Student-created interactive learning resources Creating content using an eLearning Tool

Introduction Getting students to create learning resources for use in the wider world can promote team working and negotiation skills, encourage independent learning and enhance employability. This presentation describes the experience of supporting students on GERM20472, an 11 week module, in the development of their assessed interactive language resources. It will look at: how the student support process worked what the outcomes were, and the students’ response to this group activity considerations, issues and benefits for anyone thinking about introducing this element into their course

Background As an eLearning technologist I provided support to this project, designed by Dr Fil Nereo, School of Languages Linguistics and Culture, for the 2nd Level German Language course INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO DEUTSCH ALS FREMDSPRACHE. Dr Nereo used an Enquiry Based Learning approach – students researched a real-world learning need of German language students and worked collaboratively to develop an ‘e-tool’ resource. A strong emphasis on the development of transferrable, employment-related project management skills Students used the GLOMaker tool to make an interesting, multimedia resource, including quizzes, audio files and videos, very suitable for language students. Interactive multimedia can be technically demanding, but the use of the free-to-download GLOMaker tool made the task much simpler.

GLOs from teams: Denglish, SyntaxManiax , Alltagssprachlers

Developing Employability Skills Project rationale Students were required to produce a clear project rationale and ‘business case’ for the eLearning tool. Added value of the e-tool compared with a traditional textbook? Plans had to be achievable, given resources available Progress monitoring a key part (see Journals in Bb) Honed teamwork and negotiation skills through project management The project culminated in a H.E.A. sponsored event: 'Embedding Enterprise Education into the Languages Curriculum', which took take place on 26 April 2012 at the University. Done in collaboration with the University Careers Service and the Humanities eLearning team. Students presented their work and received valuable ‘Dragon’s Den’ style feedback by event participants (e.g. invited academics, careers and eLearning staff) One team were nominated for the ‘Annual Team Working Award’ sponsored by Price Waterhouse Cooper.

Supporting Students

Student Support Process Framework Dr Nereo provided a clear framework to guide the student team work. The course handbook detailed the expectations re. posters and journal entries. Monitoring of progress via regular meetings with students and the ongoing journal entries in Blackboard eLearning input involved: Initial 1 hour session, training of 3 student teams in the use of GLOMaker Offered weekly Office hours to support the teams over an 8 week period Oral feedback from eLearning technologist & colleagues who attended the mid-semester presentations (Q&A sessions) Attending the Dragon’s Den session where students presented their work to an invited audience

Academic Support Academic support University Careers Service Aims and Learning Outcomes clearly set out for students Blackboard materials, with clear grade descriptors for Posters, Report and reflective Journal Very detailed hints on presentation skills for poster production University Careers Service Help given in terms of employability advice, e.g. ‘Employability in the curriculum’ Media Centre Formal poster workshop in Humanities Bridgeford Street

Software Support eLearning support: Software problems Training students in the GLOMaker software (I hour). The hands-on training was very brief, but there was plenty of support guides on their web site The office hours (1 hour per week) support was used by some students Generally, students seemed well-motivated to learn the required software skills team-work allowed some specialisation where students with better IT skills took the lead Extensive tutorial materials for using GLOMaker, as well as FAQ pages in Blackboard to record student questions Software problems Mastering new software Uncertainty about how to link to YouTube videos Maintaining links to resources e.g. pictures, after saving (‘packaging’)

Outcomes

Student Work Assessed work: Improved Employability Skills 5 reflective log entries of 300-500 words, written individually every fortnight, posted in Blackboard (30%) 10 min group oral presentation, outlining the project rationale, description of e-tool etc– by Week 10 (10%) Group presentation of their project as an A2 Poster describing rationale, description of e-tool etc by Week 10 (10%) Group 3000 word ‘End of Project Report’ detailing the project and including the quality of the e-tool (must be available to the examiners – uploaded to Blackboard by staff) (50%) A GLO (see next slide) Improved Employability Skills Experienced project workers; honed team-work abilities; developed independent learning & academic research skills

The Team Denglish GLO http://media.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/humanities/flash/GLOs/Denglish/GLO_Player.html

Students Benefits Greatly developed their understanding of German linguistics by active engagement, problem-solving learning compared with traditional book-learning Added to their employability by honing their teamwork, communication and technical skills by working collaboratively. Researching a current, real-life problem, and planning, developing & evaluating their solution to it Developed a valuable eLearning resource for future language students Teams Alltagssprachlers and SyntaxManiax produced very interesting GLOs, showing good team-working skills, and an original approach. Team Denglish Prezi – students presented their project using the Prezi software tool. Note how the team used a variety of avenues to reach their audience (social media tools e.g. Facebook, Twitter), and even developed an App to engage fellow students! Nominated for a Team Working Award by Price, Waterhouse Cooper

Considerations and Issues

Learning Benefits Improving their German language knowledge Student users commented: “All grammar work should be done like this, far more fun than conventional grammar books!” Production of a worthwhile learning resource The resource was valued by fellow German language students Collaboration Students had to ‘learn to collaborate’; they seemed to learn very quickly Benefits of team working were obvious – pooling their collective skills to achieve goals

Overall Evaluation Richer assessment The convener found the assessment process manageable (small class, 24) easy to assess the team work, with regular meetings between the course convener and the teams regular assessed Journal entries showing overall progress, with student’s contributions noted Interesting enquiry-based process, collaborative, tangible end-product see the Faculty Blended Learning Examples for further details Valuable experience of collaborative work for students Even though, from Journal accounts, some teams had initial difficulties Clear guidance in the Blackboard Course Handbook essential Regular team meetings, with rotating project manager was difficult for some Evaluation of this approach Student reactions were generally very positive about this approach; many enjoyed the team work aspect, and the research process

Conclusion Thanks for listening. Questions Answers