Internationalisation of Modules: A Blended Online Learning Approach Dr. Julie Greensmith School of Computer Science University of Nottingham

Overview Introductions Collaboration with UNMC G53NMD: An Online Module Technological Constraints A reflection of challenges and successes Future blended learning approaches

Who am I? Lecturer in Computer Science - 5 years Research in Artificial Immune Systems PhD, Anne-McLaren Fellow Teaching modules at all levels Software Engineering (Level 1) - FSE New Media Design (Level 3/4) - NMD

What is G53NMD New Media Design covers: interaction design graphic design for computer scientists emerging new and social media technologies advanced webdev and content management 10 Credit Module for final year/PGT 100% Coursework assessment 75% Group Project, 25% Individual component

Forming a Collaboration Collaboration formed almost by chance A member of our teaching staff was seconded to UNMC Assigned the same two modules of software engineering and new media design Decided to combine our experience to deliver the modules together

My Collaborator

Past History My collaborator is Dr. Tim Brailsford Head of School on UNMC Tim taught the predecessor module - Principles of Multi-Media ( ) Had already recorded a series of online lectures as.avi movies used screen capture on powerpoint and talked over the slides Had experimented previously pairing lecture videos with online learning environment via a class forum

A tradition of technology Tim had set a precedence toteach multi-media with multimedia The video slide lectures were hard to follow a disembodied voice is hard to listen to for a long period of time Used videocasts instead of formal lectures used the lecture time to hold group meetings and workshops

A Blended Learning Approach Initially aimed at MSc Management of Information Technology students Provided a more mature and flexible approach to learning for postgrads Weekly video slide lectures supported by an online forum discuss the material provide additional resources A small amount of credits available for participation in the online forum discussions

Internationalisation Teaching materials online easily shared between campuses Web based wiki or forum can be accessed by both UK and MY students Work on the same coursework assignments halved the workload of setting assessments

Team Teaching Not a purely online course needs some local supervision running labs and workshops Prepare all online materials together makes for better online material Local coordinator on each campus simply shepherding the material

Making It Work Get together twice per year content review setting assessments recording new and updated materials Try to keep in close contact during the teaching semester weekly , frequent skype

Its great!

Technical Challenges Could not run our own server for hosting our videos due to firewall restrictions needed remote access for flexible learning to be available for both cohorts Were encouraged to use WebCT could not access the same resources from UNMC restricted to a different forum Video editing and production may require more specialist software

Our First Cross Campus Attempt Use web 2.0 to teach web 2.0 Used many different public web- based services: blog at blogger.com to release each video forum at google groups for discussion videos hosted on youtube (comments off!!) course updates via twitter

Shared Assessment Main group coursework to build an interactive multi-media website Use a real client musicians, artists, local charity Videolink interview with the client Students at UNMC could discuss ideas with students from UNUK

Things that worked Using these high profile services meant better dependability rather than maintaining a server ourselves Did not have the cross campus restrictions as to who could register for the forum Students from both campuses could discuss topical issues increase student awareness of cross cultural design Quite easy to set up!

Things that didnt work Semesters are not synchronised UNMC start the semester later Set different hand in dates for the assignments Can lead to confusion on the forums Had to get students to sign up to services using a google ID not ideal if someone has issue with googles terms and conditions and worse..

... you get busy! It can be hard to be diligent and keep in touch with each other throughout the semester (especially if you are a Head of School so Im told!) Particularly difficult as I need to set my assessment much earlier in the year need to keep talking!

: The Moodle Years Integrated virtual learning environment host and serve the videos have a main discussion forum set a quiz to unlock online material have a discussion forum per video resource Both cohorts can see the same online material and can interact with each other

Its a lot of effort...who benefits? Can help introduce more specialist teaching into UNMC - big advantage local convenor need not know all the material for the video casts (it can help) technical questions can be forward to the specialist at UNUK Share the teaching load with a colleague can even exchange with each other for a semester Students have different backgrounds which can enhance discussions (I won a Staff Oscar last year - looks good on my PDPR!)

Leaving A Legacy Once the technology is in place and the material is compiled its quite engaging as a convenor spend more time working directly with your students Update of material each year does not take too long In theory its a simple transfer in moodle this is a bit techy, even for me!

The Future Im moving on to teach a new module Plan to also use a blended learning approach, to run in parallel to formal lectures Get online material in place first before making another internationalised module will also try this out with UNNC

Top Tips Find a good collaborator who you know you can work with consistently Use online material as the basis of teaching Find a delivery mechanism that you feel you can cope with, allowing access to both cohorts there is tech support if you chose moodle Support online lectures with interactive workshops Be aware of timing differences and local cultural issues

The local facilitator is key!

G53NMD Thank you Dr. Julie Greensmith School of Computer Science University of Nottingham UK (and sometimes UNMC)