Get documents about "C4C IndividualTeam Fellowship - Annual Report Summary
Document Sample
C4C Individual/Team Fellowship - Annual Report Summary Form
Project Title Enabling E-Learning (EEL)
Creativity in Virtual Space
Fellows
Simon Sweeney (Project Leader)
Mark Dransfield
Steve Watson
Diana Wetherell Terry
Report date 30 April 2009
Total number students participating 425 approx.
+ 50 Erasmus survey respondents
PCAP Bahrain 20 students 2008/09
Level 1 students participating Not applicable
(list modules/numbers)
Level 2 students participating 2BM100 The Business of International Trade and
Globalisation
(list modules/numbers)
(80 students, in two years)
2BM130
Use of media in reports and travel writing exercise (20
students)
Level 3 students participating 3BM050 Business Environments in the Single European
Market
(list modules/numbers)
(70 students, in two years) Electronic feedback and
Webinar
3BM991 Research Investigation Module
(80 students approx in each of two years)
3BM030 Tourism Policy & Planning
(30 students) Report Writing Skills
M Level MA International Studies Modules 3, 4 and Dissertation
Students
(7 students over three modules each)
MA International Studies Modules 1 & 2
(5 students over two modules each)
MA International Studies Module 2 Europe in Transition -
Intensive Teaching (April 2009) Sound Recordings /
Page 1 of 10
Podcasts distributed via VLE
MA Leadership & Management (Strategic Leadership,
Culture and Ethics, MLM010) 20 Students
Total number students experiencing EEL Pie (3 student prize winners)
wider project activities/open events Mexico Symposium (1 student attending, 12
supported by your project applications)
AWP Annual Conference
New York City (1 student)
NAWE Annual Conference (Manchester)
(1 student)
Total number of staff directly 20 (team plus JE, NS, AG, RW, SR, MH, TH, SK, LA, MP,
involved in project
JA, BG, JG, CB, BP)
Conference presentations/attendance Sweeney, S. (2007) ‘What’s the University For?’
(title, date, location, title of paper Internationalising the Student Experience Conference
delivered) YSJ Dec 07
Sweeney, S. (2008) ‘Creative Writing in no-conventional
contexts: EEL Pie’ Old York New York NAWE panel at
AWP Annual Conference New York
29 Jan – 2 February 2008
Watson, S. (2008) ‘Understanding Web 2.0 and Social
networking as a new cultural phenomenon’ New Cultural
Cities Colloquium YSJU 2 April 2008
Wetherell Terry, D (2008) ‘Using e-learning technologies
and action learning to enhance the student experience
Kabarak University, Kenya
15 May 2008
Wetherell Terry, D (2008) How can students benefit
from engaging in action learning sets from a distance?
National University of Rwanda 23 May 2008
Dransfield M, & Sweeney S (2008)
Emerging Technologies the EEL project
At Sharing our Learning: Pedagogy through Technology
18 June York St John University
Sweeney, S. (2008) ‘Climbing Up the Walls: using non-
traditional targets for creative writing opportunities in
HE’, Manchester, November
Sweeney, S. (2009) ‘Case Studies in Electronic Feedback’
HEA-C-SAP conference The Virtual University? Social
Science Critiques of Learning ND Teaching in the Age of
Digital Reproduction. London. 16 January
Page 2 of 10
Sweeney, S. (2009) ‘Case Studies in Electronic Feedback’
Second Annual E-Learning Conference. York St John
University. April 29
Bradley, J. (2009) “Wimba Collaboration Suite - So Much
More than a Virtual Classroom!’ Second Annual E-
Learning Conference. York St John University. April 29
Publications NAWE Newsletter April 08 New York / EEL Pie Report
(title of journal, date of publication, title of
paper, any additional contributors) York Talk April 08 (New York / EEL Pie Report)
C4C CETL Newsletter 7 March 08, 10 February 09
(EEL Pie, Bahrain & Sounds Good reports)
EEL DVD for C4C CETL project
EEL pages in C4C CETL Creative Casebook York St John
University Summer 2009
Sweeney, S. (2009) Climbing Up the Walls: Doing
creative writing where you don’t expect to find it’ Writing
in Education, 47, 71-3 Spring.
