Geraldine Jones e-Learning Officer University of Bath Extending learning conversations with SMS Let’s Talk about txt University of Bath, 19th May 2010 Geraldine Jones e-Learning Officer University of Bath http://www.bath.ac.uk/lmf/download/23163 URL LTT 07786 208039 eatbath-present

aims Consider the affordances of SMS communication for teaching and learning. Present a case study of using SMS with undergraduates on a sport and coach education degree programme. Discuss lessons learned & future plans

a quick survey Do you have your phone turned on? If you received a txt during this presentation would you read it? Would you reply to it? Would you initiate a txt conversation during this presentation? Crossing contexts

Disruptive? SMS http://www.flickr.com/photos/56891569@N00/3510232717 Absent presence! http://www.flickr.com/photos/56891569@N00/3510232717 http://www.flickr.com/photos/98848866@N00/74916401

SMS http://www.flickr.com/photos/98848866@N00/74916401 http://www.flickr.com/photos/56891569@N00/3510232717

HDD 07786 208039 Immediacy - Positive and negative implications

how do students already use SMS communication? Social interactions typically move across a variety of media - face to face meetings, voice calls, SMS and IM chat. SMS links to other opportunities for interaction. We were interested in trying to use existing social communication practices to try and join up learning conversations across f2f and VLE in our UG programmes. Interested in student willingness to use SMS for study purposes rather than just for social interaction. So we surveyed the students….. What they think about text communication. always on - in your pocket – simple - personal  character limit – difficult to organise - cost

what do Bath students think about using SMS for learning? www.flickr.com/photos/63126465@N00/208778609 Surveyed 600 UG students 2007 Response rate ~ 50% Male (44%) Female (56%) 98% 17-25yrs

results - 1 How useful do you think it would be to use your mobile phone for learning through…

results - 2 How often would you like to receive SMS for study purposes? How many texts (per week) would you be prepared to send for study purposes? Mention when they might receive SMS. Make this interactive – ask questions – hands up then show slides.

Case Study: extending learning conversations with SMS http://www.flickr.com/photos/80682954@N00/2165873106

context 90 First year UG students (Education, & other departments) Exploring Effective Learning (EEL) Students not highly motivated towards this unit Why students aren’t that motivated…….

aims To structure inter-session study time using networked group learning activities. To promote greater connectivity between the students and the tutor. To harness the communication cultures and skills of our ‘digital native’ students (SMS) structuring inter-session study time using group learning activities (JISC 2005) we aimed to establish we aimed to establish networked opportunities for learning that more effectively support the student experience on this unit and motivate student participation. we sought to harness the communication cultures and skills of these ‘digital native’ students, using mobile phones and SMS to promote greater connectivity between the students and the tutor. --------------------------------------------------------------- How can we use students own mobiles and their existing skills? How can we give structure to out of session study? How can we enhance student engagement and learning?

SMS joining up face to face and VLE learning face to face teaching Texts to students Texts from students Once a Week Texts to students Say briefly what informed the implementation – take from paper In conjunction with activities in the session and in Moodle After session – follow-up text Before session – preparatory text Summaries and reflections Capturing (multi-media) data in support of the reflective journalling activities. Post session activities Pre session activities

what we said…… Hi Sam. Pls complte yr reflection&action plans 4 time mangmnt (act 7.2, 7.3) Plse post yr top 5 tips for TM to the top tips list. Gabriele. Hi Tom, pls lk at & comment on the reading improvement video – Moodle (Act 4.1) Pls txt in wht u hve learned from the video b4 session. Gabriele

what they said….. ED At uni i need 2 self motivate myself 2 gain broader learnin + self thought. I wil use tutors + readin + discussion 2 help me achieve this in the best way. (response to an article) ED metacognition is an awareness of process of learning.consists of developin plan of action,maintainin monitorin of plan and evaluatin plan (self reflection) (in response to a request for a definition)

word clouds - aggregating responses In response to student consultation we refined our implementation….. Tag clouds helped with readability of the collected texts

what we found …. Texts successfully and consistently guided students to intersession activities There was a correlation between the time the text messages were sent out and students’ arrival and subsequent activity in the VLE, in some cases students would visit the VLE just a few minutes after receiving their message.

what they thought... Effective aid to time management (62% n=71) Students liked the personal nature of texts Less supportive of sending texts as part of learning activities. http://www.flickr.com/photos/26406919@N00/2229708458

in conclusion SMS provided scaffolding for the development of TM strategies. Texts as prompts for gaining attention Todo lists for later reference SMS provided additional motivation by extending the tutors voice to reach outside the lecture theatre 160 characters provided both benefits and challenges!

for more information please see… Supporting and Enhancing Undergraduate Learning with m-learning tools: an exploration and analysis of the potential of Mobile Phones and SMS (Jones, Edwards & Reid 2008) http://www.mobile-learning.blog-city.com/using_twitter_sms_word_clouds_and_audience_response_system.htm <img src="http://go.bath.ac.uk/qr/download?DATA=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.networkedlearningconference.org.uk%2Fpast%2Fnlc2008%2Fabstracts%2FPDFs%2FJones_162-170.pdf" /> URL http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/past/nlc2008/abstracts/PDFs/Jones_162-170.pdf

future plans about SMS projects Distance learning students. URL Moodletxt Keeping our distance learning students on track – time management and JIT support. http://blogs.bath.ac.uk/sms/ www.flickr.com/photos/14516334@N00/316350537

thank you & questions Geraldine Jones g.m.jones@bath.ac.uk eatbath-present Feedback for me … what did you like, what should I stop doing, and how might I improve this session? LTT 07786 208039