Building Students' Research Skills - Reflections

An unintended consequence of the Undergraduate Research Conference we ran in April is that it is being held up as an example (within my University at least) of how we can prepare and support BTEC students in their transition to University AND of widening participation.

I say unintended because the original plan was simply to try and get our existing students engaged in research. Inviting local colleges to participate - especially those in disadvantaged areas - and focusing on current BTEC students ticked the boxes around widening participation for our Schools Colleges and Community Outreach team, but the focus on research skills also provided extra study skills support for those current undergraduates with a BTEC background.

I was invited (along with my colleague Sarah Barkley from SCCO) to talk about the event at a recent BTEC Symposium - here is the Prezi:

#altc Tell it like it is!

oh dear! I have been quiet recently....

well, the new academic year looms and even before I get to experience that particular joy, I have a session to deliver at ALTC in Warwick next week - on the theme of Digital Storytelling (of course).

You can get a preview of my presentation via the Prezi below. It includes a short video with highlights from this year's crop of stories. For more posts on my journey, click on the digital storytelling label below.



What's next?

I am going to be using the same assessment with my final year students this year - I think both they and I have found it to be a very creative and engaging task, and as a way of reflecting on learning it is proving to be very effective: far more so than the traditional assessments I have used in the past.

This year's batch are going to be especially interesting as this is the only cohort that will have completed a digital story in both years 1 and 3. I hesitated for a while about whether to ask them to repeat the assignment but I think doing so will allow both them and me to compare the two artefacts and measure the distance travelled....

Celebrating student research

There are number of problems in getting students to engage with research: it can be quite difficult for first year students in particular (but not first years exclusively!) to "get" the point of research; it can be a challenge for them to design their own research projects and it is even more challenging for them to read academic research articles. Nonetheless, I think it is a nettle worth grasping for all sorts of reasons - and as early as possible in the undergraduate life-cycle.

This year I have been engaged in a year long project trying out a new way (for me) of encouraging first year students to engage with research - one that is to culminate in a few weeks' time (18 April 2016) with an undergraduate research conference.

The process began back in the first term with an open door conversation between first and second year students on the significance of research in their studies and the sharing of ideas about possible research themes. I then invited library and learning support staff and a couple of early career researchers to come in to my classes and teach basic skills. I also provided an introduction to research methodologies, methods and ethics, and devised various activities around constructing surveys and interview questions.

Since Christmas the students have been working in small groups to investigate a topic of their own choosing - firstly outlining this in a five minute presentation to the rest of the cohort, and secondly, designing a research poster which has to include a literature review and some primary research of their own (mainly based on surveys of their fellow students).

On the whole - judging from the results so far - the students seem to have enjoyed this activity and are certainly showing evidence of beginning to "get" research. Some of the primary research has been creative: one group surveyed a small group of social work lecturers to get a professional's eye-view of child protection; others sent out survey invitations via the course Facebook group. Similarly, the approach to poster design has allowed many to show their artistic and technical flair with a number using Prezi, and many incorporating really eye catching visuals.

The skills the students acquire during this process are multiple: information searching; evaluation of literature and research results; managing group work; presentation of information in graphical form; writing concisely; citation and referencing; finding, downloading, inserting and editing copyright free images; communicating ideas verbally and in public..... and probably lots more.

And yes - if you are thinking this all sounds like really hard work - it is. Students constantly complain to me that the whole business of working in groups is painful (and I empathise to some extent: it's damned painful for me sorting out squabbles and no-shows!); they extol the virtues of lecturers who simply give them handouts and essay questions to turn in at the year end; I get dispirited by the rubbish module evaluation results I get as a result ... and on top of all that I have a bloomin' conference to organise! I have to keep telling myself  - and them - that it will all be worth it in the end: and now the posters are being submitted for marking - you know what? I almost believe it is!

So the conference will be a chance for the students to show off all their hard work: students from local school and colleges will make up the audience. There will be short, themed discussions; presentations from post graduate researchers and final year students; and I am hoping the course budget will stretch to tea and cake .....

I promise there will be a full report here on my blog, with photos and examples of students' work, just as soon as I have recovered! In the meantime - here's a short video I created for the schools and colleges we have invited to participate, explaining how to create a research poster.

