“It’s not fun anymore” An ongoing evaluation of an online learning course

Learning is social

You can encourage social interaction: Discussion boards Real time chat activities Activities which require interaction with course materials Collaborative activities Tutor available for support and feedback

“it’s not fun anymore”

Background Promoting continence course for registered nurses, 30 credits at level 3. Delivered online, with 3 face to face study days. Commenced January 2005 and recruited 7 students, 2 from N. Ireland. Course end postponed until August Evaluation anecdotal.

Learning Learning is transformation of knowledge that occurs when a student interacts with information Carr-Chellum and Duchastel 2000 more interactions = more learning

Structure Family Activities Resources Session introduction Discussion board Real time chatsTutor feedback

Face to face 1 ensure students had the skills to use the website and the tools available such as real time chats. 2&3 to allow students to discuss and learn about specific clinical skills, which would be more difficult to learn online e.g digital rectal examination.

Tutors Two tutors; one academic and one specialist in continence Role to guide the weekly real time chat sessions and to give feedback to students on discussion postings

Evaluation The tutors experiences throughout the course The ongoing comments from students as they progress through the course The transcripts from the weekly RTC Course questionnaire - ongoing

Learning from others Energy Time -employers -management -research -3 month course extension Feedback Relationships Issues

There is something missing and what is missing is what made the learning fun

Learning Learning is transformation of knowledge that occurs when a student interacts with information Carr-Chellum and Duchastel 2000 more interactions = more learning

Learning “Learning is in the conditions that bring people together and organize a point of contact that allows for a particular piece of information to take on relevance; without the points of contact, without the system of relevance's, there is not learning, there is little memory. Learning does not belong to individual persons, but to the various conversations of which they are a part” Lave and Wenger 1991:29

Learning Learning is not just the acquisition of knowledge by individuals so much as the process of social participation. Lave and Wenger 1991

Situational Learning Rather than asking what kind of cognitive processes and conceptual structures are involved, ask what kind of social engagements provide the proper context for learning to take place Hanks 1991:14

Social learning The process by means of which an agent’s acquisition of new information is caused or favoured by their being exposed to one another in a common environment Social facilitation and social imitation

Social Facilitation A mechanism by means of which a given agent updates his/her knowledge base, including social and pragmatic knowledge, by observing and perceiving others’ relationship with their physical or social environment, their features and behaviours.

Social Imitation Where the agent is ruled by two social goals concerning someone: 1.Know what the other persons does, how he behaves and how he looks in order to find out standards, rules or as a means to achieve own goals 2.Adopt other persons goals as long as the person is perceived to be a suitable model in the circumstances

How can we extend the classroom walls yet still retain what students’ value most from the classroom setting ?

Thoughts With experience can learners learn how to develop social relations online? E.g s Should online learning only be used to supplement/enhance classroom learning, not replace? Is collaboration online really the same as face to face relationships? How can the fun be put back into online learning?

Discussion