Empowering students to develop a ‘user friendly’ framework for Learn

The staff/student team who secured a Teaching Innovation Award to understand how to make the most of Learn are well underway with their collaborative project.

During the summer the team undertook an audit of all 2014/15 Undergraduate Learn pages used within the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS). The audit was set against the University’s minimum requirements for the virtual learning environment (VLE) whilst also considering the presentation of educational material. Each page was rated on a scale of 1 – 5 with a short description of content and layout.

Once the SSEHS course reps had been decided, the project team met with them and presented a selection of audited Learn pages to gather their feedback against the criteria used in the audit. Student feedback on these pages supported initial findings from the audit and the researchers were able to identify both examples of good practice and those where there was ‘room for improvement’.

The research team have just developed an on-line survey using Survey Monkey which aims to capture student perception and use of Learn. This will be circulated to all SSEHS students and they are hoping for a good response. The responses from this and additional focus groups will inform the planning for a workshop in which students will work with a VLE specialist from the Higher Education Academy to develop the School’s Learn provision.

The team leading this project which has relevance for the VLE use within and beyond SSEHS are Dr Hilary McDermott, Dr Ashley Casey, Lee Barnett and student Said Ibeggazene.