Reflecting on the digital story

image: jane challinor

Over the summer I have been working with colleagues at UIB on a paper outlining our adventures with digital storytelling. We reached a conclusion that whilst as a learning activity it had value in promoting collaboration and an awareness of open educational practices as well as developing digital skills, there are caveats about its use for developing reflective skills, particularly with students at the beginning of their university studies.

What we found, in broad terms is that more mature students are better at reflecting (that is they reflect more deeply). This has led me to conclude that as an activity designed to promote reflectivity - and especially as a reflective assessment tool - it is perhaps best left until the final year.

For me this was also borne out by the large number of first year students who failed to submit the digital story at the first (and even 2nd) attempt. This could just be a consequence of having a large number of student last year (ie we were just more likely to have students who had unrelated problems that prevented them from submitting) but in reality the module had the highest number of referred and non-submitting students across the course (around 10%) whereas in the past it has had the lowest incidence of non-submission and referral.

Well - I may be jumping the gun in putting this all down to the mode of final assessment, and it is certainly the case that the final year students all submitted and all passed - most at a high level, but it has certainly given me pause for thought.

Indeed I have already decided to change the mode of assessment for the first year module this year, reverting to a group research project which has worked well in the past. I will though run the same assessment for the final years.

Ok - but what did the first year students think? I am going to be giving a guest session on the second year research module later in the year and I have decided to use the digital storytelling project as my theme. I have therefore asked the students themselves to provide me with feedback on their experience of the final assessment last academic year - and I will feedback to them the findings of that survey.

So here's a sneak preview. I have had 52 responses so far out of a cohort of 126 (41%). Of these 90% are female (this reflects the makeup of the cohort) and 70% are aged 18-24.
23% are over 35 years old.

In creating their digital story, 70% used Prezi, 24% Powerpoint (12 students) and 6% another online tool - Knovio.  As a result of their experience, 75% said they are likely to use the same or another online tool in future for presentations and collaborative tasks. Just 28% (14 students) said they would only use PowerPoint going forward (suggesting that 2 students have tried online platforms and decided to revert to PowerPoint).

What did they get out of the experience?
78% thought it fun
57% thought it was technically challenging
85% said it had helped them to improve their reflective skills
82% said it had helped them improve their digital skills
80% thought it had given them confidence to create content on line
86% thought it relevant to their studies
but just 47% thought it relevant to their future career - and only 44% would mention this as a skill on their CV

Comments from the students expand a little on these results:

Positive and constructive feedback:

a. I feel like the digital story assignment was not quite challenging enough. It seemed to be more of an easy and fun task to complete . 

b. On reflection I should of challenged myself more. Been more adventures

c. I really enjoyed this assignment and it boosted my self confidence. I was very proud at what I had achieved and how much I had progressed.

d. I found the digital story difficult and daunting to begin with, but eventually enjoyed creating my story and proud that I did so.

e. Digital story was something I had usually done in the medium of film. I'm really glad we had this assignment as it opened my eyes to more digital platforms. I also think this would be a fantastic tool to use with certain more tech minded service users

f. It was very enjoyable, relevant to my studies, and gave you chance to create a bit of fun into studies rather than essays, it gave you a breather from the heavy work. Before I came to your lesson I did not know about Prezi but I will certainly use it again,

g. Enjoyable task however, talking in the video was a little tasking, a lot of preparation is needed for someone who lacks in confidence
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Negative feedback:
h. I think that it was completely pointless and irrelevant to our course. I don't know why we needed to do it personally, and I think that it should be scraped for the new people starting the course.


i. I just thought the story telling was irrelevant to what we needed to do most people didn't want to do it I perfer the other tasks this one was just too much



On the whole, the student response is a lot more positive than I had anticipated. Interestingly the two final, highly negative comments came from students in the 18-24 year old group. These were the only two completely negative responses, and even one of these (i) felt that her digital and reflective skills had improved as a result of the task. The more positive comments (c-f) came from the over 35's.

I do now have some regret about abandoning the reflective digital story this year. However, the use of digital tools to present the outcomes of research will form a large part of the final group project that they are engaged in this year. Hopefully, this will preserve the "fun" and creative elements of the assessment task as well as continuing to develop confidence in creating online content.

#ueef15 - "Conta’m un conte... digital, per favor"/ "Tell Me a Story - make it digital!"

On Wednesday 9th September I am going to present at the Summer School of the Unversity of the Balearic Isands (UIB) Ibiza - sadly, by Skype and not in person.

