15 - Janet Counsell

Title

Bringing a sense of place to cyber space

Author(s)

Janet Counsell*, Wicking Research and Education Centre
Tanya Wadwell*, Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, Faculty of Health

Subtheme

Students as Partners and Building an Inclusive Culture

Presentation Type

Spotlight on Practice

Room

Academy Gallery

Time

14.20-15.20

Abstract

Background: The Bachelor of Dementia Care is an on-line course with approximately 1500 students currently enrolled. There are no pre-requisites for entry. There are two full time student advisers. Part of the interface with the students is the Common Room, a space set up to emulate a real time, real space meeting place for students. All of our students are in cyberspace and it is important for them to feel part of a supported community.
Objectives: To evaluate strategies developed to personalise or humanise distance learning.
Methods: One strategy that has been developed is a series of interactive recorded videos, also known as vignettes, to explore learning concepts such as paraphrasing and summarising and ethical academic writing. Another strategy is the establishment of discussion boards, both monitored and unmonitored, to provide a personal connection to the course and fellow students. We are documenting the participation of students in the vignettes and discussion boards and evaluating students’ comments to measure the effectiveness of seeing, hearing and interacting with staff and colleagues in this digital format.
Results: Preliminary data, collected in August 2016, documents 5,608 visits to the MYLO common room during semester 2: 381 students have viewed the summarising vignette, 300 used the paraphrasing vignette and 292 used the vignette on academic integrity. Qualitative data from student posts are currently being analysed.
Discussion: Evidence suggests that a sense of individual identity and a sense of place frequently precedes a sense of being a member of an on-line learning community. Our data will contribute to this evidence base. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss the two implemented strategies, including comparing the impact of monitored and unmonitored discussion boards.
Implications: Successful on-line learning strategies highlight the social and informal dimensions of a more humanised cyber space.
References
Andrew, M. 2012, Humanizing e-lecturers and engaging online writing learners via dialogic video. In M. Brown, M. Harnett & T. Stewart (Eds), Future challenges, sustainable futures. In Proceedings ascilite, Wellington 2012. (pp.40-49).
Moore, MG 2013, Handbook of Distance Education, Taylor and Francis. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [1 November 2016].
Northcote, M. (2008). Sense of place in online learning environments. In Hello! Where are you in the landscape of educational technology? Proceedings ascilite Melbourne 2008. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne08/procs/northcote.pdf.
Picciano, A. (2002).’ Beyond student perceptions: Issues of interaction, presence, and performance in an online course’. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, vol. 6, no. 1, pp.21-40.

Resource

Download presentation (requires University of Tasmania login) (PDF)