The aim of this contribution is to provide a resource to instructional designers that they can use with educators and students to trigger reflection on practice and the opportunities open education could bring to learning and teaching and also build related capacity and capabilities to make informed changes where they see there would be benefits for their students. A scaffold and supported approach is recommended that can lead progressively to learner autonomy, peer-to-peer learning and help students connect with networks and communities. We are briefly reporting on a study in which the team explored the perceptions of quality learning of ethnically diverse students at four universities in the United Kingdom and use some of our findings around independent learning as a trigger for this contribution and the activation we share. This activation aims to be a hands-on inquiry to be used in staff and student development sessions and activities to enable participants to open-up and explore alternative ways of learning and teaching that have the potential to lead to more connected experiences and personal growth and maturity as a learner.

A recent collaborative enhancement study funded by the Quality Assurance Agency in the UK, led by the University of Portsmouth and partners Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Nottingham and Solent University investigated differing perceptions of quality of learning of ethnically diverse students, and particularly Black, Asian and Ethnic Minorities, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pandemic reached the UK in Semester 2 of the academic year 2019-20, having started in China in autumn 2019. Our study took place in the academic year 202-21. We surveyed (n=835) first and second year undergraduate students at the four aforementioned UK universities on Health Science, Business, Accounting, Engineering and Computing programmes. Students demonstrated resourcefulness and flexibility to engage with video resources in an active way and saw them as valuable for their learning (Dunbar-Morris et al., 2021). While this was encouraging, the findings also indicated that students missed being part of a learning community, closer connection, support and collaboration with their tutors and peers, but also making friends. The majority of students seemed to look primarily inwards to their programme and their institution for resources. Wellbeing, academic support and overall their experience did not seem to meet their perceived needs. This is a limitation in the approach students are using for their learning as it has been recognised that a wider support network and contacts beyond the course they study can be invaluable for their experience, performance and success (Adey, 2021).

Our findings provided valuable food for thought to the team of researchers and have the potential to inform practices in their own institutions, and further afield, to remedy some of the key challenges experienced during the pandemic and we have done this through our recommendations (Dunbar-Morris, 2021). One possible practice to motivate students to learn independently will be described in the next sections.

We will engage you in activating your thinking, reflection and actions to make evidence-informed changes to learning and teaching. Our contribution and the activation specifically could be considered by academic teams across disciplines and professional areas, as well as academic and learning developers and learning technologists, to address loneliness, support wellbeing, academic engagement and further strengthen and co-create with students flexible and inclusive learning opportunities based on connected and open pedagogical approaches and pathways.

Our aim is to help educators and students recognise and harness the power of open practices and communities, during and beyond an academic programme. This will ensure seamless learning, illustrating that learning can happen anywhere, anyhow, anytime and that there are other fish in the sea when it comes to supporting learning and creating stimulating and diverse learning experiences.

We provide an activation to illustrate how such activities support socialisation, learning, teaching and assessment and create mirrors and windows in the curriculum for diverse student populations. Educators and students are invited to engage with the activation provided in the form of a scenario. They can relate it to the context of their practice to articulate evidence-informed responses that address some of the specific challenges they are faced, and turn them into stimulating, open and connected learning opportunities and celebrate diversity through inclusive learning and teaching.

With the suggested activation, you are asked to reflect on a quotation and a podcast, and then answer some questions. To help you answer the questions, we provide a tool- the FISh model (Nerantzi & Uhlin, 2012).

The quotation

The following is an authentic quotation from a student who participated in this QAA project. Their thoughts were used as a trigger to scaffold the discussion among three students you hear in the podcast. They share their thoughts, responses and related experiences around independent learning.

“Obviously a lot of independent work because you don't have to turn up to the lectures; you can do it in your own time. Obviously you're given all of the resources that you need. I think as well, coming from college and school to university, you realise that not doing the independent work or the work that's been set - let's say like the reading - you're only putting yourself at a disadvantage so I think it's really important to do it. Last year I didn't do so much, but this year I have and I've realised how important it is to your learning.”

The discussion has been provided in audio and text format.

