February 2010

Rushing around trying to get data for the interim report and make some sense of the data I have already collected. Trying to find time to speak to tutors and learners has been difficult - everybody is so pushed for time, especially as they are currently in the controlled assessment phase of the delivery. Trying to find a quiet room to film videos, that is free when the tutors are free, is proving difficult and I have had to redo one video because the sound was too poor.

Using the PDP

I do not think that the learners are using the PDP to its full potential and I need to try another tactic to engage them. We have arranged another event for the whole Diploma team and this time I am going to bring my colleague, Angela, who is the eLearning link person for the school of CIT in the hope that she will be able to work with tutors and support them with their use of the Learner Portal.

We have also discussed ways that we can engage the staff and learners and to get them to see the value of its' use, and she has suggested that I post a question on the discussion boards in both courses in video form. As the learners studying for the Higher Diploma have been given devices to record audio for their media projects, they will be able to record their responses to the discussion and upload. Provided I frame the question and also provide a bit of background to the use of the PDP, I hope to get some more valuable feedback. Although they have already contributed to the discussion board, it feels very much like "I've been told I have to do this, so I will do as I am told"!

I do not think they can see the value that the PDP could add to their learning experience and I hope to be able to change this. I am going to provide an example of a PDP with which to inspire them and to allow them to see how it could really help them.

Second group session

I decided to try to talk to the whole group of Advanced Diploma students and this time use the Turning Point voting buttons to engage them. This was more successful than the last group - they were more animated (in fact a bit too lively) and they seemed to enjoy using the voting buttons. Jo came with me to video the session, but they did not want to be filmed. Therefore Jo tried to record their feedback by pointing the camera at the floor and simply recording audio.

After a few warm up questions, I began to ask them my questions about the use of the Learner Portal. They were happy to vote but when I asked them to expand on the answers they had given, I had difficulty in getting them to answer sensibly. They were very loud and although Jo recorded their responses it was hard to transcribe. There are a few nuggets that will be in my report.

I am not sure how much I have got out of this and whether the results are any better than if I had just asked them to complete a questionnaire. It would have been much better to do this with a small group, but they are unwilling to put themselves forward for this. Perhaps now that they have met me this might be a possibility.

Meeting the students

I have been trying to arrange focus groups with both ICT Diploma groups without much success. In both groups the students are very reluctant to put themselves forward, so much so that in the Higher Diploma class only one student is currently willing to attend - not sure that they can be a group of one! Added to this they are beginning to enter the controlled assessment phase of the course and time is getting very tight.

I therefore thought I would go into the class this morning to meet the whole class and ask them my questions whilst their tutor set up their PCs for the assessment - my thinking here was that if I met them all together they would be less reticent. Hmm - how wrong could I be. They were unwilling to be videoed and getting them to respond to my questions was like pulling teeth. One or two of the group had a few things to say, but for the most part, responses were monosyllabic and not particularly illuminating. I was hoping that following this morning session, I could encourage a couple more of the group to join in a focus group, but they are still unwilling.

I have since spoken to the tutor, who informs me that they were quiet because they were nervous about starting the controlled assessment so maybe there is hope yet. I still have to get them to complete a questionnaire, so hopefully this will provide better feedback.

I have a similar session with the Advanced Diploma group on Thursday - this time I am going to try to engage the group by using the voting buttons. Watch this space.

Cluster meeting

We held a cluster meeting for Cluster group B yesterday and it was an interesting day.

My evaluation work to date has been firmly centred around the learner experience and based on our project objectives; following the session on evaluation yesterday I think I may have to include some evaluation of the impact that the Learner Portal has on the College as a whole and I need to discuss this with Patricia and Jo. We will need to agree priorities because otherwise there will be too much data to collect and analyse. I would love to do a case study around the use of the PDP, but I suspect that there won't be enough time to include this as well.

In the meantime I'm looking forward to the Christmas break now and hope to come back with fresh eyes in the New Year!

Ho ho ho - Merry Christmas!

Not much blogging

Although the tutors have access to a staff blog, there is not much activity to date. There was a problem with accessing the blog from within the College but I think this has now been resolved.

I am concerned that I am not capturing their experiences as they happen and that even if I ask them in the new year they might not be able to recall significant events. Hopefully we can have a catch up session immediately after the Christmas break and this will prompt them to voice their thoughts about the delivery of the Diploma using the Learner Portal.

Discussion boards and staff blogs

At our project meeting yesterday Jo Burbidge and I asked the tutors to try to blog at least once a month about their experiences of using the Learner Portal to deliver the Diploma. I know that it may be time consuming but I also know from personal experience that it is invaluable when trying to remember how something feels when looking back some months later. Things that are fresh in the mind this week, will be a distant memory next summer. To help with this, Jane Teh has set up a team blog and is encouraging all tutors to contribute to this, but some tutors are finding that they have to use their Internet Use Quota time to do this, so this will need to be investigated and resolved.

We have also asked tutors to contribute to the discussion boards, so watch this space!