Arrive UK Julie Watson University of Southampton

Online encounters across the globe: providing pre-arrival support and induction for international students preparing for EAP and further study in the UK

eLanguages – what do we do? Reusable Learning Object (RLO) production Deliver e-tutored online courses across campus and across the world Licence various study skills toolkits to other institutions Collaborate on development of discipline- specific toolkits Research projects – template development; sharing/re-using/re- purposing LOs; contextual metadata

Arrive UK A pre-arrival course Prepares international students for living and studying in the UK Languagehouse (customised Moodle) Uses various new technologies and e- tutored Piloted 2004 (blended mode) Summer 2005 and 2006 courses delivered to pre-sessional students and others

Structure and components Weekly themes 4-5 Learning Objects (LOs) per week The Meeting Place (asynchronous D/B) The Chat Room (tutor-facilitated, synchronous, weekly meetings) A weekly podcast to download

Design features of LOs Self-contained and separable from individual context of use ‘Building blocks’ for designing online courses or resource sets Interoperable Consistently styled and sized Allow re-use or repurposing

Pedagogic features of LOs Learning point, topic or theme-based Activity-led and interactive Engage student in reflection and active involvement Enhanced with significant amounts of feedback Accommodate different learning approaches Use multiple media – text, audio, video, web links, images etc

The Meeting Place Uses: –Initial student contact,orientation and first week ice-breaker –Tutor-facilitated course progression –Discussions triggered by themes of LOs and podcasts - Social networking

Podcasts Downloadable MP3 audios 3-5 minutes in length Informal ‘radio style’; unedited; natural speed Talk / interview format Topics: travel stories; a pre-sessional course director’s view; common academic problems

Changes in course design 2005 –discussion forums in each unit –layered structure by unit/sessions –fixed size student groups 2006 –one discussion forum –linear structure by week –podcasts added weekly

Comparing 2005 and 2006 No. of registered students participating Hits on Meeting Place Postings by students in Meeting Place Hits on Learning Objects Hits on Podcasts Summer % (71/190) N/A Summer % (93/134) (117) 567 (25)

Student course evaluation Overall course rating: 85% excellent/good E-tutor rating: 82% excellent/good Podcasts: 70% excellent/good Interesting activities: 80% strongly agree/agree Helped confidence: 67% strongly agree/agree

Student comments This course made me familiar with the (pre-sessional) course, the people and the School which I have chosen. I appreciate this course. The main benefits are to know someone else before coming to UK and it’s very good for making friends. It was really beneficial to me. By means of POPC I learned many things about British culture, cost of living, studying in the UK, and many, many useful other things. When I arrived in Southampton everything was familiar to me and I didn’t feel alone. I could find much information about the University and Southampton through this and it was so fun.

The way forward Continue to offer Arrive UK to pre-sessional students Develop use of Podcasts Introduce Vidcasts - blended mode with D/B Add student mentoring Roll out to other student groups/ explore recruitment potential? Customise course/ training for e-tutors

For more information… Go to Follow the link to Arrive UK