The theme is "trending topics in ITC" and my session is about the digital storytelling project I have been working on with Gemmar Tur and Victoria Marin from UIB over the past year.

Here is the Prezi in Spanish:


and the English version:

Tell me a story from Jane Challinor

So what is a digital story? For me, this means a mixed media presentation, living on the web, which probably incorporates music, images, written words and – possibly – the author’s voice.

When I Googled "cuentos digitales" on Google.es, in preparation for this event, I mainly found stories for children, but in the collaborative study, our use of digital storytelling focused on reflection on learning by students in HE who are engaged in professional education (teaching and health and social care professions).

Storytelling is a very ancient human activity and one that has been used for millennia in the realm of education. Stories contact deeper emotions and call for greater creativity than the usual essay, report or portfolio and they are almost innately reflective – indeed, reflection in a professional setting often starts with the recounting of a story. The story form allows us to make sense of events and our own thoughts, but also allows us to see things from a different perspective.

Why a DIGITAL story? 

Firstly, the platforms available to us on which to create digital stories lend themselves to a multimedia creation which engages the audience on many different levels: music and imagery combine to affect us emotionally and aesthetically. Also, for students preparing for employment these days, the development of 21^st century skills – including digital competence – is essential. Creating a digital story therefore provides an authentic task (reflection on learning/reflection for professional development) which at the same time develops digital skills. Furthermore, the use of OER (as embedded resources and as a finished artefact) teaches important lessons about collaboration, digital identity and copyright whilst providing a platform on which to share our ideas, our stories, with the wider world.

What are the benefits of digital storytelling?

Obviously – increasing digital confidence and competence. But also - allowing creative expression, giving a voice to those with little confidence in academic writing, giving students the opportunity to practise speaking in public. And most students (over 80% in my end of year survey) find it a fun assignment to do.

Are there any disadvantages?

It can be a real challenge for anyone not used to working on the web or using digital tools – students AND teachers.

For the teacher - it can take longer to plan classes, putting appropriate scaffolding in place to guide the less confident students. If you are going to grade the finished story, you need to think about marking schemes or rubrics – for both the digital and the reflective elements.

For the student – some guidance is needed on keeping safe on a public platform and thinking about the crafting of your digital identity

So – HOW do you make a digital story?

Fortunately there are lots of step by step guides available. My favourite website is: http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/  (which also gives guidance on platforms and tools you can use)  and this is the original digital storytelling site http://storycenter.org/

What did the students think?

It was:

Fun 82%

Technically challenging 62%

Improved my digital skills 90%

Helped me to become more reflective 83%

Relevant to my studies 85%

Relevant to my future career 44%

As a result I am more likely to:

reflect on my learning 90%

reflect on my professional practice 86%

use the same tool again 75%

try other online tools 75%

stick to PowerPoint 28%

be cautious about sharing personal information on line 75%

mention this as a skill on my CV 46%

Interestingly, the students I surveyed (in their first year) generally didn't see this as an "employability skill",  although this was an aspect mentioned by the final year students. (For more detail about themes explored in the stories -  and more student feedback -  see previous blog posts)

This is not really so surprising given the stage the students are at, but it does perhaps point to the fact that more work needs to be done to set the professional context for this activity in future.

Teaching and learning with digital storytelling

Image: Flicker wfryer  CC BY-SA 2.0

The digital story format is something I have used this year for the first time and, because I liked the idea so much, (and because it fitted well with each) I have used it as a part of the summative assessment for both my first year "study skills" and the final year "Leading Teams" modules.

The fit with the first year module is particularly apt as this is all about developing digital skills: from finding and managing information to Harvard referencing, from learning to use the VLE and sending emails to creating online collaborative content with Google Drive, Padlet and Photopeach.

For the final year students this is very deliberately about encouraging a summative reflection of their whole three years of University study preparatory to presenting themselves to employers in the health and social care field. And its about honing their "21st century skills". It is also presented very much as an opportunity for them to reflect on their experience of team work and their potential as leaders.

Preparation for this summative assessment took virtually the same route in each module, despite the difference in levels. Probably the degree of scaffolding for the first year cohort was higher but essentially the process and the materials used were the same in each case.

Step 1 at the start of the academic year was a warm up digital exercise using Photopeach where students worked in small groups to develop a photostory about the values of health and social care.

