Technology brings classroom experience to distance learners

Course materials can be downloaded on to mobile devices and accessed by students wherever they are. Photograph: Mike Harrington/Lifesize

Students on the University of Leicester's new distance learning MSc in security, conflict and international development face more challenges than the average distance learner. For example, some students might spend weeks with no access to an internet connection, working in a refugee camp in post-conflict countries. How does the university make sure these remote students have everything they needed to carry out their studies?

"When you're doing that sort of thing, you can't be carrying huge folders of printed material," says Prof Adrian Beck, head of the university's department of criminology. "It struck us that we needed to find a way for them to transport our materials that is highly flexible but low-weight, and gives them access to all the material they will need while on the go."

The solution was to give every student on the course a free iPad, on to which they could download a bespoke app and all the course materials. Despite concerns from the university about security and technical support, the plan has gone smoothly. A few months into the MSc, no iPads have been lost or stolen and students have responded with enthusiasm.

Distance-learning providers already use virtual learning environments (VLEs) to enable students to read documents online, contact tutors, submit coursework, or engage in discussions with other students. But the increasing popularity of smartphones, iPads and Kindles means that universities are now responding to student demand to access those resources from their mobile devices.

The Open University (OU), for example, is developing a new generation of interactive course materials for tablet computers and has just launched OU Anywhere, a tablet and smartphone app that enables students to download all the course materials they need on to their mobile devices. The app also allows users to access the university's VLE to interact with fellow students and tutors. For distance learners, who often struggle to combine studying with full-time work, this provides a new flexibility. Prof Mike Sharples, chair in educational technology at the OU, says mobile devices are ideal for students who want to study during lunchbreaks or quiet moments at work, or on the train home.

As the cost of technology falls, mobile devices become more powerful and cross-platform development becomes simpler, it seems inevitable that universities will start to take mobile devices into account when they design learning resources.

Stuart Sutherland, senior development and delivery manager at the University of Derby Online, which has recently introduced an app to allow mobile access to its VLE, thinks that the advent of free Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) is forcing traditional universities to raise their game, and to design content specifically for a mobile environment, such as short videos or podcasts. "The small video explaining a difficult mathematic or scientific phenomenon is always a better way of explaining that than text," says Sutherland. Terese Bird, a learning technologist at the University of Leicester who is evaluating the impact of tablets in distance learning, argues that mobiles can be ideal for bite-sized learning: "One benefit identified by scholars is that if you learn something in short frequent bursts, you may very well be able to learn better than doing a five-hour study spree at the weekend."

Opportunities for social learning open up when students use mobile devices: the OU, for example, plans to allow students to share their e-reader annotations online, and to see which other students are reading the same text and chat online to them about it. The Leicester MSc students have an app that allows them to see where other students on their course are located and make contact with them. They can also make video calls to their tutors in given time slots or they can ask written questions, with the answers then made available to other students. Twitter functionality will be built into the next iteration of the app. As one student, RAF squadron leader Julian Turner, says: "I will often be using a note-taking app, ebook reader app and mind mapping app concurrently when studying."

Mobile devices offer not just convenience and flexibility, but potentially a new way of studying. Equipped with cameras, video and sound recorders, and GPS, they enable students to become creators as well as users of information – by recording a short video for a course assessment, for example. John Traxler, professor of mobile learning at the University of Wolverhampton, says mobile technologies can be used to help undergraduates "think like scientists, to have hypotheses and test them by gathering data in the wild rather than re-enacting what Michael Faraday did 200 years ago".

It may be early days, but the potential for using mobile technologies to transform the experience of distance learning is huge. As Beck says: "Distance learning has gone from being something pretty static and lonely to something that is much more dynamic and interactive, and you can find ways to engage students in a community of learners that was quite difficult to do in the past."

View the original article here

Careers built on distance learning

 A starting position as a bank teller can lead to bigger things. Photograph: Alamy

James Elwood left school with a clutch of good A-level grades, but despite pressure from his teachers to consider university he took an entry-level job as bank cashier.

Four years and several promotions later, he works for Santander as a business manager, providing advice and support to small companies. He has also completed a degree in business studies with the Open University, which delivers all its courses via distance learning – an experience he thinks has played a key role in his success.

"When I had to write essays, I was analysing my experiences with the companies I worked for, so the process helped me become a better employee," he explains.

Combining work with distance learning has allowed Nick Walker to set up his own business at the age of 19. He is currently taking a degree-equivalent course in games development via the online learning provider train2game. The course typically takes about three years to complete. In the meantime, he earns an income from his app development company Icey Monty, which he set up with fellow student John Esslemont.