Sweeney, S. (2009) Internationalisation and the Use of
Electronic Media in Teaching and Assessment: four case
studies, apparent benefits and drawbacks. ELiSS. C-SAP
HEA (forthcoming/tbc)
Workshops/Lectures delivered at Watson S. (2007) demonstration of VLE software and
other HEIs capabilities at Centro Andalus Estudios Empresariales,
Sevilla, Spain July.
Sweeney, S. (2007) ‘UK Business Environment’
University of Taiwan / St John’s University video
conference lecture, December
Wetherell Terry, D. (2008) Kabarak University, Kenya
Introduction to York St John University CETL and e-
learning technologies, May
Wetherell Terry, D (2008) How can students benefit
from engaging in action learning sets from a distance?
National University of Rwanda 23 May 2008
Wetherell Terry, D. (2009) ‘PCAP Lecture Series’
University of Bahrain / York St John University. April
ITESO University of Guadalajara, Mexico: Peace Justice
& Human Rights Symposium, Lecture/Workshop on the
Page 3 of 10
Meaning of Democracy: Peace, Justice and Human
Rights - September 2008
Additional Events ITESO University of Guadalajara, Mexico: Peace Justice
(in addition to module sessions, title, date, & Human Rights Planning Event in September 2007 for
location): Symposium in September 2008
5 Training sessions with project staff on the use of the
Wimba virtual classroom
Introduction to the Wimba virtual classroom with other
staff in the Faculty
Intra-staff trial of Wimba Suite among English Language
& Linguistics staff
Real Time meetings using Wimba tools for inter-
institutional meetings with University of Amsterdam
Ad English Language and Linguistics
Preparation of international student conference (English
Language & Linguistics, University of Amsterdam)
Wimba Create – building on line modules for distributed
learning – English Language & Linguistics
Relationship Marketing – using Wimba tool for webinar
conference meeting with prospective PhD student
(Bahrain) English Language & Linguistics
EEL representation (SS) at Bob Rotheram Masterclass,
Leeds Metropolitan University, 6 May 2009
External Contributors to Project National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE)
(eg. Visiting writer OR External
Organisation): Sol B. Rivers – University Writer in Residence
Mike Bailey & Jeremy Bradley - Wimba
Learning Light (Sheffield)
Sero (Sheffield)
ITESO Guadalajara, Mexico
Bob Rotheram, Sounds Good Project – Leeds
Metropolitan University, in partnership with Newman
University College, Birmingham and Northampton
University.
Page 4 of 10
Details of Match Funding Achieved £9,000 from Wimba
(detail amount, where the funding is from
£500 from NAWE
and to which part of the project it relates if
any): £2,400 Sounds Good JISC-sponsored project at Leeds
Metropolitan University (inc. £400 Edirol digital recorder
equipment allowance)
Details of any Research Assistants, Daniel Keane - Student Services
Graduate Interns or Work Experience e-survey on Socrates Erasmus take-up at YSJ – (50
for MA students, provided through students responding)
this project Dec 07 – April 08
(Numbers/duration with project etc):
Page 5 of 10
Enabling e-Learning (EEL) - Creativity in Virtual Space
Project Report
The information below outlines key developments in the delivery of our project over the past
two years, and considers opportunities and recommendations for future development.
1 Wimba Virtual Classroom
The Wimba Virtual Classroom allows for synchronous (real time) seminars with participants
in diverse or distant locations. As well as engaging a number of support tools and a range of
interactive possibilities, the Virtual Classroom has an archiving tool meaning the entire
Webinar (virtual seminar) can be loaded onto the VLE and used for revision or asynchronous
access. It is fair to say that the Wimba Virtual Classroom was the leading and most
significant experiment of the entire EEL initiative.