The following readings and resources may be useful and relevant:

1. Lister, K., Seale, J.& Douce, C. (2021). Mental health in distance learning: a taxonomy of barriers and enablers to student mental wellbeing. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680513.2021.1899907

2. Gourlay, L, Campbell, K, Clark, L, Crisan, C, Katsapi, E, Riding, K & Warwick, I. (2021). ‘Engagement’ Discourses and the Student Voice: Connectedness, Questioning and Inclusion in Post-Covid Digital Practices. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2021(1): 15, pp. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.5334/jime.655

3. Havemann, L. & Roberts, V. (2021). Pivoting Open? Pandemic Pedagogy and the Search for Openness in the Viral Learning Environment. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2021(1): 27, pp. 1–11. https://doi.org/10.5334/jime.676

4. Hegarty, B. (2015). Attributes of Open Pedagogy: A Model for Using Open Educational Resources. Educational Technology, July– August 2015, pp. 3-13. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Ed_Tech_Hegarty_2015_article_attributes_of_open_pedagogy.pdf

5. In German: Muuss-Merhol, J. (2022) Führt die Digitalisierung ins pädagogische Paradies? Kontrollverlust der Lehrenden und Empowerment der Lernenden. Jöran und Konsorten Agentur der Bildung. 9 Februar 2022 https://www.joeran.de/umkehrung-vorzeichen-video/

UPP Foundation (2022) A student futures manifesto. WonkHE, gti, Shakespeare Martineau. Available at https://upp-foundation.org/student-futures-commission/news/a-student-futures-manifesto/

We would like to thank Ellie Hannan for designing the FISh model which is available under a CC-BY_SA licence, the whole project team and all students who participated in the discussions to create the podcast for this activation.

Adey, L. (2021). Your Path, Your Way to Successful Networking: Building Strong Connections for Your Future Career, 2021. Ancaster: Ladey Adey Publications.

Dunbar-Morris, H., Ali, M., Brindley, N., Farrell-Savage, K., Sharp, L., Sidiropoulou, M.P., Heard-Laureote, K., Lymath, D., Nawaz, R., Nerantzi, C., Prathap, V., Reeves, A., Speight, S., & Tomas, C. (2021). Analysis of 2021 Differing Perceptions of Quality of Learning (final report). University of Portsmouth. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16892494.v1

Nerantzi, C. & Uhlin, L. (2012) FDOL131 Design, http://fdol.wordpress. com/fdol131/design/

00:00:06:11 - 00:00:12:05

Speaker 1

Hi. I'm a second year computing student. I'm 20 and I'm originally from London.

00:00:13:07 - 00:00:19:00

Speaker 2

I'm a second year student at the moment. I'm 20 years old. I'm studying business management, and entrepreneurship.

00:00:19:14 - 00:00:27:19

Speaker 3

Hello. I'm a second year student of business management. I'm 36 years old and I'm from Greece.

00:00:28:04 - 00:00:45:07

Speaker 1

I kind of agreed with it that at the beginning of first year I struggled a lot and I think it was because I didn't realise how much would how much like I would have to do things on my own because obviously coming straight out of, and I went to sixth form.

00:00:45:11 - 00:00:56:01

Speaker 1

It was like an actual college. And sixth form is a lot more like secondary school where you're told what to do and when to do it. So it was a bit of a culture shock coming to uni and having to figure it on my own.

00:00:56:02 - 00:01:16:21

Speaker 2

And yeah, I think it was the same for me. I, I, I agree with it and I'm actually from Greece as well. And the system there is that you actually it's actually similar to what you said is you get told what to do and you as the quote says you are spoon-fed, they tell you what to do or

00:01:16:21 - 00:01:37:08

Speaker 2

how to do it and you just go from there. Well, I think it's quite beneficial as character development to just try to do things independently. You get to know what you're made of, essentially; brilliant thing to have help, but if you do things on your own, you get to see how independent[MS1] .

