1. Developing the Guided Learner Journey
Paul Hudson - User Experience Development Manager
Helen Barefoot - Deputy Director of the Learning and Teaching Innovation Centre
University of Hertfordshire

2. Very much embedded into the University culture and working practices.
Background
Facilitates a continuum of student engagement from blended approaches to online distance learning
2001 – Studynet launched
Receives 17,000 unique logins
Manages over 250,000 assignment submissions
Very much embedded into the University culture and working practices.

3. Looking to the future The need to change:
Limitations of the programming software
Reliance on small team for developments
Future proofing
Mobile compatibility
University wide consultation (2014)
Discussion forums with staff from all 10 academic Schools
Student focus groups including students from all Schools and all levels of study
Online forums with distance learning/online students
Idea gathering at our annual learning and teaching conference and our partner conference
Meetings within the Hertfordshire Students’ Union
Discussion forums with the Doctoral College including supervisors and PGR students
Alumni survey

4. Phased Implement- ation
Change Process
Consultation
Agree aspirations for new Online Learning Environment
Consult on requirements
Identify potential challenges for staff and students and identify strategies to overcome these
Prototyping
and piloting
Pilot module: ‘Academic Skills’
Full-scale pilot – 26 live Guided Learner Journey modules
Tender
Process
All feedback from consultations, prototypes, engagement events and pilots captured and prioritised into tender document
Competitive process to identify partners
Phased Implement- ation
Extensive staff and students training programme
Year 4 modules September 2017
All other modules from September 2018

5. University wide agreed Principles
Be simple and intuitive to use and developed around the needs of students and staff
Provide a personalised portal that will support a range of pedagogically sound learning and assessment opportunities
Facilitate effective communication between staff and students; students and their peers; and students and their representatives
Facilitate the provision of a consistent experience across a student’s modules
Give students a clear sense of their learning pathways (within each module and across their modules)
Enable students to enhance their learning pathways and create a record of their learning by annotating, adding to it and sharing it as they see fit
Provide effective data analytic and module feedback mechanisms to facilitate module enhancement, student success and student satisfaction
Seamlessly integrate third party services, giving staff and students greater choice in how to support and engage in learning

6. What it needed to have
Areas for peer interactivity, collaboration and sharing
A single portal - access integrated University services
Personalisation for individuals using the student record -allowing for personal customisation, features and tools
Rich assessment and feedback workflows and supporting tools
A single communications channel -targeted messages for groups and events

7. What we want in relation to the Guided Learner Journey
Module sites should provide a consistent presentation of learning activities and resources
Provision of a timeline / overview for learning activities and assessment points at module and programme level
Students should be able to comment on and supplement the resources and learning activities
A more effective search functionality should be available
Simple mechanisms should be available to provide links to journals, eBooks and other external resources
Students should be able to customise / personalise their view of the module site, including alternative views of the GLJ by, for example, topic rather than timeline
Module sites should provide a consistent presentation of learning activities and resources
There should be provision of a timeline / overview for learning activities and assessment points at module and programme level
Students should be able to comment on and supplement the resources and learning activities in the GLJ
A more effective search functionality should be available
Simple mechanisms should be available to provide links to journals, eBooks and other external resources
Students should be able to customise / personalise their view of the module site, including alternative views of the GLJ by, for example, topic rather than timeline

8. Prototypes and pilot modules
What did module leaders like?
Defined structure - prompted additional thinking about how they layout their course and supporting materials.
Look and feel of module sites.

9. Tender process and selecting partners

10. Implementation

11. Staff and Student Guidance

12. Training and Support Extensive regular programme of workshops
Staff member feedback:
‘I love [the GLJ] and I’m so happy we got training before the summer starts. Everything has been so well organised.’
Level 4 student feedback
‘It supports me a lot, as it is very easy to access and it gives me notifications on anything important and any work that needs to be completed; therefore it helps me to be prepared.’
Level 4 student feedback
‘It allows me to see the structure of my module and how it’s split into different parts. This helps me when planning out my revision.’
Extensive regular programme of workshops
One-to-one sessions
Office walks and drop ins
Programme, subject-level or School-level bespoke workshops
Training videos
Online guidance documents
Online module for staff
20 student technology mentors to support staff on a one-to-one basis

13. Conclusion Staff and Student consultation
Discussions
Agreement of Vision and Principles
Prototyping and Piloting
Tender process
Implementation
Staff and Student consultation
Partnership working both with students and commercial providers

14. Thank you