Diana Wetherell Terry and Mark Dransfield undertook a range of on-line sessions testing and
using Wimba with a colleague from Wimba also taking part. Simon Sweeney and Steve
Watson joined one of these.
At one of the sessions both Angela Goddard and Nikki Swift from the Languages and
Linguistics Subject area came along to determine whether this technology was something
they would wish to use with their own students both at home and abroad. This is still in
development. The Head of Subject for English Language and Linguistics Angela Goddard
reports that she has used the Virtual Classroom tool for on-line meetings with the University
of Amsterdam to develop a collaborative module and in preparation for an international
student conference. In a further application, she is using the potential of the Virtual
Classroom for synchronous meetings, in particular to talk to a prospective PhD student in
Bahrain. She is hopeful that if the university commits to the Wimba Suite, as ELL will make
considerable use of its applications. As yet ELL have not conducted trials with specific
modules.
During Semester 2 2007-08 40 students from 2BM100 Business of International Trade and
Globalisation benefited from the first experiment with the Wimba Live Virtual Classroom. The
seminar was very successful, with the virtual classroom filled to capacity. The event was
archived and accessed by all students and contributed to an almost 90% pass rate in the
eventual module assessments, the subject of the e-Seminar. Feedback on the use of the
virtual classroom was almost unanimously positive. Any eventual criticisms related to access
problems.
This experiment was repeated twice in Year Two of the EEL Project in the same module,
with a further 40 students, again with outstanding response from students. The archiving
facility in Wimba allowing for asynchronous engagement is a particular benefit, but all
students participating in the live Webinar were highly responsive and enthusiastic about the
technology and the benefits to their learning. The Virtual Classroom was also used again in
years 1 and 2 of the EEL Project with the third year module Business Environments in the
Single European Market.. Again student feedback was highly positive. Simon reports: „The
Virtual Classroom is a wonderful added benefit to the teaching – and makes a great deal of
sense also because it can be incorporated into the VLE as an archived file. This type of
mixing of technologies and utilisation of a range of pedagogical approaches is what actually
gives Supported Open Learning credibility in the eyes of students‟.
Page 6 of 10
Diana Wetherell Terry introduced the Wimba Virtual Classroom to the Bahrain PCAP
participants in September 2008, and again in April 2009 thereby ensuring that her University
Teaching Fellowship links positively with the C4C team fellowship project.
A further Virtual Classroom experiment was conducted with Module 1 of MA International
Studies during Year Two of the EEL Project by Beverly Geesin. The experiment was less
successful as two of the five students had connectivity problems. However the same group
will try again during the latter part of their Module 2 and the third Module will be taught purely
by DL so the Wimba tool will be a significant part of the e-support to this cohort.
Mark Dransfield and Diana Wetherell Terry worked tirelessly to ensure that the software
licenses from Wimba could be used for a further year and the success of this experiment
contributed to the strength of the eventual bid for funding to renew the temporary licence with
Wimba for a further year.
Lessons learned by the C4C Fellowship Team related to the use of the Wimba Virtual
Classroom were:
1. Try to mange student expectations before the online session. It is new technology
and for some of them it might not work if their computers are not up to par.
2. Get students to run through the set up wizard way beforehand and come back to us
with any problems.
3. If we intend to use PDF files, recommend our students have upgraded to the latest
version of Acrobat
4. Have a clearly defined session structure and show introductory slides like interface,
sound check etc
5. Prepare stimulating resources and activities where possible
6. Include interaction to keep them engaged, using either questions which they can fill in
or by asking them to use the ticks etc in the participants panel.
7. Always archive the Webinar and load it inside the VLE. This is a key benefit of the
technology.
