Supporting pre-University ICS Teaching Nigel Linge, Kate Booth, Rik Whittaker, Louise Heatley University of Salford, Salford, UK Development of freely available teaching materials for BTEC and AS students

2.Background Rationale ICT/Computing seen as ‘dry’ and/or ‘difficult to understand’ Want to motivate to study at HE Need to enthuse/engage/connect Need to contextualise Need to maintain interest

3.Aim & Objectives Design, implement and evaluate packages to support BTEC & AS ICT teaching Work with local schools and colleges to establish level and likely need Identify suitable topics & contexts Produce SCORM compliant packages for VLEs Evaluate effectiveness of materials

Choose something that is familiar – mobile phones and the Internet Choose a popular application - text messaging and social networking Keep referring back to application to maintain link to the familiar world Exploit the opportunities of the media – animation, audio, video 4.Putting it into Practice 1

Storyboarding the package Identify logical and manageable chunks of information Ensure information in each chunk is connected back to the original context 5.Putting it into Practice 2 Introduction Components Radio propagation Introduction to Radio Networks Cellular Concepts Encoding The Future – Killer Apps Mobile Phone storyboard

Designing each Learning Object (LO) LOs self-contained so usable as independent entities 6.Putting it into Practice 3 IntroductionObjectives ReviewResearchSummaryContent Audio Video Interaction Animation

7.Putting it into Practice 4 Creating Learning Objects using Pedagogue Collaborative eLearning content tool produced by CDSM Interactive Solutions Ltd. Optimised for the creation of interactive eLearning materials Generates SCORM compliant packages for a VLE or stand-alone web pages

Focus groups of targeted students Students very positive about style, structure, content, presentation and interest level of the material Some would have liked an audio version of the text Some would have liked links to sources of background reading 8.Initial Evaluation

 Developing materials takes far longer than you think!  Multimedia material has to be sourced  Expertise is required to produce Flash Animations  Turning complex ideas into simple and accurate sound bites is a slow process Lessons Learned  Varying use of media and activities keeps interest and engages with different types of learner  Access to an application that does all the spadework of package creation allows you to focus purely on academic content

addresses for more information 10.Outcomes & Further Work Outcomes Confirmation that the approach works Improved engagement with local schools and colleges Mobile Phone Learning Objects completed and will be available from September 2008 Storyboard for the Internet completed Further Work Creation & publication of Internet Learning Objects over next 12 months Ongoing evaluation and revision of all LOs

11.Contact Information Learning Objects will be downloadable from Further information can be obtained from Prof Nigel Dr Kate

12.Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge support from the following HEA Development Fund Salford City Learning Centre SETPOINT Greater Manchester Museum of Science & Industry, Manchester CDSM Interactive Solutions Ltd