ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF THE E- LEARNING STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION AT WALTER SISULU UNIVERSITY Presenter: T. Mayisela E-learning Specialist Mthatha Campus; Acting Manager, Education Technology and Innovation Unit Centre for Learning and Teaching Development

Presentation Outline Background E-learning strategy E-learning targets Towards blended learning Success factors Current successes Frequently used tools Monitoring Evaluation Conclusion and Recommendations 1/9/2016

Background WSU, a developing university situated in the Eastern Cape in South Africa, commits itself to providing technological learner-centred education, innovative learning and teaching, and opportunities for life-long learning. Challenges: –less prepared students, –low pass rates Most of these students come from a poor educational background and often find it difficult to cope with the teaching styles such as formal lectures and with study skills such as private reading, note taking, time management, asking questions in large groups, team/project work and IT competence (Lowe & Cook 2003). 1/9/2016

E-learning strategy The four focus areas are: Setting up and maintaining the electronic learning environment; Promoting awareness of the University stakeholders about the electronic learning environment and possibilities this offers them; Capacitating academic staff on e-learning; and Ensuring student participation in e-learning 1/9/2016

E-learning Targets Each year there will be 20 lecturers rewarded for their best e-learning practices at the grassroot events By 2012, 25% of the lecturers use WiSeUp as a learning management tool (at least: put their PPT’s on WiSeUp) By 2012, 100% of the lecturers put their course outlines on WiSeUp By 2012, all first year students are introduced to e-learning techniques By 2012, 25% of classrooms to have data projectors and also smartboards in all e-learning centres 1/9/2016

Towards Blended Learning Web Enhanced Hybrid (Blended) Passive learners, behaviourist Course Documents Power Point Notes Lecturer = Subject Expert Lecturer Centered Lecturer provides content Group Work Active learner, constructivist Interactive Web learning tools Online discussions Student Centered Lecturer Presence Student is responsible for content gathering Community Building 1/9/2016

Success Factors Institutional Factors Organizational Readiness with managerial support Resources are available and supportive, including technical support with informed and supported faculty, Introduced as a scholarly and transformative redesign process (not just an add-on technology) Lecturers Continued Professional development Ongoing Pedagogical Support Students Recognize student need for time management and responsibility for their learning 1/9/2016

Success Factors (Cont…) Pedagogic Lecturer’s knowledge of the technical tools and their fit to the content delivery and students Build an integrated model of activities so that expectations can be reinforced as ‘before, during and after’ F2F activities 1/9/2016

Current Successes  Setting up and maintaining the electronic learning environment 411 PCs in 10 computer labs; ( in progress) across WSU campuses Staff development labs (3 campuses; 4 th one in progress) Since 2009, WSU has made tremendous progress in the use of blended learning; adopted Blackboard (overview) (renamed WiSeUp) Since 2010, all courses, including all students are loaded on WiSeUp All students registered for support courses (academic advising and WRC) WiSeUp Helpdesk 1/9/2016

Current Successes (cont…)  Promoting awareness The CLTD webpage was revamped in 2009, ongoing updates Newsletter, Issue 6; Brochures Grassroots events, conferences  Capacitating academic staff on e-learning Trained at Basic and Intermediate level, Grassroots & Conference presenters Trained at Basic and Intermediate level, Grassroots & Conference presenters WiSeUp Helpdesk  Ensuring student participation in e-learning 2378 students trained on WiSeUp (2010), 2359 students (2011) e-Learning assistants (all campuses) trained on WiSeUp; 75 in 2010, 77 in 2011 Active courses; 328 (2010) and 586 (2011) 1/9/2016

Frequently used tools Powerpoint, Ms Word, PDF files, Web resources , Blogs, Journals, Discussion forums Assessment tools (built-in, Respondus) Survey (Evaluation of teaching) Safe Assign 1/9/2016

Monitoring Bbat: –Active courses (updated) –Access patterns –Number of clicks per item Course tools –Reports –Performance dashboards –Early warning system 1/9/2016

Evaluation Staff and students’ perceptions and experiences Impact of e-learning per course (trained lecturer, students) – pass rates pre and post e-learning implementation 1/9/2016

Methodology Case study approach (Nuffic pilot departments) Questionnaires (mixed method) 15 of 44 (34%) responded 1/9/2016

Design for Blended Learning Consider –Teaching Styles –Learning Styles Auditory Visual Kinaesthetic (BenZion, 1999; Gadner, 1983) –Active learning: Engaging students in the learning process 1/9/2016

Findings Basic – 27% Intermediate -73 % As a result of training –Loaded materials - 80% –Announcement – 13% –Not responded – 7% 1/9/2016

Findings: Advantages Easy, flexible, work on the course at your own pace and time – 73% Provide ease of communication and access to online material – 60% Can be used in the office and at home – 53% Will offer cost effective measures for my department – 33% 1/9/2016

Finding: Challenges Reduction of face-to-face contact with students – 13% Materials development is time consuming -53% Lack of IT, technical skills among staff – 40% Insufficient e-learning training and support provided -0% Lack of support from top management – 13% The current state of computers in our offices is not good -20% Technical problems and challenges in accessing online materials – 60% 1/9/2016

Findings Promoted collaborative learning - 53 % Access rich information from various sources – 47% Allowed my students to evaluate one another’s responses – 40% Created a platform for lecturer and students to communicate about the subject matter - 60% Created the possibility for students to work on their own even when it is impossible to hold classes -60% 1/9/2016

Findings (cont…) To interact with learning materials – 67% To construct knowledge more effectively – 27% Students’ retention of knowledge – 33% To engage in group work – 40% Improved my students’ pass rate – 13% 1/9/2016

Conclusion and Recommendation E-learning adoption rate is increasing satisfactorily at WSU Learning, teaching techniques, e-pedagogy Use of Open courseware e.g. MIT Make optimal use of the limited resources Explore potential use of electronic resources/integrated systems for learning, teaching, support services. 1/9/2016

Thank you Questions 1/9/2016