Following this, the theme of being a reflective practitioner, which emerged as a key theme from this consideration of professional values and identity, was explored further in a workshop when students were presented with information about a number of relevant models (Kolb, Gibbs, Moon) and undertook an initial exercise reflecting on their own significant and transformative learning experiences.

Mid way through Term 2, we returned to the theme of the reflective practitioner. The final year students undertook some group reflection and self evaluation related to the student led learning activities they had just run. With the first year students, I went over the theoretical models of reflection once more and gave them a set of prompts to use in small group discussions as a stimulus for starting to develop their reflective accounts.

Both groups were introduced to the website http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/ which has lovely examples of digital stories using a variety of media and platforms and provides a really straightforward "How to" guide. For the first year students, in response to questions and concerns, I produced some simple screencasts showing in more detail how to use Prezi as a platform. Then on second thoughts I made these available to the final year students too. Although in general the final year students were less inhibited about creating a reflective digital story, they still had some worries about the technical side of production.

Finally I ran two or three drop in technical workshops for anyone who was still struggling or needing reassurance. During the whole process I only encountered two students (out of around 200) who claimed the task was beyond them. One was a male first year student who was a self declared technophobe but who was seeking additional help from the library and learning resources staff; the other a final year student who initially panicked herself into believing the task was impossible but finally talked herself round to the realisation that she could at any rate produce a PowerPoint presentation - with audio - and went away from the drop in session with renewed determination!

There were of course many other students who encountered difficulties, made mistakes, failed to grasp the finer points of Prezi etc, but the informal workshops also provided opportunities for students to help one another, showcase their own first efforts and get feedback, as well as ask me questions. These small group sessions were among the most enjoyable of the academic year for me precisely because there was more opportunity here for peer to peer teaching. At the end of one of these classes an older student was talking to me about the difficulties he was still having in understanding Prezi. A younger student overhearing him interrupted, invited him to join her in the library for a quick tutorial and three days later he had submitted his first "draft"!

The final step in the process was to go through Moon's Levels of Learning in detail - with exemplars - as these were closely aligned to the assessment criteria. For example, the lowest level, Noticing (description without reflection) might equate to a 3rd for the learning outcome related to quality of reflection, whilst the highest level -Transformative Learning - would be a High or Exceptional 1st.

The exemplars - which were short samples of writing reflecting on working in a group - were important in really clearly illustrating what was meant by each level and seemed to help the students to  grasp the concept more easily. On the down side, one or two students did quote these examples back at me in their stories!

Comparing the reflective stories of first and final year students that are currently being submitted, some differences are emerging. Not surprisingly, the first year students are not reaching the higher level of reflections in most cases - they tend to be split between Level 2, Making Sense or Level 3 Making Meaning areas of Moon's map of learning. The final year students by comparison are split between the Level 3 (35/84) or Level 4 (Working with Meaning) areas (27/84) with only 14 in the Level 2 area or mainly descriptive.

Technically the first years are also not as adept: few have provided soundtracks or voice-overs on their presentations and one or two are rather thin in terms of content too. Notably though, one first year student who is a mature "returner" to full time study has made her year long struggle with technology (and her eventual triumph) the main focus of her digital story - which she has done to a very high standard using PowerPoint, with voice over.

Alison: A Year of Firsts

In terms of themes, top of the final year students' list of topics is team work (72% of students referred to this but that was the theme of the module after all). After this comes future plans and recognition of transferability of skills from study to work (70% each) - with graduation a few weeks away that is not a big surprise either! Next in line is increased confidence (68%), improved communication skills, reference to academic subjects and developing study skills, time management, and the value of work experience (all mentioned by around 60% of students).

For the first year students, the most popular themes are reference to academic subjects studied, moving away from home, fitting in and making friends and the support of other students. Next in order of frequency, around a half of first year students mention team work - noting this as a way of working that is very different from school or college and one which brings many challenges. Around a half of all the students also recognise how their confidence and independence have increased through overcoming personal and academic problems.

Other things I have taken note of in particular are whether or not the students specifically mention the learning process (85% of final year students do), the development of self awareness (increased understanding about themselves) (74%) or the act of reflecting (57%) . These are elements which I saw as being more of a meta reflection (a reflection on reflection) and indicative of a higher order of learning. In the case of first year students only about half mention learning and self awareness specifically. Less than 15% discuss the process of reflection.

