Adopting a blended approach to learning: experiences from radiography at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

The perspective of the radiography teaching team at Queen Margaret University (QMU) was that a transmission mode of programme delivery was sub-optimal in helping students to learn and make links between theory and practice. Programme redesign adopted a blended learning approach with both face-to-face and online learning aimed at enhancing the students’ control over their own learning. Online tasks within Web Classroom Tools (WebCT) were used as an integral part of careful programme design, which resulted in a programme enabling synthesis of the skills, knowledge and competencies acquired in the academic and clinical environments. With the move towards a more learner-centred, blended educational experience for the students the lecturers’ role shifted to that of facilitator with WebCT providing the tutor with a more transparent view of student learning. Lecturers plan learning activities that build upon the skills students have developed through learning in groups, online and in class. The explicit connections that now exist between the academic programme and the opportunities for applying knowledge in practice allow students to engage more deeply in their learning

Online learning and fun with databases

In this paper, we explore how online learning can support face-to-face teaching in fundamental database theory and the contributions it can make towards motivating and enhancing the student learning experience. We show how we have used WebCT for a third level database module and present student feedback to our approach. While online participation is high overall, motivation for self-learning is increased by the use of self-assessment exercises and summative assessment was also considered to be more fun online than using paper based equivalents. Evidence exists to link greater online participation of course materials to improved performance. We complement our feedback by presenting and discussing a number of software tools which help students practice important methods in database systems, including SQL. After evaluating these against known methods for improving student motivation, we suggest ideas for further development of more game-like learning tools

Learning from the learners' experience: e-Learning@greenwich post-conference reflections

This publication comprises papers from presenters who, having made a conference presentation, were invited to author an academic paper about their work

Reframing e-assessment: building professional nursing and academic attributes in a first year nursing course

This paper documents the relationships between pedagogy and e-assessment in two nursing courses offered at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. The courses are designed to build the academic, numeracy and technological attributes student nurses need if they are to succeed at university and in the nursing profession. The paper first outlines the management systems supporting the two courses and how they intersect with the e-learning and e-assessment components of course design. These pedagogical choices are then reviewed. While there are lessons to be learnt and improvements to be made, preliminary results suggest students and staff are extremely supportive of the courses. The e-assessment is very positively received with students reporting increased confidence and competency in numeracy, as well as IT, academic, research and communication skills

Developmental study towards effective practices in technology-assisted learning: third combined report from 15 participating South African universities

The Centre for Technology Assisted Learning (CenTAL) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the SOLSTICE Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Edge Hill University (EHU), UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 28 June 2007 for the creation of a benchmarking hub for the enhancement of learning by the deployment of educational technologies in South African universities. This was followed up during a visit of Mark Schofield of EHU during February 2008 and resulted in an invitation for participation directed at the directors of technology-assisted learning (TAL) centres, and other senior staff members responsible for academic development and support including TAL, at 23 South African universities. The information below was obtained from the participating universities’ present and future activities in TAL. They were requested to use nine so-called “lenses” of self-evaluation and review and to organise the information using these lenses. The first combined report contained the information received from participatory universities during a first round. This report was discussed during a meeting of representatives of participating universities on 28 May 2008 in Johannesburg. During this meeting, a refinement of our common understanding of lenses was discussed and three new lenses were added. A Second Combined Report was produced and discussed at a second meeting of participants on 10 October 2008 at UJ. Two additional universities also came on board in the second semester of 2008. This report is now based on the information offered by all 14 participating universities on these refined and expanded lenses. In the sequel, these lenses are used as headings. Information from participating universities is offered by alphabetically arranging the universities under each lens

Chapter 5: Evaluation

The OTiS (Online Teaching in Scotland) programme, run by the now defunct Scotcit programme, ran an International e-Workshop on Developing Online Tutoring Skills which was held between 8–12 May 2000. It was organised by Heriot–Watt University, Edinburgh and The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. Out of this workshop came the seminal Online Tutoring E-Book, a generic primer on e-learning pedagogy and methodology, full of practical implementation guidelines. Although the Scotcit programme ended some years ago, the E-Book has been copied to the SONET site as a series of PDF files, which are now available via the ALT Open Access Repository. The editor, Carol Higgison, is currently working in e-learning at the University of Bradford (see her staff profile) and is the Chair of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT)

Blended learning: A new approach to legal teaching in South African law schools

This article investigates the development of a sustainable strategy for the integration of online education technology and traditional teaching and learning methodologies in South African law faculties, in a so-called ‘blended learning’ approach to legal teaching. In developing a strategy, a number of issues were considered, including: accommodating an increasing and diverse student population; achieving SAQA exit-level outcomes; national and international trends in blended learning; and ensuring an appropriate level of computer skills for both lecturers and students. Vital to the development of a sustainable strategy is a comprehensive management plan which details clear objectives for the process of implementation.The achievement of the management plan objectives should be driven by a project management team, which will be responsible for conducting training and support in blended learning; developing online learning module materials; producing research into technological advancements in this field; co-operating with the law library; establishing a committed blended learning community; and finally establishing a system of blended learning module review.The overall objective of the strategy then, is to establish a sustainable model for the medium and long-term implementation of blended learning, ensuring that this mode of learning becomes accepted as an integral part of the system of legal education in the institution

Virtual Learning Environment For C Programming

The use of computers and communication technologies in learning has a history going back at least 30 years. Recent development in Information Technology establishes a new education paradigm, for which self-directed learning is foundation strategy. Nowadays, web-based learning, which has the potential to affect fundamental changes in the design of learning process and the education system, has been gainingmomentum with an irreversible trend. A Virtual Learning Environment is one of the examples of web-based learning methods. It is an area of computing and intelligent systems which is becoming increasingly important in both research and industry. These technologies have been adopted by many educational institutions to explore better interaction and dynamics changing on teaching-learning environment. The virtual learning system act as virtual tutors and learning companions that help learners in learning. This report is a final year project involving a research and a mini-version of prototypical Virtual Learning Environment, teaching C Programming. A software development methodology has been created and proposed, namely "Water-Spiral" model, combining the Waterfall model and the Spiral model. The main goal of developing the Virtual Learning Environment ofC Programming is to utilize the solid foundation of intelligent system as a platform for a more sophisticated control of multimedia objects in a learning environment. The desirability of new instructional media which allows students to interact with course materials in more exploratory manner has become a dominant theme in current educational technology development. However, computerbased lecture already has a relatively long history and has been shown to positively influence the amount of material learned, the time taken to learn it, and the enjoyment of the learning experience. This system will provide attractive lecture notes, interactive problem-solving situations appropriate to the level of the student and track the student's performance