According to Zoe Molyneux, external affairs and communications manager at the Studentroom, the UK's biggest online forum for students, more young people are exploring distance and part-time learning options. "This is partly down to rising tuition fees, but also questions about whether a degree will guarantee them a job at the end. So they're keen to find out if there are other ways of achieving their goals," she says.

In recognition of this, more colleges and higher education institutions are upping the range of part-time and distance learning they offer, including blended learning (a mix of distance and face-to-face learning), foundation degrees (two-year courses with a focus on work-based learning) and more vocational courses like higher national certificates.

Walker feels he made the right choice. Not only does the money he is making cover the cost of his studies, but he is debt-free and can afford to take time out when it suits him – he plans to spend a couple of months later in the year skiing. "I've got the time and the funds to actually have a social life as well, which is good."

Now 22, Elwood owns his own home and car and thinks he is "four rungs up the ladder" from friends who chose the university route. "Instead of being 22 with a degree and one year of work experience, I've got a degree and nearly five years of work experience behind me ... I don't regret my decision one bit."

View the original article here

Careers built on distance learning

A starting position as a bank teller can lead to bigger things. Photograph: Alamy

James Elwood left school with a clutch of good A-level grades, but despite pressure from his teachers to consider university he took an entry-level job as bank cashier.

Four years and several promotions later, he works for Santander as a business manager, providing advice and support to small companies. He has also completed a degree in business studies with the Open University, which delivers all its courses via distance learning – an experience he thinks has played a key role in his success.

"When I had to write essays, I was analysing my experiences with the companies I worked for, so the process helped me become a better employee," he explains.

Combining work with distance learning has allowed Nick Walker to set up his own business at the age of 19. He is currently taking a degree-equivalent course in games development via the online learning provider train2game. The course typically takes about three years to complete. In the meantime, he earns an income from his app development company Icey Monty, which he set up with fellow student John Esslemont.

According to Zoe Molyneux, external affairs and communications manager at the Studentroom, the UK's biggest online forum for students, more young people are exploring distance and part-time learning options. "This is partly down to rising tuition fees, but also questions about whether a degree will guarantee them a job at the end. So they're keen to find out if there are other ways of achieving their goals," she says.

In recognition of this, more colleges and higher education institutions are upping the range of part-time and distance learning they offer, including blended learning (a mix of distance and face-to-face learning), foundation degrees (two-year courses with a focus on work-based learning) and more vocational courses like higher national certificates.

Walker feels he made the right choice. Not only does the money he is making cover the cost of his studies, but he is debt-free and can afford to take time out when it suits him – he plans to spend a couple of months later in the year skiing. "I've got the time and the funds to actually have a social life as well, which is good."

Now 22, Elwood owns his own home and car and thinks he is "four rungs up the ladder" from friends who chose the university route. "Instead of being 22 with a degree and one year of work experience, I've got a degree and nearly five years of work experience behind me ... I don't regret my decision one bit."

View the original article here

Technology brings classroom experience to distance learners

 Course materials can be downloaded on to mobile devices and accessed by students wherever they are. Photograph: Mike Harrington/Lifesize

Students on the University of Leicester's new distance learning MSc in security, conflict and international development face more challenges than the average distance learner. For example, some students might spend weeks with no access to an internet connection, working in a refugee camp in post-conflict countries. How does the university make sure these remote students have everything they needed to carry out their studies?

"When you're doing that sort of thing, you can't be carrying huge folders of printed material," says Prof Adrian Beck, head of the university's department of criminology. "It struck us that we needed to find a way for them to transport our materials that is highly flexible but low-weight, and gives them access to all the material they will need while on the go."

The solution was to give every student on the course a free iPad, on to which they could download a bespoke app and all the course materials. Despite concerns from the university about security and technical support, the plan has gone smoothly. A few months into the MSc, no iPads have been lost or stolen and students have responded with enthusiasm.

Distance-learning providers already use virtual learning environments (VLEs) to enable students to read documents online, contact tutors, submit coursework, or engage in discussions with other students. But the increasing popularity of smartphones, iPads and Kindles means that universities are now responding to student demand to access those resources from their mobile devices.

The Open University (OU), for example, is developing a new generation of interactive course materials for tablet computers and has just launched OU Anywhere, a tablet and smartphone app that enables students to download all the course materials they need on to their mobile devices. The app also allows users to access the university's VLE to interact with fellow students and tutors. For distance learners, who often struggle to combine studying with full-time work, this provides a new flexibility. Prof Mike Sharples, chair in educational technology at the OU, says mobile devices are ideal for students who want to study during lunchbreaks or quiet moments at work, or on the train home.

As the cost of technology falls, mobile devices become more powerful and cross-platform development becomes simpler, it seems inevitable that universities will start to take mobile devices into account when they design learning resources.