I have also noticed a difference in the stories of mature students. In almost every case, these students seem to reflect more deeply and evidence higher levels of learning. Generally they have had a variety of challenges to overcome (returning to education after initial failure or career change), had more life experience (migrating from another country), have other demands on their time (such as family) and this manifests itself in richer content, higher levels of self awareness.

Lucy: Me,myself, my learning,my family

Donna: Change

Tinashe: Too Old for School

What about the process from my perspective? In teaching "about" reflection, I have certainly found students to be more engaged possibly because they have a summative assignment in view that has reflection as its main focus.

Teaching "about" reflection though does not create reflective practitioners. That can only happen through deliberate acts of reflection on experience that are designed to raise self awareness. The process of creating a reflective story is such an activity: it forces the student a) to think about the reflective process itself (perhaps using a specific model, such as Gibbs to add structure) b) to practise the skills - moving from describing to evaluating an experience, to analysing and formulating plans for future action and c) to perform the art of reflection. Through the use of various media - combining images with spoken words and music - the finished artefact is a creative representation of learning: reflection as performance. The digital element adds other dimensions and levels of complexity: the need to get to grips with new technologies, familiarisation with online platforms, the reality of putting an essentially private reflective activity "out there" in a public space.

So my role changes to that of audience or witness to the performance and I am also the assessor. I find this a difficult balancing act. On the one hand I have to award a grade, on the other I am in a privileged role of witnessing what is often a very personal ** account - a performance that has something of the confessional about it. I am acutely aware of the student's vulnerability in what they share, at times I feel very emotional in response: touched by a moving story of overcoming huge challenges, amused by a witty remark, proud of their achievements. I have felt these emotional responses before when students have written reflective accounts as essays - but not as often, nor as deeply.

The digital stories are for the most part fairly short - 5 to 10 minutes was the guideline - and are submitted as the final part of a portfolio of work which has already received formative feedback or grade in partial fulfilment of their summative assessment. As a capstone project for the module it is therefore not particularly time-consuming to assess, so all in all, marking these has been a genuine pleasure! The biggest drawback is when something goes wrong technically - files uploaded in a format I can't open, problems uploading large files to the VLE, url's copied incorrectly or online videos set to private. This has involved a few hurried emails to get everything sorted out which does add a little more work to the marking process and a teacher using this method of assessment does need to be fairly confident themselves in using a variety of digital tools - or have some very friendly IT or Learning Technology staff standing by! That said, some of the students have proved themselves very technically creative and I have learned some new tricks from them. That to me has been another of the aspects that has made this assessment so enjoyable.

**(Students have been made fully aware of the private/public options for the sites used and have employed pseudonyms, restricted urls or even used non-published media - such as Powerpoint or MP4 files - in order to maintain their privacy. Prezi for example is public, unless a premium subscription is paid, YouTube has non-searchable or private url options whilst Knovio can also be set to private).

Digital Storytelling as an assesment tool: the students' view

The brief was to create "an account of your personal learning from the module, commenting and reflecting on your role in the group tasks and including your thoughts about your future career. This account will be produced as a “digital story” – a mix of images, voice narration, written words and music".

Later this was expanded and the following prompts were given:

What has been the most important/surprising/interesting/exciting thing you have learnt this year?
What happened? Who else was involved?
How did you feel about it at the time? How do you feel now?
What were the positives and negatives about the experience?
Can you relate this experience to any theory or research you know about (or could you research more into this type of thing?) (for example - you found yourself taking over as the leader of your group because no one else would: how does this relate to theory about emergent leadership? OR in your group you all had different ideas about what to do - how might this apply to multidisciplinary working in Health and Social Care?)
Overall, what do you conclude from this learning - how has it changed you as a person, changed your ideas?
Looking back, what do you now think about the values you selected in the first Photopeach exercise - would you still pick the same ones? What values or attitudes seem to be most important to you now?
If you had to do this year again, what would you do differently?
What tips would you give to another student about to start their final year?
Based on this experience, how might you plan to approach similar situations in the workplace?
What are your plans after graduating?