For any „first-time‟ introduction to technology, there will always be a level of confusion and a
need to familiarise with the interface. However, we expect that when this is used again with
the same students, they would be much more familiar and comfortable with it and aware of
what to expect – meaning the session would run more smoothly. One student commented in
the text area that he thought Facebook was good until he saw this, which is good.
Recommendation: To purchase the Wimba Suite and extend application across more
modules and programmes. Further demonstration sessions and staff development are vital to
the take-up of these applications, but trials conducted by the EEL team indicate the excellent
potential for the Virtual Classroom to add value to the student experience and to enhance
both teaching and learning.
2 EEL Pie – Project for Innovation in e-writing
EEL Pie was designed to introduce opportunities for the creative use of diverse media
together with writing prose or poetry by students not usually involved with such challenges
given the nature of their particular degree studies. The EEL Pie initiative, developed in
partnership with Paul Munden of the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE)
was heavily promoted in the Faculty of Business and Communication and received 12
enquiries. Three students progressed to attend an introductory meeting and eventually a
Creative Writing Workshop hosted by Paul Munden, Director of NAWE. Two members of the
EEL fellowship team also benefited from participation in the Workshop (SS, SW).
Page 7 of 10
Steve Watson also took photographs to support EEL Pie and these were loaded onto the
EEL website – by Mark Dransfield – thus insuring involvement of three members of the EEL
team. Eventually Sol B. Rivers and Paul Munden judged the three entries and prizes were
awarded to all three. Students were also assisted by Chris Brooke, Media Technician at the
University‟s C4C CETL Centre.
The winner, Ben Moore, presented his work at the National Association of Writers & Writing
Programmes (AWP) Annual Conference in New York City in February 2008 – to widespread
acclaim. The work can be found at http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/learnteach/eel/eelpie.html
This work was presented to the C4C team of Project Leaders and University Fellows in June
2008 and to the Sharing our Learning: Pedagogy through Technology Conference in The
C4C CETL Centre on 18 June 2008. It also formed the centre piece of a presentation to the
NAWE Annual Conference in Manchester in November 2008.
The EEL fellowship team combined with Paul Munden (NAWE) in calling for a DVD on the
theme of „Place‟. The brief asked students to combine creative writing - prose or poetry - with
other mixed visual and sound media. The competition was judged by Sol B. Rivers, the
University‟s Royal Literary Fellow, and Paul Munden, who also provided a writing workshop
and additional support to all who expressed an interest in the Project.
In New York Ben‟s entry was presented as part of a NAWE panel showcasing York Area
creative writing activities. Ben reports: „My DVD took a global perspective on place, and
integrated a political angle by attempting to deal with imbalances in the world today. I attempt
to show my place and contrast it with other issues such as war and famine. I wanted to show
that these are not just my issues, these are everyone‟s. We‟re all in this together. To lose
sight of that can be detrimental to our current and future ways of coexisting‟.
Paul was full of praise for the quality of Ben‟s contribution, and the skill with which he had put
together. „I was proud to include it and found it a highly accomplished, thoughtful and moving
piece of work‟.
Simon Sweeney accompanied Ben to New York and reports that the entire trip was a
wonderful opportunity. „AWP is a very stimulating conference, with 7,000 delegates and a
huge range of events including readings and polemics about anything and everything to do
with creative writing and education. Ben fully engaged with the conference and was a credit
to the University. Not only that, but of course we got to see some of the great attractions of
New York; it‟s a magnificent centre of art, music and culture‟.
Robert Morris (MA English Language Teaching) and Ryan Lanham (BA Hons Business
Management) were runners up in the EEL Pie competition. Thanks to Mark Dransfield and
Chris Brooke of C4C CETL who supplied technical help to EEL Pie, to Sol B. Rivers for
judging the competition, and above all to Paul Munden whose involvement with EEL Pie was
key to the success of the initiative. EEL Pie was sponsored by NAWE and by the Faculty of
Business & Communication.
Professor Judy Giles used the material produced by Ben in one of her modules in the Faculty
of Arts.