Stuart Sutherland, senior development and delivery manager at the University of Derby Online, which has recently introduced an app to allow mobile access to its VLE, thinks that the advent of free Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) is forcing traditional universities to raise their game, and to design content specifically for a mobile environment, such as short videos or podcasts. "The small video explaining a difficult mathematic or scientific phenomenon is always a better way of explaining that than text," says Sutherland. Terese Bird, a learning technologist at the University of Leicester who is evaluating the impact of tablets in distance learning, argues that mobiles can be ideal for bite-sized learning: "One benefit identified by scholars is that if you learn something in short frequent bursts, you may very well be able to learn better than doing a five-hour study spree at the weekend."

Opportunities for social learning open up when students use mobile devices: the OU, for example, plans to allow students to share their e-reader annotations online, and to see which other students are reading the same text and chat online to them about it. The Leicester MSc students have an app that allows them to see where other students on their course are located and make contact with them. They can also make video calls to their tutors in given time slots or they can ask written questions, with the answers then made available to other students. Twitter functionality will be built into the next iteration of the app. As one student, RAF squadron leader Julian Turner, says: "I will often be using a note-taking app, ebook reader app and mind mapping app concurrently when studying."

Mobile devices offer not just convenience and flexibility, but potentially a new way of studying. Equipped with cameras, video and sound recorders, and GPS, they enable students to become creators as well as users of information – by recording a short video for a course assessment, for example. John Traxler, professor of mobile learning at the University of Wolverhampton, says mobile technologies can be used to help undergraduates "think like scientists, to have hypotheses and test them by gathering data in the wild rather than re-enacting what Michael Faraday did 200 years ago".

It may be early days, but the potential for using mobile technologies to transform the experience of distance learning is huge. As Beck says: "Distance learning has gone from being something pretty static and lonely to something that is much more dynamic and interactive, and you can find ways to engage students in a community of learners that was quite difficult to do in the past."

View the original article here

Fostering global discourse: it's time to embrace distance learning

Is it time traditional higher education welcomed and developed distance learning courses? Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian

Many people in higher education think of distance learning the same way one would a distant cousin: aware of its existence, perhaps even thinks well of them, but reluctant to pick up the phone and find out how they are doing. And like the cousin you don't know well, the justification for your lack of interest is that distance learning is just a little bit awkward.

Distance learning is reputedly characterised by clunky online interfaces, isolation and generally conspiring to make students – and staff – miss out on so many of the things that make university life so attractive: daily interaction with people who think like we do. We imagine it to be just a depleted version of the 'real thing'.

But in the same way that reconnecting with a distant relative can teach you things about yourself that daily interaction with your closest friends can't, distance learning has things to offer that are difficult to find in a traditional university course. An good example of this is its capacity to instantly connect to people from all over the world. At the Centre for Alternative Technology, we run a range of specialist renewable energy and sustainable architecture masters degrees. Our distance learning course has enabled us to create a course that gives sustainability a global perspective.

A distance learning course puts students into a classroom that spans the whole world. It means the range of perspectives that are brought into that classroom are more diverse than any other method of learning. For a course based on sustainability this is crucial. Sustainability shouldn't be taught as an abstract theory amongst a group of people that all basically come from the same background, it should be taught as a discourse amongst people with diverse experiences of its practical application. Many other fields would benefit from similar thinking.

Of course, all university courses will have some international dimension to their intake. But the barriers of increasingly restrictive visa regulations and high cost mean that, in reality, physically attending a course in the UK is becoming increasingly difficult for many overseas students. Academic discourse will suffer if we can't find alternative models, such as distance learning, for bringing students together.

Without a doubt there are features of attending university that distance learning courses will never be able to emulate. I've spoken to students on residential degrees at the Centre for Alternative Technology who say they learn as much from chatting to lecturers or other students in the tea breaks as they do from the lectures. Earl Wilson's quip: "Science may never come up with a better office communication system than the coffee break", rings true. Still, there are also unique benefits to joining the online classroom that can never be found in a traditional university course.

If the benefits of higher education rest on the personal connections that students aspire to make, then we must ask what experiences are of value – if students just want to meet other people their own age to go out drinking with on a Friday night then sure, that is not what a distance learning course offers. If, however, students are looking to be part of seminars with people with a genuine plethora of life experiences, this is the extra element that a distance learning course can offer.

Distance learning doesn't create distances between people, it bridges the distances that already exist and connects diverse people. And the tools are improving to help universities do this better. So rather than simply acknowledge that distance learning exists in a universe far removed from the traditional university campus, it might be time to get to know this 'distant cousin' and learn what it has to add to the strength, and diversity, of UK HE.

Kit Jones is media officer at the Centre for Alternative Technology

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View the original article here