Specialist Area 5
5a: The Scholarship of Technology Enhanced Learning
During my time as English for Academic Puproses at the University of Southampton - and as part of my dissertation for my MA in English Language Teaching with a specialism in ICT and Multimedia - I engaged in rigorous primary and secondary research on the field of using screencasting technology to enhance learner autonomy in error correction.
Back in 2015, when I conducted my research, individualised video screencasts that incorporated advanced narrative and annotation features were not exactly considered as a ‘recent technological innovation’ as they had been known for nearly a decade and considerable research has been carried out on their use in EAP settings. However, the optimal sequence in which screencasts can co-exist with coded/written feedback and tutorials thus yielding with considerable ‘synergies’ had been under-explored. My book (Screencasting. Learner Autonomy in Error Correction) attempted to discover the optimal sequence in the deployment of these three distinct methods of feedback, aiming in exploring the best possible creative synthesis of these practices that lead to actively fostering and promoting increased levels of synergy. Initially and at a first level, my research reviewed the existing literature in an attempt to highlight the ‘gaps’ that justify this intervention. By setting the limits of my investigation, my book illustrated the undertaking of a small-scale study at the university of Southampton focusing on student perception on the usefulness of these sequences. More specifically, student perception was captured both quantitatively – through questionnaires – and qualitatively – through the recording of sample videos of tutorials and came to the conclusion that students in their early stages, prefer the screencasting video that goes through their essay to precede their tutorial as it allowed them to digest the feedback and empowered them to participate more in the subsequent 1-2-1. As the students proceeded in doing their presessional studies at the University of Southampton, the developed a preference for these screencasting videos to follow up a 1-2-1 tutorial, as the video focused more on tips and tricks that the students could deploy to increase their grades and also provided a summary of the high-level conversation that they could have with me on their essays (Please see section 1).
The second example comes from London Metropolitan University, where I worked as a Learning Technologist for 2 years. When I undertook my role as an LT at London Metropolitan University and as part of my CPD, I decided to pursue yet another MA title in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (MALTHE). As part of my MALTHE dissertation, I engaged in rigorous primary and secondary research on the field of using screencasting technology to enhance staff autonomy in the development of digital fluency.
Back in 2019, Screencasting instructional videos that mainly involved the recording of a ‘screen walk-through process’ with a voice over, was not exactly a novelty even though it was admittedly a great aid when it came to supporting learning and teaching in Higher Education (H.E). Their simple nature that managed to quickly add value in any learning and teaching context was the main reason why its emergence saw many institutions making full use of these types of ‘capturing tool’ to provide simple, generic, ‘how to’ technical guides to students, academic support staff and lecturers.
By exploring the various sequences in deploying these short, focused videos, my second book demonstrated that academic staff can really benefit from mixing and matching instructional videos in a flipped, face-to-face and extended classroom context. The synergies from this holistic approach which deploys a creative amalgam of best practice in a unified approach brings considerable added value in comparison to past dichotomies in implementing, monitoring and following up a techno-pedagogical model of Continuous Professional Development for academic staff. The findings of the book include again the basic substantiation that Academics initially preferred video walkthroughs to precede their 1-2-1 session with me, as it really primed them to participate in the support session using (Discussion Boards in Blackboard). As the academic staff, developed more familiarity with one tool - and before they move on to the second session that focused on the use of a similar tool (Journals in Blackboard), they reported a preference for the screencasting video that follows up a session and offers tips, tricks and potential pitfalls. (Please see section 2)
Reflection
The Scholarship of Technology Enhanced Learning requires time and energy. I have seen many colleagues get burnout syndrome during the writing of these books and I have also personally witnessed catastrophe, when I lost 6 months worth of reserch when my laptops hardrive crashed and nothing could be recovered. On the flip side, I have also seen esteemed colleagues, academics, heads of department and student experience questionnaire fatigue from the numerous requests that daily overflow their inboxes. Even though primary research that contains group, individual and focused interviews, I strongly believe that data driven research will definitely inform best practice in the near future, bypassing the need for lengthy questionnaires, intrusive interviews and other dated methods. During this process, the Learning Analytics that each tool, platform and third-party vendor provides, will be able to offer invaluable services in the scholarship of learning technology and that is why I am currently undertaking my 4th MSc in Data Analytics.
