2b

Students

Since I design learning materials for students, it is naturally important to have an awareness of their needs and expectations. All students are individuals, with their own backgrounds and preferences about how they want to learn. However, by choosing an online learning course, all students have certain expectations: they want to be able to access their course material at any time, from any place. Increasingly they want to use any device, which necessitates the use of responsive design for platforms and content. Students with certain disabilities and educational needs are legally entitled to expect their VLE and learning content to be accessible as I will cover in section 3a.

My students can be categorised into a few broad groups: apprentices, adult learners, adult CPD learners, and Hong Kong CPD learners.

Adult learners: the majority of our student body is made up of professional adults who are working while studying. Andragogy differs from pedagogy partly due to the challenges faced when juggling study with work and personal commitments. From my time studying at the University of Wales for my MA while working and juggling caring responsibilities, I’m aware of the pressures on working students. Working learners need to access resources easily, on the go. I have ensured material is responsive and, where possible, available in multiple formats such as ebooks or transcripts, as discussed in section 1a and 1b respectively.

Adult CPD learners: these are working professionals who need to feel their learning is worthwhile as they tend not to have much time to spare. There are alternatives in the marketplace if they don’t feel the CPD course meets their needs. Some important considerations are clear learning objectives, and design of courses featuring only the important information they will need – hence the adoption of “backwards design” in initial planning: we identify the results/competencies needed, then design the assessments, and then identify or produce the content that will teach the material in the assessments. I gave an example of this proposal process in section 2a.

Hong Kong CPD learners: UCEM has a large student body in Hong Kong. From speaking to colleagues there I have learned about cultural differences relevant to learning, including that Hong Kong students often prefer face-to-face sessions to complement their study, and that they may be less engaged by forum discussions than some.

In 2016-17 I produced all session adverts and purchasable products on the Online Academy, editing the text for improved readability for ESL students, and identifying appropriate imagery.

I analyse past module evaluation questionnaires before beginning development on a new module, as discussed in section 2a. To optimise the online learning experience for everyone, I feel evaluation should be informed by theory. In future we could take a “humanist” approach, asking how students felt about their course, their tutor and their contact time; a “social constructivist” approach, asking how students felt their interactions with their peers worked, on forums and other activities, and whether there was a correlation with grades; or a “cognitivist” approach, asking how students approached their study – how and what did they study? Was study time concentrated at particular times, like the week before an assessment? Do they feel there is too much material to take in? By doing this, we can gain awareness of what particular learners find works best for them.