So what did the students make of digital storytelling as an approach to assessment?
One or two students have commented to me - in personal communications and in their introductions to their final portfolios - about the process of completing this assignment:

"I came into year three really worried and felt very overwhelmed, but learning how to reflect well has really allowed me to understand any flaws I have and how to improve on this for the future, especially when I go on to study my nursing MSc next September. I really have managed to grow and learn a lot about myself [when] previously I tried to avoid fears I had." (student A)

"the digital story was not a task I was particularly looking forward to as I have never done anything of the kind before, and do not enjoy recording myself! Having said this, it was probably one of my most enjoyable assignments and once I had started it and got into it I didn't actually feel as if I was doing work. The newly learnt skill of producing a digital video is not only one I can use when applying for jobs but also one I can use in my personal life, as I am an avid traveller and can now produce videos portraying my travels. " (student B)

"Creating a digital story was not an easy ask for me at all... Looking back at this digital story and realising that I am now able to create more different ones make me very proud.....The digital story gave me an opportunity to express myself through images. "(student C)

"I personally really enjoyed working on my digital story ... I think this is important to do so as it reminds the individual of changes they have gone through and [how]they have developed ...  I have videoed myself which was very hard as I can be shy talking in front of my camera. However, I have now overcome the fears of using a camera to video myself which I think is amazing ... this skill would be beneficial for my future career, as I may have to talk in front of patients and other professionals or create a presentation." (Student D)

 The following students have also given me permission to post their work here - I think it is possible from these examples to see the variety of responses - in terms of tools and platforms used, depth of reflection and themes - to the assignment brief. In my next post I'll talk more about the teaching and learning processes involved and the impact on me as the assessor. If you'd like to leave any comments here about the students' work, please do. I'm sure they'd enjoy the feedback :)

Sarah (imovie):

Gabrielle (movie maker):

Emily (Screencast-o-matic):

Anna (Knovio):
http://view.knowledgevision.com/presentation/6cf6975f38f14a6bb5b7c4c06141ac12


Amandip (PowerPoint): http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/jchall00-2478010-leading-teams-reflective-story/ 

Mia (Prezi):

Digital storytelling - the process

image: pixabay

So the digital stories are now rolling in. Final year students on my course are all now engaged in producing their end-of-year reflections on learning.

I began the year/semester with the Photopeach video essay on professional identity and values. This had a dual purpose - introducing students to the concept of the digital reflection or story, using OER, and also familiarising them with a Web 2.0 content creation platform - a form of digital warm up.

The step up from this to the digital story is not inconsiderable - there is a narration/voice over required in this final work and the level of reflection should be higher and the content more personal - but the basic processes are the same, including the use of creative commons licensed images and music and hosting on a social platform.

To support my students in the development of their stories I have provided them with a range of resources, including a link to a really useful website - http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/ which gives an overview of how to produce a digital story from storyboard through to video editing software and lots of examples to inspire them. I also gave them a free choice as to which platform to use and showed them examples using Prezi and Knovio. Other options include Screencast-o-matic and Windows Movie Maker.

I developed a rubric or set of assessment criteria based on Moon's stages of learning (see p6:  http://www.sussex.ac.uk/education/ctlr/documents/jenny-moon-workshop---reflection-in-higher-education-learning.docx ) which I shared with the students to help them understand the level of reflection that is expected.

I am hoping that the digital stories will yield a deeper or higher level of reflection because of the medium used. In previous years when asking the final year students to reflect on the group process and their learning from it, I have in the main received traditional, theory based essays written in the academic style. I was hoping that by asking for this to be spoken, rather than written, and to include images and music, there will be a greater emotional depth to the reflections.

So far the themes emerging from the final year students reflections over the course of their University careers are much as would be expected (or hoped!). Most frequently mentioned themes are their future career plans, increasing confidence, development of communication skills, the stress of studying, worries about academic ability, developing emotional resiliance, self organisation and time management skills and overcoming all of the fears associated with starting University  - moving away from home, fitting in and making friends. Developing independence, managing work/life balance and motivation are also mentioned by quite a few. Because our course places a major emphasis on it, it is not surprising that many refer to volunteering and work experience and remark upon the transferability of skills learned to future employment. Team work was actually the most frequently mentioned theme - but as my final year students are producing this assignment for a module on teamwork and leadership, this is hardly surprising.

A less common theme, but mentioned by some students from the BME community, is the ethnic diversity within the cohort, and the tendency for those from the African diaspora to stick together. The stories of refugees' journeys - running from civil war to higher education in the UK - were particularly moving. Similarly, the mature students on the course frequently refer to the age of students and feeling "too old for school" as one put it. Some students talk about their struggles with chronic illness, learning disabilities, being bullied at school, and being the first of their families to enter higher education.