Recommendation: The Faculty of Business and Communication hopes to repeat the EEL Pie
initiative in the near future. The potential for sponsorship through the York St John Business
School should be explored as the response from businesses to the EEL Pie initiative was
especially positive.
Page 8 of 10
3 XIV Symposium ‘Education for Peace, Justice & Human Rights’ ITESO
University, Guadalajara, Mexico
EEL was also involved in the Symposium on Education for Peace, Justice and Human Rights
at the ITESO University of Guadalajara, Mexico in September 2008. Students from across
the Faculty of Business and Communication were invited to submit expressions of interest
electronically – 12 did so. Eventually 4 submitted applications to attend and all were invited
to do so. One did attend, accompanied by Simon Sweeney, whose presentation on the
Meaning of Democracy is posted on the EEL site. In Mexico the YSJ student who attended
the event was responsible for producing an e-zine for the Symposium, closely matching the
aspirations of EEL to develop students‟ skills and experience in using mixed media
technologies.
The EEL Fellowship and the Faculty of Business and Communication supported the Project
Leader‟s attendance in Mexico, as well as one student. The Symposium is an international
event involving participants from UK, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, Poland, Czech
Republic, Norway, Mexico, Peru and the United States of America. It is hoped to continue
the University‟s link to this important initiative through the 2010 Symposium planned for the
Netherlands. Simon Sweeney hopes to encourage more students from the Faculty to engage
in ways which expressly develop e-learning activities, in particular exploitation of mixed
media and diverse technologies.
Recommendation: To consolidate the Faculty link to this biannual symposium and promote it
among the student and staff community. It can be tied in to the application of different
technologies and to mixed media products, enhancing students‟ skills as well as awareness
of the important issues addressed by the Symposium‟s contents.
4 Electronic Feedback
4.1 Electronic feedback on work-in-progress
During the two years of EEL students on MA International Studies were supported
electronically using email – and especially track changes in student assignments that are
„works-in-progress‟. This approach is especially useful in providing quick and student-friendly
feedback as well as a certain amount of text editing for students whose first language is not
English. Seven students from the 2006 MA International Studies cohort benefited from this
plus 12 from previous cohorts during the year). This work was continued during the second
year of the EEL Project and is on-going for all distance learning and blended learning
students on MA International Studies. This kind of feedback – mostly on draft essays and
dissertations (or special studies, research presentations or the like, on a range of
undergraduate modules) involves a two format approach – CAPS LOCK to add COMMENT
inside the student‟s text, as if talking directly to the student, and normal font for in-text edits,
the latter which can be incorporated into the student‟s draft using „Accept Change‟ in track
changes. The approach represents a highly engaged and directive form of feedback,
especially suitable for dissertation supervision.
Recommendation: to continue and encourage adoption by other colleagues, especially for
MA International Studies and Dissertation supervision in other Programmes.
Page 9 of 10
4.2 Electronic Marking
During Semester 1 2007-08, 30 students on 3BM100 „Business Environments in the Single
European Market‟ were invited to submit work electronically in order to receive electronic
feedback as part of the marking process. Out of 60 possible submissions, 15 were received.
Students all welcomed the detailed feedback received, but from a marking perspective the
experiment was seen as a risky precedent as it took a huge amount of time and was
technically cumbersome – requiring a great deal of resaving of files and even printing. Part
of the problem in this kind of feedback is the risk of giving too much, thereby being very
resource costly in tutor time. This is probably a consequence of the habits established
through the approach described above with „work-in-progress‟ – and there needs to be a
lighter touch for actual marking, or the time required is entirely untenable.
Recommendation: not to offer this service in the format used in this trial; discussions on
improving the efficiency of the process are on-going.
A more successful form of electronic feedback was Audio Feedback, trialled following the
extension of EEL into the Sounds Good project at Leeds Metropolitan University.
