flexibility and effectiveness of
higher education. The potential benefits will
extend to, and affect the practice of, learning
and teaching and research’
 Does achieving Dearing’s vision of a ‘learning
society’, aided by developments in internet /
intranet based software systems
NECESSARILY apply to all teachers and
learners?
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Consider your objectives carefully
Incorporation of IT into
curriculum -- considerations
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For staff
 Worth
time spent?
 Training
 Applications for other areas of activity?
 Relation to career advancement
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For students
 Worth
time spent?
 Training
 Skills
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Other considerations
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Pedagogic criteria
Teaching Facilities
Appropriate environment
 Features, specifications & cost of software
 Access to terminals outside class time
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Support
Department
 Central IT services
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Intranet or internet?
 Intranet
 Private
network
 Admission across firewall
 Requires authorisation
 Useful for delivering & sharing information
on selective basis
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 Internet
 Public
network
 No authorisation required
 Useful for delivering & sharing
information on global basis
 Consider usefulness of information to
outside users
 What level of scrutiny to ensure
accuracy of content?
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Intranet model – Virtual
Learning Environment (VLE)
Creates micro-world – allows teacher
to construct learning activities
enriched by multimedia resources
 Curriculum divided into assessable/
recordable elements
 Student activity & achievement can
be tracked
 Online learning supported by staff &
peers
 Offers central & remote access
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Features of prototypical VLE
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Demonstration of Queen’s Online VLE
http://www.qnet.qub.ac.uk/
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Features of VLE
University-wide (only one system to
learn)
 Linked to student records database
 Single sign-on for all university systems
 Time to learn system – 1 hour
 Easily navigable
 Satisfies demand for acquisition of
specific skills
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Flexibility of time and place of access
Copes with increased student numbers –
esp. undergraduates
Sharing and re-use of resources
Facilitates Student-centred learning
Enhances variety of teaching and learning
strategies
Supports constructivist conversational
approaches to learning (see Laurillard,
Rethinking University Teaching:A Framework
for the Effective Use of Educational
Technology [London: Routledge, 1993])
Can reduce administrative burden
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Information
can be disseminated
quickly
Photocopying bill for course
packs eliminated for department
– cost transferred to students!
Information remains in-house:
not published to wider world
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Caveats re: particular VLE
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Rigid & hierarchical
Designed for delivery rather than interaction -flow of information is largely one-way (tutor to
student)
Only recognises official (QUB) email
addresses for students
Students cannot email each other through VLE
One person controls information (implications
for team-taught modules)
Favours IE browser (not Netscape)
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General considerations for
VLE
Planning of teaching sessions
requires more staff time & care
 Proactive attitude demanded from
staff, to ensure that students are
coping – esp. in early stages
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Particular Use of Queen’s
Online
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A wrap-around (50/50) system (see
Mason, ‘Models of Online Courses’ [1998])
 course
materials wrapped by activities
 online interactions and discussions
occupy roughly half the students' time
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Summatively Assessed
elements
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Student presentations (delivered via
PowerPoint) – 10%
 Individual
effort (collaborative work
harder to assess in terms of individual
input)
 Approach to topic discussed with
student beforehand, and among
students working in same area
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Contribution to asynchronous, threaded
online discussion – 10%
Requires careful planning & structuring
 provide specific tasks (e.g. developing
answers to set questions in readings)
 Set deadline by which contributions must be
made
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Other elements:
Assessed essay (students design own
questions)
 Exam
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Criteria for assessment
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Consistent across the English curriculum
– also considers implications,
assumptions, & nuances of the issue/question
 Knowledge – demonstrates breadth and range of
reading
 Analysis – analytical treatment of evidence,
resulting in clear synthesis
 Argument & Structure – coherent response to
issue/question
 Originality – distinctive response, showing
independence of thought and approach
 Presentation – includes spelling & syntax,
readable style, use of particular medium,
appropriate documentation
Source: http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/ug/Marking-criteria.doc 21
 Relevance
Pedagogic Issues for VLEs
Particular Models
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Lee & Thompson (QUB), ‘Teaching at a Distance:
Building a Virtual Learning Environment’ (MSc in
computer-based learning)
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http://www.jisc.ac.uk/jtap/htm/jtap-033.html
Stiles, COSE (Staffordshire)
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http://www.staffs.ac.uk/COSE/cose10/welcome10.html
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Comparative Studies
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Landon (Douglas College, BC), ‘Online Delivery
Applications: A Web Tool for Comparative Analysis’
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http://www.ctt.bc.ca/landonline/
Britain and Liber (Univ. of Wales, Bangor), ‘A
Framework for Pedagogical Evaluation of Virtual
Learning Environments’ (assesses various VLEs,
including COSE)
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http://www.jisc.ac.uk/jtap/htm/jtap-041.html
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General Principles
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Mason (Open Univ.), ‘Models of Online Courses’
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JISC, Requirements for a VLE
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http://www.aln.org/alnweb/magazine/vol2_issue2/Masonfinal.htm
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/pub00/req-vle.html
JISC, Managed Learning Environments
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http://www.jisc.ac.uk/jtap/theme-L.html
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Internet Model – The
Imperial Archive
 Used
in conjunction with Queen’s Online
VLE
 Aim: dissemination of student-generated
material to the wider world as a research
resource
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Demonstration of Imperial Archive
http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/imperial/imperial.htm
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Project’s origins relate to Laurillard’s
‘conversational framework’
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Student-centred learning at the heart of
project development
Smaller numbers – allows more time with
each student
VLE used in ‘wrap-around’ (50/50) manner
Material assessed according to standard
English curriculum criteria:
 Relevance
 Knowledge
 Analysis
 Argument
& Structure
 Originality
 Presentation
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Material for Imperial Archive
generated in HTML
 Scrutinised online by internal &
external examiners
 Project worth 15% of overall mark
 PowerPoint presentation – 10%
 5000-word assessed essay – 75%
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Recognition of project’s
success
 ‘footfall’ through
archive -http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/logs/
 External examiners’ reports
 Feedback from students
 Dissemination of methodology through
http://info.ox.ac.uk/ctitext/publish/comtxt/ct16-17/litvack.html
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Conclusions
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Many ways to use C&IT systems
Importance of staff-student and studentstudent interaction in the class
Focus on educational needs – not
technology
Time spent must justify learning goals
achieved
Consider how you currently teach, and
how this might be improved
Consider the strengths & weaknesses of
the technology when planning/
modifying courses
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Do not necessarily abandon what you already
do well
Make sure adequate support is offered to staff
& students
Prerequisites:
ECDL?
 Other in-house IT training?
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Plan for disasters – network failure, power
failure
Assessment methods:
Comparable to those used in ENGLISH learning
environments not employing C&IT?
 Use of marking criteria?
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Bear in mind contribution made to
 Subject
knowledge & understanding
 Intellectual skills
 Subject-specific skills
 Key skills
THROUGH ENGLISH STUDIES
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Presentation may be
viewed online at
http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/research/stoke-presentation.ppt
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