I was struck by how this form of assignment gave a voice to some who generally are not very vocal in seminars. Indeed the less formal style of expression and the freedom to be creative seemed to allow some of these quieter students to really excel. The assessment criteria for this digital story is based mainly on depth of reflection and there were some surprisingly high levels from students who do not normally do well in the usual academic assignment. On the other hand, this creative format may have been less comfortable for those used to getting high grades in essays and reports: they seemed to stick to a more formulaic response that focused on academic skills and achievements rather than their personal development.

I have assessed the levels of reflection to some extent on how much the students engage in meta- reflection - commenting on the process of learning itself, rather than simply what they have learned, on their growing self awareness and their commentary on how the process of reflection aids this. The artefacts seem fairly evenly spread between three levels: (2) making sense (able to notice and organise material to develop a reflective narrative) (3) making meaning (linking this narrative to other perspectives - including theory - and evidencing an emerging awareness of their own part in it) and (4) working with meaning (an emerging understanding of the learning process itself and increased self awareness). No-one has been stuck at the level of merely noticing (level 1) - i.e. a purely descriptive account, as most have been able to at least add some form of evaluation of their experiences. But neither have I seen much evidence of a convincing Level 5 -  that of Transformative Learning. One student came close to this with some quite deep ruminating about the influence of friendships on the successful functioning of groups: I had a sense there of a radical shift in her thinking as she explored this.

In terms of platforms used and level of technical skills, the majority used Prezi with a voice over added at each step. Next in popularity was good old PowerPoint - again with a clip of narration added to each slide, followed by Knovio, which is basically a PowerPoint presentation uploaded to the internet and then a voiceover recorded.

Two or three students have created videos in a photostory format, one did an RSA-style speeded up drawing on a whiteboard and another used Screencast-o-matic, navigating through various documents whilst discussing them.

The level of technical skill demonstrated in producing these digital stories has been variable but all have managed to produce something at least functional, attractive and audible whilst the very best are brilliantly creative, witty and original.

Quite a few students in their evaluations of the past year actually cite this assignment as amongst their favourites - of course there is a sense in which they would say that, wouldn't they? but they haven't at the same time gone overboard in their praise of me or the module itself... they simply seem to have enjoyed this and the previous student led learning activity as "different" forms of assessment which tested and developed new skills that they also recognised as valuable in the field of employment.

 What about the impact on me as the marker? On a practical level, it is fairly quick and straightforward to watch a 5-10 minute video; trying to arrive at a level is less easy, even following the rubric I developed before hand, as it is hard to interpret what someone else has learned by listening to short accounts such as these, still harder to put any sort of "value" on that learning. Nevertheless it is no harder than trying to do the same with a 2000 word reflective essay and in many ways it is a good deal more engaging, as in listening to their stories I have felt as though I am in some way sharing their journeys. The use of images, music and voice to tell their story gives these reflective accounts much more emotional impact and in many cases they feel very intimate.

That may be why in most cases the students have not made their stories public but instead chosen PowerPoint or an unlisted url on YouTube. Where they have used Prezi or Knovio, most have disguised their identities and all have been anxious to be reassured that only I (and the external examiner) will get to see and hear their finished artefacts. There are though one or two that I would dearly love to use as "promo videos" to show prospective students and I am hoping that their authors can be persuaded to go public at some point. I am incredibly proud of what they have all achieved  - on many levels - and would love to share their labours with you too, dear reader!

Facing Up to University II

Resources to aid engagement #digilit

I created a Prezi with some suggestions for using web based resources in and outside of the classroom: http://prezi.com/5nqhwsfqw0qi/ten-resources-to-easily-engage-students/


 

New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions, a photo by elycefeliz on Flickr.

The first term has ended and the first assignment has been marked. How have the first year students coped with their investigation into social networking and higher education?

My Prezi gives an update on the success of the Diigo experiment. From the assignments it can be seen that the vast majority got to grips with Diigo pretty well though whether they will continue to use it for the remainder of their studies is another issue. I feel that on balance what it did create was a greater awareness of the need to record what they are reading on the web. One or two did however get confused between a "proper" web address for their sources and the Diigo bookmark link, but then again they also had web addresses that included links via ebscohost, the vle or their own documents store. I guess this is something that just needs practice.