5 Sounds Good – Audio Feedback using MP3 files
A centre-piece of the second year of the project, EEL joined Bob Rotheram at Leeds
Metropolitan University in the JISC-funded Sounds Good project. The experiment involved
audio files for feedback on assignments. While there is a definite learning curve involved in
the approach, the results were very good. Students loved the more detailed feedback and
the personal nature of a spoken report. From the tutor perspective, the security in knowing
students are more likely to get the feedback is one of its great advantages.
Simon presented an overview of Sounds Good as well as other EEL feedback trials at „The
Virtual University? Social Science Critiques of Learning and Teaching in the Age of Digital
Reproduction‟ organised by the HEA C-SAP (Subject group Sociology, Anthropology and
Politics) in London in January 2009.
Mark Dransfield reports: „As the University begins to investigate the feasibility of moving
towards electronic assignment submission and marking, colleagues are being introduced to
the variety of ways in which they can provide feedback. As a result of the collaborations
within the EEL project, audio feedback via MP3 files is becoming an increasingly popular
alternative to electronically marked assignments.‟
Recommendation: To continue to spread the word and develop university wide use of audio
feedback especially given the high level of student satisfaction with this form of e-support.
6 Podcasts
Year Two of the EEL Project saw extensive engagement with the use of Podcasts loaded
onto the University‟s VLE, especially in Module 2 of MA International Studies where all
intensive teaching seminars led to the uploading of around 15 hours of material onto
Blackboard for later use by students, including one who lives in Japan and was unable to
attend the seminars.
Page 10 of 10
The undergraduate Research Investigation module in BA Business Management was also
provided with a video podcast on its VLE site. This provided support and advice for students
through to completion of their projects.
Recommendation: to promote much more extensive use of audio files inside the university
VLE. This is a valuable boost to the variety and flexibility of learning resources in Supported
Open Learning (SOL) of particular benefit to Programmes using flexible delivery and
distributed learning methodologies. However it should also be used more for conventionally
delivered campus-based modules.
7 Wimba Create
As a bi-product of the connection established by the EEL Project with Wimba, the University
bought a permanent licence for the materials writing software Wimba Create. This is ideal for
converting word documents into much more interactive and visually attractive materials for
on-line and distributed learning. Wimba Create is especially suited to a more dynamic and
interactive teaching and learning process and can be a significant inclusion in the university‟s
VLE, as well as a significant marketing plus in demonstrating the university‟s commitment to
innovative approaches.
The EEL team, with the exception of Mark Dransfield, have not yet explored the potential of
Wimba Create. However colleagues in English Language and Linguistics (Angela Goddard
and Shirley Rae), Health & Life Sciences (Lois Addy and Maria Parks) and Arts (Steve Rawle)
have used it to develop e-learning materials.
Recommendation: That staff development opportunities promote the existence of Wimba
Create and bring more colleagues into its environment. The EEL participants are also
committed to exploring the potential of this important tool.
8 Benefits to students, staff, the university and wider community
More staff and students have been exposed to the potential of learning technologies. Staff
are beginning to think about ways in which the technology would be of benefit to their current
teaching practices and identify areas where technology could be a good solution to certain
problems.
The English Language and Linguistics programme team are using virtual classroom tools in
two of their large modules and the evaluation of this was reported in Faculty AER and
Fellowship reports. This has the potential for affecting a larger number of students in the
Faculty than first anticipated when this project was conceived. This was a direct result of EEL
as the Wimba connection was established through EEL, and the ELL colleagues‟ work has
complemented EEL efforts in relation to developing staff expertise in using the Virtual
Classroom and greatly increasing the numbers of students impacted by the technology.
The Virtual classroom‟s main benefit is that geographical constraints are no longer barriers,
meaning International collaboration and teaching becomes more realistic as the technology
opens up opportunities.
