Development of the Queen’s University
e-Learning Courses for Law
Bob Wylie
& Gill Kelly
Introduction
The Introduction to the European Information Society
course had 19 students enrolled from Feb – May 2009
This presentation gives an overview of the experience
developing and running the course with a focus on:
The approach used
Learner support provided
Course assessment
Student participation
Recommendations for improvement
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Approach (1)
IEIS Course was structured into four sections
Within each section:
Presentations
Hyperlinks to reports and other relevant information
Short essay tasks
Discussion forums
Final Assignment at the conclusion of the course
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Approach (2)
Existing PowerPoint presentations were integrated with
recorded audio narration
Allowed learner to navigate through the slides and hear the
accompanying explanation
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Approach (3)
To encourage participation a number of tasks were
incorporated into the first sections which were not
assessed
Short written tasks on related topics
An initial trial discussion forum
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Assumptions in Course Design
This would be the students’ first example of undertaking
a course delivered entirely online.
Students needed some initial orientation and support to
become familiar with the course be encouraged to
engage
Students would have the skills to participate and engage
in interactive activities e.g. Forums
Students would progress through the course at similar
rates
Students would access the course on a regular basis
Students would have the necessary time each week to
complete the tasks
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Learner Support (1)
At the start of the course guidelines were provided to
help support the users:
General course guidance
Overview of the course assessment
Hints on essay writing
Guide to participating in Discussion Forums
Assignment schedule (requested by students).
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Learner Support (2)
In addition the students were encouraged to complete
the separate introductory course – How to learn by e-
Learning (view course)
The course provided:
An overview of e-learning
Examples of e-learning tools
Searching tips including legal databases
A guide to plagiarism and online material
A glossary of e-learning terms
50% of the students accessed elements of this course
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Learner Support (3)
Students still had queries and difficulties
Course access and use of certificates
Navigation through the course
Course expectations
A workshop was provided to demonstrate how best to
use the course and answer the students’ specific
questions
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Course Assessment
Participation in group forums – 20%
4 short essays (around 300 - 400 words) from an optional
list of topics – 30%
2,000 word Essay on a relevant topic chosen by the
student – 50%
Activity Marks awarded for Total Percentage of
each Marks Total
8 Discussion 5 40 20%
Forums
3 Short Summaries - - -
4 Short Essays 15 60 30%
1 Long Essay 100 100 50%
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Participation (1)
19 students registered for the course
Only 16 students participated in the course
The students were not able to complete all the planned tasks
according to the timetable. Consequently, the fourth section
was excluded from the course.
Activity Participation (n=16)
Viewed and posted in every discussion forum 31%
Either viewed or posted in every discussion forum 38%
Viewed some discussion forums but did not post 13%
Viewed and posted in some discussion forums 18%
Completed all the written tasks 56%
Completed the majority (6 / 7) of the written tasks 75%
Completed the Final Assignment 75%
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Participation (2)
Was this lack of participation in the forums due to:
the level of motivation of the students?
the lack of discussion / value gained from the forums?
the excessive time required to make contributions?
the format or types of questions posed?
the lack of feedback?
the uncertainty about their purpose?
their time management and accessibility?
their unfamiliarity of the Moodle environment?
their lack of knowledge and experience with e-learning?
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Participation (3)
Comments in the discussion forums were detailed and
more like short essays (example)
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Participation (4)
Some postings lacked original contributions
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Good example of a discussion activity
Outline of Discussion Activity
• You are required to carry out a small task in tandem with another student.
Look at the example scenarios, choose one (tell the forum which one) which
no-one else has chosen. One of you can make the case for the scenario being
an invasion of privacy and the other put the alternative view that privacy is not
being invaded, rather freedom of expression is being protected.
Privacy Scenario 10
A married celebrity – with a reputation for good behaviour - has been sleeping with
a man’s wife.
The cuckolded husband wants revenge and goes to the papers.
The celebrity seeks an injunction against publication saying this is a an invasion of
his privacy.
He gets the injunction (CC v AB [2006] EWHC 3083 (QB) 04 December 2006 ).
Was this an invasion of privacy/denial of freedom of expression?
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Student Feedback
Audio for PowerPoint slides
“Really useful. I didn’t listen to it all but when there were
PowerPoint slides I didn’t understand then I could easily listen
to the audio explanation”
Number and type of activities
“Participation in the forums took up most of my time trying to
create a detailed posting”
“There were too many and not much discussion happening”
General Comments
“I enjoyed the short essay tasks and researching information
for them. I feel I have learnt a lot”
“It was good to have the freedom to select a final essay topic
for yourself ”
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Future Recommendations (1)
Encourage greater interactivity in discussion forums
Provide the students with a better understanding on how to
participate in a discussion forum and define what is expected
Initially provide an example of a sample discussion forum to show
typical postings and highlight the different level of responses
Provide a rubric for the forums
Give audio feedback on the first trial discussion forum
Assign roles for the students to encourage discussion
Have tasks which encourage them to think succinctly
Reduce the number of discussion forums in the course but
increase their duration (typically 2 weeks) and have fixed
deadlines
Additional questions can be introduced into the forum as it
progresses
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Future Recommendations (2)
An alternative use of the forums could be to link the
forum to the short essay task
Get students to identify three elements of the discussion
which were useful in completing the associated written
task and use this information to assess part of their
participation. For example:
From their own contribution
From another person’s contribution
A comment which influenced their thinking
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Future Recommendations (3)
Feedback to students
Provide reminders to the students when discussion
forums are available and assignments are due
Useful if this was able to be automated within Moodle
Initially give the students more feedback about their
contribution to the course in general
In the trial discussion forum
After the initial short essay task
Provide general comments in the discussion forums to
encourage the correct level of participation (view example)
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Final Points
The students who undertook the course did not come
from an ideal starting point
Introducing a module as an e-learning course was probably a
difficult transition to their learning styles
The level of interactivity required in the course needed
students who had a greater experience of e-learning
Better to introduce some online activities to the students in
earlier years and develop their skills in working as a group
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References
Bases to guide discussion forums
Bloom, B.S. (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 1: Cognitive
Domain. Longman. New York
http://www.criticalthinking.org/CTmodel/CTModel1.cfm (Elder and Paul)
Marking Discussion Forums
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring51/edelstein51.html
Salmon, G. (2002) E-tivities: the key to active online learning, London: Kogan Page
(Individual and Interactive Thinking p178)
Rust, C, Price, M. & O’Donovan, B. (2003) Improving students’ learning by
developing their understanding of assessment criteria and processes, Assessment and
Evaluation. 28, 147-164. (Importance of explaining in context how criteria are
applied)
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