Students and staff working together to enhance the vle experience VLE in Partnership Students and staff working together to enhance the vle experience

Students leading the way in VLE development: David Kennington - Yr1 BSc(Hons) Nursing - Adult Lorna Nicol – Yr2 BSc(Hons) Nursing - Adult Sharon Kaur – Yr3 BA(Hons) Social Policy Sascha Smith – Yr2 BSc(Hons) Midwifery Staff facilitating partnership: Mark Miller – Learning Technologist FHSCE Kate Outhwaite – Learning Technology Specialist ALT Talkling about ideas related to interactivity and information exchange

Initial Findings Focus Group: Personal experience & anecdotal feedback from other students Difficult to find information hidden in folders Difficult to navigate due to unintuitive layout Inconsistent population of VLE between modules Visually unappealing / dated Discussion boards hardly used Focus group findings: Maze of folders & sub-folders Contents of sections not always clear Staff interpretation of what should be included within each section (training needs replaced by simplification of site) “90s retro” appearance. Very dated, especially compared to ARU smartphone app Social network groups used instead of discussion boards Survey results support the notion that VLE is not good for information exchange 1. S2S 2. T2S

Survey Results “it is hard to find what you are looking for…” “each module is different. the organisation and way it's been used so these questions are a mixture across 3 different modules…” “I have learning difficulties and find it a lot easier with pictures” Though majority found it easy to navigate, 30% of participants did not feel that it was well organised 72% of participants felt that imagery and multimedia would improve the VLE, supporting FG findings “It would make it more visually appealing” “More visually stimulating “

Survey Results Low uptake on discussion board usage “I didn't know you could” As per FG, discussion boards not used, students preferring social networks. Inherent problems (privacy / marketing / exclusion) E-mail notifications – Outcome of this phase of the project: not just changing the VLE to better suit student expectations, but marketing already existing benefits “I did not find any student using VLE to communicate” “…get a message/ email every time the lecturer puts something on VLE”

VLE – STUDENT GENERATED RESOURCE SITES Tutor Space Learning Space Learning Space Learning Space Student generated Resource

student generated resource site Gilly Salmon (2011) Online socialisation is and essential stage in developing student engagement with information transfer.

Development of resources to better inform students of VLE tools The implementation is to be student led through collaborative working with lecturers Students will engage in providing peer feedback to further inform development Implementation is expected to facilitate greater opportunity for student – staff partnership Development of resources to better inform students of VLE tools Each student has negotiated 3 modules to roll out template working in conjunction with th emodule leader and tutors of the chosen modules Studnets studying the modules will be able to provideback to another student (No penalty – STUDENT STAFF STIGMA Starting Point not end

Reference List Salmon, G . 2011. E-moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online. Routledge, New York.