The pedagogical benefits of using the Wimba Virtual Classroom range over several
collaborative, innovative and interactive practices. It provides opportunities for meetings
without boundaries, and to ask rich, insightful and challenging questions in a „safe‟
Page 11 of 10
environment, gain direct feedback, and to follow up with archiving for revision and later
access. The Virtual Classroom can link different student groups worldwide.
Wimba Create shows excellent potential for the development of on-line teaching materials
and can be a substantial benefit to the enhancement of the VLE. It is clear that its design and
flexibility, and potential for interactive learning, offer substantial advantages over paper-
based traditional Study Packs as currently used in distributed learning contexts.
In several respects EEL has contributed – and will continue to contribute – to the
internationalisation agenda of the university. Links to Amsterdam, Taiwan, Bahrain, Kenya
and Mexico have all made extensive use of EEL. The potential for developing these
relationships is considerable. In addition Steve Watson has worked for over two years to
construct links with two Spanish universities, Seville and Huelva, resulting in staff visits,
collaboration in the New Cultural Cities conference in April 2008, and facilitating future
student exchanges. Both initiatives have benefited from EEL engagement and future e-
lectures and e-seminars with both institutions are envisaged.
EEL has also benefited the reputation of the university by raising its profile through the
extensive list of external presentations as well as off-site applications. This includes links to
the C-SAP subject group (Sociology, Anthropology and Politics) of the Higher Education
Academy, involvement with Sounds Good led by Leeds Metropolitan and featuring two other
partners in Northampton and Birmingham.
9 Development of dissemination
Conferences/publications
Sweeney, S. (2007) „What‟s the University For?‟ Internationalisation Conference YSJ Dec
Sweeney, S. (2008) „Creative Writing in no-conventional contexts: EEL Pie‟ Old York New
York NAWE panel at AWP Annual Conference New York 29 Jan – 2 February 2008
Watson, S. (2008) „Understanding Web 2.0 and Social networking as a new cultural
phenomenon‟ New Cultural Cities YSJU 2 April 2008
Wetherell Terry, D (2008) „Using e-learning technologies and action learning to enhance the
student experience Kabarak University, Kenya 15 May 2008
Wetherell Terry, D (2008) How can students benefit from engaging in action learning sets
from a distance? National University of Rwanda 23 May 2008
Sweeney, S. (2008) „Climbing Up the Walls: using non-traditional targets for creative writing
opportunities in HE‟, Manchester, November
Sweeney, S. (2009) Climbing Up the Walls: Doing creative writing where you don‟t expect to
find it‟ Writing in Education, 47, 71-3 Spring.
Sweeney, S. (2009) „Case Studies in Electronic Feedback‟ Second Annual E-Learning
Conference. York St John University. April 29
Bradley, J. (2009) ‘Wimba Collaboration Suite - So Much More than a Virtual Classroom!’
Second Annual E-Learning Conference. York St John University. April 29
Page 12 of 10
Sweeney, S. (2009) Internationalisation and the Use of Electronic Media in Teaching and
Assessment: four case studies, apparent benefits and drawbacks. ELiSS. C-SAP HEA
(forthcoming/tbc)
The EEL team worked with Chris Brooke to produce a CD for a C4C CETL Fellowship
Projects Brochure and in the production of several pages dedicated to EEL in the C4C CETL
Creative Casebook (2009).
All EEL Project members are committed to the development of pedagogical expertise and to
sharing their experiences of the technologies encountered through EEL. In future training
and staff development events inside York St John will benefit from the experiences
generated by this project. In addition opportunities to publish the outcomes of EEL work will
be explored, so on-going dissemination is a clear future pathway.
