The virtual past for future archaeologists Hannah Cobb and Melanie Giles University of Manchester

Principle 2.1: To provide students with eLearning resources that are engaging and which encourage the pursuit of higher learning. Principle 2.3: The University will promote a blended learning model in which eLearning enhances the student experience by complementing face-to-face interactions between students and academic staff, and by supporting flexible learning and different learning styles. Principle 2.4: The University will promote the appropriate use of technologies for efficient and effective forms of both formative and summative assessments. Principle 2.7: The University will use technology to facilitate flexible approaches to learning and assessment that meet the educational needs of a diverse student population.

RLO-CETL GLOMaker and the Altar of Pergamum tutorial hca/themes/e- learning/emi_glo

Aims Review and significantly enhance the provision of archaeology specific eLearning resources in the department of Archaeology at the University of Manchester Develop a suite of eLearning resources which will be available for teaching archaeology, or adapting for teaching history and classics at other HE institutions nation-wide. Undertake a pilot study to examine the efficacy of such resources in supporting learning in the undergraduate degree.

ARGY30502 Vocational Skills 3 Level 3 Vocational Skills Course –Legislative context of archaeology and heritage –Assessed, amongst other things, by a mock DBA (50% of assessment) Issues –Students felt the DBA exercise lacked relevance –Students felt under-equipped/that they lacked the experience to produce a DBA –Key DBA resources could not be lodged in the library

To GLO or not to GLO? GLO Benefits –Easy to use, freely downloadable software –Multiple interpretation facility –Can be easily imported into any VLE GLO Limitations* –Can’t include web links/PDFs –Limited to linear navigability –Limitations in appearance *Specific to GLO V1

Orient –Introduction [What topic] –Learning Outcomes [What topic] –Why are DBAs relevant to me [Grab attention and Why learn] Understand –What is a DBA [Apprehend] –What is the purpose of a DBA [Apprehend] –Why undertake a DBA? [Apprehend] Use - DBA self test 1 [Quiz] Understand –How to create a DBA – Data collection [Comprehend] –How to create a DBA – Writing the report [Comprehend] –How to create a DBA – What should each section include? [Comprehend] –How to create a DBA – Assessing the significance of the archaeology [Comprehend] –How do DBAs fit into the archaeological planning process [Comprehend] –Who will use a completed DBA? [Apprehend] –Vox pops and transcripts giving case studies of end users of a DBA [Comprehend] Use - DBA self test 2 [Quiz] Understand - Conclusion [Apprehend]

Easy (non linear) navigability Control over layout Links to both resources and pages in Blackboard and websites/ web resources outside of Blackboard

Additional DBA Resources

I used the resources on Blackboard on a regular basis

The resources on Blackboard met my expectations of web provision for this course

The resources on Blackboard were useful for supporting what was covered in lectures

Positive feedback from the DBA tutorial resource 58% strongly agreed and 42% agreed it was clear and easy to follow 56% strongly agreed and 33% agreed it had the right amount of links to supporting documents or websites 79% of students used it more than once

I found the vox pops/recordings of who might use a DBA useful

I used the associated quizzes to test my knowledge from the online tutorial

What were the least useful aspects of the DBA resources?

What were the most useful aspects of the DBA resources?

I will use the skills I learnt from the Online tutorial in my future career

Conclusions Pilot study demonstrates eLearning resources can significantly enhance student understanding of key subjects GLO software provides a useful tool for considering pedagogical patterns - although various advantages of making an RLO outside of the GLOmaker Some areas to smooth out in future delivery (e.g. streamlining of tutorial/information available) Future online availability of the tutorial resource planned for Autumn 2009

Contact: With thanks to: The HEA History, Classics and Archaeology Subject Centre, The University of Manchester