One of the things I really enjoyed about reading their assignments was the reference to lots of interesting sources they had discovered via web or library searches. A popular choice was José Picardo - one of whose blog posts we had worked on in a seminar. Other authors selected, who coincidentally also appear in my own PLN, include this by  Grainne Conole and this by Tristram Hooley. I admit to having picked up a lot of interesting tips for my own future reading in this area!

It was fascinating that quite a number of the students came down on the side of "social networking and education just don't mix!" whilst one or two got into the web 2.0 versus VLE debate. I wondered whether some were saying what they thought I wanted to hear ("put that mobile phone away!") but on reflection I think it is true to say that not every student is a fan of Facebook.

Some were not afraid to let me know that they find traditional lectures boring and think tutors could do more to facilitate learning through technology. Again, they may be saying what they think I want to hear, but there was a sense that students are getting to be more savvy about the dangers of social networking - distraction, cyber bullying, identity theft and reputation management - whilst at the same time recognising what a valuable role it can play in "socialisation" (no surprise there) and support for study.

As for me, I am becoming more and more disillusioned with the VLE after a week spent  uploading these assignments into the "drop box" only to find it has fallen over and refuses to give the students their feedback. Anyone got any alternatives - other than, you know, paper?

And so to my New Year's resolutions.

Well, I feel more resolved than ever to persevere with the use of  web based technology for learning, despite problems, mistakes and frustrations. I am about to start teaching a final year module based on a wiki and as the module involves group work, I am using Wikispaces which, with free HE upgrade, includes "projects" or private pages for separate groups within the one wiki. This was one of the things I used to love about Ning (before we had to pay for it), so it is a welcome addition to an already brilliant resource.

And I promise to keep blogging about it. Having completed what felt like an endless stream of marking, I am suddenly liberated - hence being able to write today's blog.

Finally, I am resolved to find simpler ways of assessing and giving feedback. I'd also like to explore self and peer assessment. If any one has any good ideas, do pass them on!

Happy New Year!

Can we diigo it?

I made this Prezi for an in house staff development conference at the end of the autumn term. 8 people showed up (about average for other sessions I went to at the same conference). Undaunted, I tweeted it and 270+ others have now viewed it. I really, really, really love throwing social networking into the HE mix :)

Can you Diigo it? on Prezi

How I got that Prezi .....

I promised @nlafferty that I would blog a little about the Prezi process and share some tips for speeding it up a little: I spent MUCH longer creating the prezi than a powerpoint, but mainly because I had to go through a big learning curve too.

Tip #1: create a story board too and rough out a design: I actually decided on the circular frames and created something on paper which allowed me to decide where I wanted to group certain ideas first.

Tip #2: think visuals first. I think Prezi is so preeminently a visual thing, the last thing you want or need is a lot of words or God forbid! bullet points... Also there is no "layering" or "ordering" on Prezi, so what goes down first is on the bottom. Put in visuals then add text on top.

Tip #3: I actually created visuals on Powerpoint first - eg found Flickr images or Clipart photos with lots of white space around them; saved the slides as separate JPEGs then uploaded to Prezi, so the image appears to emerge from the white background with no frame. Where the image was on a background, I used Powerpoint formatting to put it in a frame, added a shadow or reflection and then cropped it tightly so that it would appear to be a photo pinned to the Prezi canvas.

Note: the visuals - sourcing, converting, formatting and editing - was the most labour intensive part of the exercise. I have kept a folder of all the images used so I can re-cycle when necessary!

Tip #4 I tried to avoid motion sickness (!!) by not having too many extreme zooms, changes of direction or big panning effects. Grouping things fairly close together and making gentle moves at slight angles for the most part, big effects once in a while to jazz things up or change topic.

Tip#5 Learn from others: look at the show-cased prezis and work out how they did them; watch some of the tutorial videos. I was inspired by @adamread 's lovely prezi on designing posters.

Tip #6 Take your time! I found myself stealing an hour here and there, whilst watching TV or sitting in a hotel room during a few days working in Scotland recently, to actually work on the Prezi. It became frankly a bit addictive. I also found it a very rewarding and creative experience - I absolutely loved working with the visuals and finessing the layout.

Tip #7 STOP when it' s done: This is not a good medium for anyone of a slightly Obssessive Compulsive tendency (like me) - a point comes where you have to say, hey this is good enough!

If any one would has their own favourite tips to share, please add them in the comments below.