2. Pathfinder Project Phase 1 S tudent E xperience of E -learning L aboratory (SEEL)

3. Our e-benchmarking … …revealed that there was a widely held view that e- Learning was being used to enhance the student experience of learning. Investigations revealed that despite this belief, there was almost no systematic evaluation of the impact of e-learning on the student experience.

4. Overview of SEEL The Student Experience of E-learning Laboratory (SEEL) project at the University of Greenwich grew out of the Higher Education Academy’s (HEA) benchmarking exercise and is a three year initiative that seeks to discover more about the student experience of using technology in support of learning. The primary aim of the first year of SEEL (funded through Pathfinder) was to establish a ‘virtual laboratory’ to examine, develop and implement a range of approaches and tools to evaluate the student experience of e-learning, make recommendations on curriculum renewal, and contribute towards the transformation of the learning and teaching agenda at Greenwich and the wider community.Pathfinder

5. Outputs Review of current work on the evaluation of students’ experiences of e-learning. Review of tools and approaches that can be used in the evaluation of the student experience and a discussion of related issues. Investigation into the impact on student retention and progression on programmes and courses making significant use of e-learning at the University of Greenwich and the role of e-support services. Student experience survey tool, analysis of results, cameos and case studies Short report outlining the SEEL project journey with overview of outcomes and messages for the HE sector. Literature review Tools & approaches Retention & progression Results Pathfinder journey

6. Tools & approaches to evaluation Factors that have been identified in the literature as impacting on students' experience of e-learning not unsurprisingly show considerable overlap with areas identified as contributing positive student experiences in face-to-face contexts. “Evaluations should be at the course as opposed to the programme level and Student experiences of the whole may be less than the sum of the parts" (Prosser, 2008:2)

7. Retention & progression It has proved difficult to investigate and discover with any clarity what impact the introduction of technology into teaching, learning and support has been at Greenwich over the past few years using existing reports and mechanisms. Annette Devine, Office of Student Affairs

8. On-line survey Nearly 1000 students respond

9. Results: student experience Less than 50% of students regularly make use of their University e-mail account. E-mail was the predominant tool used for every conceivable type of learning and teaching exchange. Research for assignments was mainly conducted through Wikipedia and Google.

10. Results: student experience There was some indication of a clear separation of technologies used for learning and communicating with teachers and the institution from those used for socialising, contacting family and friends and reluctance amongst some students to use these within formal learning contexts. However, those who advocated tutor use of MSN and Facebook said it would be more convenient for them, and enable “regular feedback” and that “it’s easier to get to know (tutors) on social sites”.

11. When interviewed students said … I get emails from the lecturers, but not really from friends or people on the course as I would normally phone them or email them from my personal email address. I … phone other people on my course and speak to them if I had a problem or if I needed to know something.

12. When interviewed students said … I use WebCT but I use email to send things to my tutor, to get some information. I use Facebook to communicate with my classmates, get some information to them like what about classes. When I am on the computer doing some work I like to open Facebook and MSN.

13. When interviewed students said … As soon as I wake up I the first thing I do is check my emails, see who is on line, come to Uni and start using it again doing coursework and researching. I just use it throughout the day.

14. When interviewed students said … I look at the website 3 times a week, as there is always information changing … You can book on the library through WebCT as well and I think that’s great …

15. When interviewed students said … I find I am not one of those people who can sit down at a computer and know what they are doing. It took me quite a while to learn how to do it. I have a mobile, an i-Pod, that sort of technology, I have got a Nintendo DS for the games as opposed to the actual learning.

16. When interviewed students said … I use the databases more than other websites, I wouldn’t use Google to search for anything as you get up lots of irrelevant things you don’t really need.

17. When interviewed students said … For reference it is really hard to sift out over the Internet. If you go on to Google and type in something it will come up with one thousand two hundred million, most of them are complete rubbish. It takes forever to sift through it to see which ones are actually useful.

18. When interviewed students said … The WebCT tool is great but I wouldn’t go on-line to the Open University and just do e-learning as I like the contact with the lecturer and being able to ask questions, to me the interaction is important.

19. When interviewed students said … In China in the University the students can go to the tutor and ask him some questions, but here it is harder because the tutor has to rush to another lecture.

20. When interviewed students said … I heard … that we might be able to use the plagiarism thing so we can check that we haven’t plagiarised anything by accident. That will be a good idea as sometimes you’re not sure if you have just read something and taken it without realising until it’s too late.

21. When interviewed students said … … and I find being in a lecture, like a seminar, is much better, then you get the chance to ask questions and you can ask until you understand it, whereas with something on the Internet you can’t really do that.

22. When interviewed students said … … one of my friends who goes to a different University doesn’t actually go to her lectures because she can pick them up online, and someone was saying that about our lectures. Then you won’t pay attention when you are in class, so what is the point of having it online because then people won’t show up and they will just use those notes …

23. When interviewed students said … I would say they (lecturers) should put more things up and give a bit more help on the internet. In some of the other subjects after we have done work they give feedback on-line on how the essay should have been written and what should have been in it.

24. When interviewed students said … Sometimes in the lecture theatres, using electronic white boards etc, some of the lecturers don’t really know how to use it …. They don’t really know what to do when it does go wrong so they need more training on using the technology.

25. When interviewed students said … I just want to stress that I think Internet handing in coursework is a really bad idea. I don’t agree with it at all. I don’t care if I get lynched tomorrow!

26. When interviewed students said … If I have got an essay to hand in I go to the library. I like books more than I like computers. I am a bookworm. They are much easier to sift through and it is quite easy. Once you get a book you just have to look through the index, then that’s it the information is there … …and books can’t crash!

27. Thank you … … to all the students who took part in the survey, appear in the 90 cameos, were interviewed – your voice is being heard!