00:01:38:01 - 00:02:12:05

Speaker 3

Yes. For me, it's very different as a mature student, and with my whole family back, it's very different how university and generally studies approached me, and generally every day it's an challenge for me to be able to get there just to see a lecturer and to be able to attend a seminar, you know, every day is challenge for me

00:02:12:06 - 00:02:41:23

Speaker 3

So clearly, I feel differently about this question because I can see that I really need this spoonfeeding. I know most of the students think that it's too much for them, but for me, being so many years off from school and studies and generally all this, you know, for me now, it's very good and I really appreciate

00:02:41:23 - 00:03:04:20

Speaker 3

the help from the university and support they already give me. And still continue to give because it really helps me with my studies, with my assessments , and it really helped. It's really helped me to follow, you know, the studies.

00:03:05:20 - 00:03:23:06

Speaker 1

I think, in terms of strategies that helped me with individual learning. It was literally just down to like organising myself. Like I always found it really difficult to follow a set schedule and stuff. So I like at the beginning, I was like writing like, Oh, I'm going to do this for the whole week, and I would never

00:03:23:06 - 00:03:37:14

Speaker 1

do it, and then I'll get annoyed with myself because I wasn't doing what I'd planned. I think so. So finding out how you can learn something when I find out that like instead of planning the whole week, I plan my day and then as soon as Monday up, I can focus on Tuesday instead of trying to fix

[MS2]

00:03:37:14 - 00:03:52:04

Speaker 1

a whole week at the same time. So most of the time is literally just planning, knowing what you're doing when you're doing it. And as much as university learning is individual, at the end of the day, you're still paying the institution money for them to help you.

00:03:52:13 - 00:04:03:23

Speaker 1

So when you're struggling individually, that's when you need to go back to lectures to your tutors and ask people for help. Because that's why you're here. That's what you're paying for, is for their help is for their resources.

00:04:04:09 - 00:04:12:05

Speaker 1

So as much as independent, your independence is also knowing when to ask for help and learning that is really useful as well.

00:04:12:18 - 00:04:17:15

Speaker 3

Yes, I agree with you. I also tried.

00:04:17:15 - 00:04:19:04

Speaker 2

That. I absolutely agree with you on that.

00:04:20:00 - 00:04:42:24

Speaker 3

The truth is that most of them has not really help because of my situation, of course. But however, yes, I really agree because, you know, we have to be independent and we have to be responsible for our studies and been able to accomplish every task we had.

00:04:44:07 - 00:04:46:02

Speaker 3

So I agree with that.

00:04:47:01 - 00:05:00:09

Speaker 2

I absolutely agree that this is what we're paying for, what we're trying to have help, but in terms of organizing our time. I mean, the same goes for me. I try organizing my time and like having to do a list for my week.

00:05:00:12 - 00:05:14:05

Speaker 2

And I wouldn't, actually I wouldn't do it for some reason, I couldn't get it done, and even I struggle doing things through the day like Agnes, do this for the day, having been meeting deadlines and all that, and I don't know.

00:05:14:10 - 00:05:28:24

Speaker 2

The only thing that I think has helped is just pushing myself. It's the only thing I can do, really. It's the only thing to try to do is just pushing myself. That has been challenging? Yes.

00:05:29:22 - 00:05:47:04

Speaker 1

Because I'm in second year now is not I learned from first year and I think maybe if they like stress these things before you even enter first year, maybe in the first couple of weeks of first year. Like how university learning's kind of structured?

00:05:47:11 - 00:06:02:04

Speaker 1

Because I thought I learned on my own and from talking to other students and not from what like faculty told me, like learning and that sort of stuff that stuff will be about. So I think, yes, stressing it a bit earlier.[MS3]

00:06:03:03 - 00:06:16:09

Speaker 1

So people know what that involves. I think a lot of people don't really know what they're in for in uni until they feel like it's quite too late, because not everyone built for uni and if not built for university [MS4] learning, there was no point wasting your money on it.

[MS5]

00:06:16:11 - 00:06:31:23

Speaker 1

So as you think driving [MS6] it or stressing it earlier in the first year, or maybe even before uni, like with the promotional material that you're putting out to attract people to the uni, to let them know what kind of studying you're there in for when they come to the university.

