Countdown to #jiscel10 15 days till the pre-conference activity and reading week opens.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget what it’s like to be a learner. We can get wrapped up in processes and systems, and solving our problems so much that the learner experience becomes secondary.
I had a demonstration of how poor the learner experience can be over the weekend, whilst applying for a course. The word document application form kept skipping to the wrong field, refused to let me capitalise letters, and after half an hour I decided to give up. I noticed there was also an apply online facility, and thought this had to be better.
Unfortunately it was bound to vast pick lists, couldn’t identify the course I was trying to find, and when it did I was still unsure as the details didn’t match the website description.
I had a very poor experience which left me feeling completely antagonistic to the institution.
Taken from http://farm5.static.flickr.com/3259/2447256778_9db91015f7_b.jpg on 2010-11-01
Original URL – http://www.flickr.com/30182398@N00/2447256778/ created on 2008-04-24 11:48:14
Eric E CastroCC BY 2.0
As we enter a time of reduced funding, and higher fees the user experience has to become more important.
The JISC SLiDA project has been examining how UK further and higher education institutions are supporting learners for a digital age. Working with a range of institutions, the project has created a set of web based case studies of institutional practice. These institutions have been selected for the work they are doing in translating learner experience research findings into teaching and learning practices. The case studies demonstrate how institutions are using what is known about their learners’ needs, expectations and experiences, collecting their own evidence and making use of existing research.
The case studies demonstrate a range of ways of creating and enabling opportunities that promote the development of effective learning in a digital age. This includes:
- focussing on induction support (Abingdon and Witney College)
- meeting students expectations for using personal technology (Birkenhead Sixth Form College)
- listening to student voices (University of Glamorgan)
- developing learning spaces to meet learners’ needs (Edinburgh University)
- supporting student enterprise (University of Surrey)
- embedding learners into the curriculum (University of Salford)
- developing graduate attributes through blended learning (University of Wolverhampton).
The ultimate aim is to promote strategies which support learners to develop the access, skills, strategies and attributes they need to learn effectively with technology.
Participants of this “Have a Go” area will have the opportunity to first, explore the case studies, which have been specifically produced for web viewing and are illustrated by audio and video extracts; and then go to the Digital Literacies Pilot Materials Cloudscape on CloudWorks where they will find materials that can be used in their own institution to support staff, curriculum and institutional development in response to the digital literacies agenda.
The Conference runs from the 23rd – 26th November 2010, BUT the pre-conference activity and reading week opens on 16th November 2010 and offers a chance to become familiar with the conference environment and try out innovative JISC projects in the ‘have-a-go’ area.
See you there!
Book online – early registration advisable for full participation in the pre-conference week
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/elpconference10/booking
Delegate fee:£50