1. www.le.ac.uk/accessability AccessAbility Centre Access to Study Skills Online Study Guides Fiona White and Matthew Mobbs

2. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Background AccessAbility Centre offers: Face-to-face study support for students with Specific Learning Difficulties 4 Study Advisers offering 6 x 1 hour long appointments per day 676 students with SpLDs registered with Centre University of Leicester 22,802 students in total 8,651 (38%) distance learners Only 36 distance learners with SpLDs registered with Centre

3. www.le.ac.uk/accessability New Approach To engage and support DL students and a new approach for campus based students 10 Online Study Guides Designed based on ‘most frequently requested’ study support sessions

4. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Pedagogical Design Multisensory approach preferred by students with SpLDs (Mortimore, 2003). – Visuals – colour, images and subtitles – Audio – Voice over – Kinaesthetic – Interactivity Length and style – Kept short to hold students’ attention. Approx 10 minutes each (Edirisingha, Salmon, Nie. 2008) – Mixed approaches: interactive activities, information and guidance and informal tone (Edirisingha, Salmon, Nie. 2008)

5. www.le.ac.uk/accessability The Guides Writing an Essay710 hits Active Reading505 Time Management and Organisation414 Writing a Dissertation413 Improving Concentration356 Exam Skills345 Improving Memory308 Note Taking Skills271 Spelling Strategies238 Making Notes206

6. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Example

7. www.le.ac.uk/accessability How they were made PowerPoint Adobe Presenter

8. www.le.ac.uk/accessability How they were made PowerPoint Adobe Presenter

9. www.le.ac.uk/accessability How they were made PowerPoint Adobe Presenter http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

10. www.le.ac.uk/accessability How they were made PowerPoint Adobe Presenter PowerPoint Plugin Combine Audio and visuals Published to the Web

11. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Alternative Free Tools www.screenr.com

12. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Alternative Free Tools www.slideshare.net http://www.slideshare.net/uolssds/writing-an-essay

13. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Raising Awareness Cards - posters Web Blackboard YouTube Podcasts Course Handbooks Direct mailing to distance learners Email to all dyslexic students

14. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Feedback Methodology Monitoring hits –3766 in total by June 2011 –Indication of support needs –Patterns of use (seasonal and time of day) Survey (online)online –Capturing learner type (distance or campus-based) –Qualitative written feedback Focus Groups –2 focus groups Formal Student interview Informal feedback via study advice sessions

15. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Feedback Students have been positive about the resources: appreciating different elements of the delivery depending on learning styles; using the guides in a variety of ways, ie. 1) when it was difficult to get a face to face session, 2) to prepare for a meeting with a Study Adviser, 3) as consolidation after a study advice session.

16. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Feedback Some students viewed the guides a number of times. They appreciated being able to access the guides 24/7. Comments included: ‘I liked the ‘Improving Memory’ one in particular: they had a sort of practical memory test right there and then. You can see that it actually works; and it stayed in my memory for longer…’ ‘…it’s nice to have this preliminary stuff done and out of the way so you can really concentrate on a specific area…You’ve built on something so when you get to the study adviser she can push you further’.

17. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Feedback – Points for improvement Students didn’t like font size and theme. There is no ability to change this on Adobe Connect. Some students wanted to be able to skip whole sections of the presentation. Students wanted more control over the pacing of the material. Some students wanted more examples. It was suggested that more in-depth presentations follow on from these ‘short intro’ guides

18. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Future Developments Study guides to be signposted to every student booking a study advice session iTunesU and YouTubeYouTube One to one study advice sessions to be offered remotely using web conferencing tools e.g. Skype and Elluminate.

19. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Examples of study guides Improving Memory http://connect.le.ac.uk/memory Essay Writing http://connect.le.ac.uk/essaywriting

20. www.le.ac.uk/accessability Contact details Fiona White Study Adviser 0116 252 5002 fmw4@le.ac.uk Matt Mobbs Learning Technologist mjm33@le.ac.uk Twitter: @mjmobbsBlog: mjmobbs.com 0116 229 7753