00:06:32:21 - 00:06:53:00

Speaker 2

Well, what I was thinking is actually that I would have appreciated if at some point, probably early on, we could have gone through like a week of what is the process of learning. How do we how do we overcome these obstacles of knowing how to learn?

00:06:53:13 - 00:07:16:24

Speaker 2

Like, how are we expected to learn? I don't know if you if you understand what I'm saying, I'm trying to say I simply as I can. I think that's one main point. I think apart from that, if you're not interested in what you're doing, I don't think that someone else can help you be interested.

00:07:18:17 - 00:07:25:20

Speaker 2

You either are interested or not, apart from that, knowing how to learn absolutely helps. I believe.

00:07:28:18 - 00:07:53:22

Speaker 3

Yes, I really remember remember my first year, it was very difficult for me because although we have all the instructions and all the units’ of a lot of support with a lot of leaflets and whatever. However, I found it difficult.

00:07:53:22 - 00:08:13:14

Speaker 3

The first three months I was out of the water…What can I say? For example, I couldn't understand the system of the moodle/modules. Where to find this, where to find that…when is my assessment? When is the day? You know, I found it really difficult in the first year, especially this first year.

00:08:14:18 - 00:08:36:11

Speaker 3

So maybe I remember this thing. You get me back in date, because I really missed a lot of things. And the suggestion of mine, because I'm not really hanging out with other students, and I'm probably not having enough time to discuss a lot of things with other students.

00:08:37:03 - 00:08:53:08

Speaker 3

This is a disadvantage for me, for example, because I cannot be updated for whatever happens. Maybe I miss a seminar or a lecture, for example. So I would like to have more of help with this for example.

00:08:54:02 - 00:09:14:16

Speaker 1

I guess, like final thoughts are just that there's always a balance when it comes to the university between independent learning and asking for help. And, you know, it's like over time you figure out that balance. And I think it's a good skill to learn in life because in life you go on your own, you're responsible

00:09:14:16 - 00:09:26:04

Speaker 1

for your own decisions. So it's a good thing to learn now before you go into what I mean as a, you know, as a 20 years old, I can say this, but before I go into adulthood, is it a good skill to learn now…obviously

00:09:26:04 - 00:09:32:19

Speaker 1

Mature students and staff will feel differently because they have had to deal with independence in their lives before I have, you know.

00:09:33:04 - 00:10:04:16

Speaker 3

Yes… as a final thought. I really am hoping to be able to finish what I started because as I previously said, it's a daily challenge for me, so I'm very thankful for my university because they really have a good system that really helps at least students as my occasion, of course, is not everything perfect.

00:10:04:16 - 00:10:27:12

Speaker 3

But you know, if you really want what you do, you really want it, and you really realize what you do and where you are and what you're doing. And if you really believe and you really want to finish it, I think with a little help everything is going to be alright, in the end you will be able to finish it and succeed.

00:10:28:23 - 00:10:48:07

Speaker 2

And my final thoughts probably are, well, I wanted to touch on something that was previously mentioned that I am not sure who has said it, but being independent, part of being independent is knowing when to ask for help. I actually liked I actually like that...

00:10:48:18 - 00:11:19:04

Speaker 2

Really, really. And um, I think that actually really I agree with that statement. And I believe that as much as being independent in your learning is very beneficial for us, for us students, at least for the ones I don't know for us that actually, are in the uni like, you know, are 18, 19, 20 years and

00:11:20:03 - 00:11:41:07

Speaker 2

younger ages -no offence. Well, I want to say that we need to know when each thing’s time is. There is time for being independent and there's time for being…,for asking for help. And as far as help is provided and we don't have to figure everything out on our own.

00:11:42:08 - 00:12:07:12

Speaker 2

I think I think it's a brilliant thing the university is offering help and there's there's different people sure the people who will ask for more help, people who will ask for less help. So having less help offered to us, like in from the university's point of view, if they're offering less help, they will only be able to

00:12:07:12 - 00:12:25:23

Speaker 2

help the people that need less help and the people that need more help won't be able to get it. So as far as I'm concerned, help should be offered. But not pushed onto us, I think as far as these conditions are now in place, I'm completely alright with help being there.