10 Additional events
Five training sessions with project staff on the use of the Wimba virtual classroom
Introduction to the Wimba virtual classroom with other staff in the Faculty
Creative Writing Workshop for Staff and students at YSJU led by Paul Munden of NAWE
(March 2007)
Taiwan (St John‟s University, Taiwan) S Sweeney video conference lecture December 07
„UK Business Environment‟
Kabarak University, Kenya Introduction to York St John University its CETL and e-learning
technologies. Diana Wetherell Terry May 2008
ITESO University of Guadalajara, Mexico: Peace Justice & Human Rights Planning Event in
March 2007 and Symposium September 2008
Demonstration of Audio Feedback and Edirol sound recording equipment by Bob Rotherham
of Leeds Metropolitan University in relation to the Sounds Good Audio Feedback project;
(EEL team plus five other staff attending). October 2008.
11 Collaboration opportunities
EEL consolidated an on-going partnership with the National Association of Writers in
Education, bringing seminars, article publication and conference participation, as well as
NAWE sponsorship of the EEL Pie initiative which significantly benefited students and staff.
Diana Wetherell Terry added value to both her teaching fellowships through use of the
Wimba Virtual Classroom in teaching PCAP in Bahrain, combining e-learning with action
learning.
EEL cemented a business relationship between York St John University and Wimba, experts
in the provision of teaching and learning collaborative software.
EEL established links to Sero and Learning Light, regional businesses involved in education
and training.
Page 13 of 10
EEL supported joint projects and other initiatives with HEIs in Mexico, Bahrain, Taiwan,
Kenya, Spain and the Netherlands.
Other subject areas within the Faculty and wider cross faculty working opportunities are
beginning to present themselves.
The Sounds Good project involved partnership with Leeds Metropolitan, but also with
Northampton University and Newman University College, Birmingham.
There is huge potential for the development of collaborative provision using e-learning tools
like Wimba Create to build on-line teaching materials, as already underway for English
Language & Linguistics (as well as in other faculties). ELL have worked with the University of
Amsterdam, particularly on a shared module in their respective programmes.
Wimba tools are especially suited to building institutional collaboration. As well as
discussions with the University of Amsterdam, we have plans to use the Wimba Suite to
progress discussions with ITESO University of Guadalajara in order to try to develop stronger
institutional links, especially in relation to the MA in International Studies.
12 Conclusion
All team Fellows feel proud of the achievements of this project and will continue to focus on
these with a view to building on outcomes and benefits linked to York St John Business
School.
Mark Dransfield comments: “Personally I have benefitted from the project because I have
been able to work with academic staff that I have previously had no contact with. I had
intended to establish some initiatives with new technology such as the ones we have been
exploring, and this project has given me a good basis for doing that”.
Key Achievements
1 Trialling of innovative software and e-learning technologies - Wimba‟s virtual
classroom and electronic feedback, especially using audio (MP3) files
2 Contributing to the successful bid to renew the Wimba licence and therefore facilitate
further development and exploitation of the tools beyond the core team and the trials
we undertook
3 Raising the profile of creative endeavour among „non-traditionally‟ creative student
groups (mixed media technologies, handling digital images, creative writing)
4 Directly impacting over 400 students. We expect to continue use Wimba tools with a
range of postgraduate and undergraduate modules in future.
5 Furthering links with other institutions and organisations (NAWE, ITESO Guadalajara,
PCAP Bahrain, Taiwan, Seville, Amsterdam etc – with prospect of staff and/or
student exchanges now being discussed)
6 Engagement with a range of conferences/publication of outcomes
7 Introduction of and early exploitation of the materials writing tool Wimba Create.
Page 14 of 10
In focusing on the positive aspects of our project we have not lost sight of some of the
outcomes we had hoped to produce which were realised to only a limited extent, notably we
would have liked a greater involvement with the business community. However we feel that
as the use of these technologies becomes more established across the Faculty and the
University, the opportunities for engagement, particularly through the York St John Business
Scholl, will emerge.
The modest achievement so far in respect of impact and partnership with the LEA or with
businesses is a consequence of a lack of time and resources. We did make day visits to
Sero and Learning Light in Sheffield but have not had time to fully exploit these connections.
We anticipate are confident that we can build EEL outcomes and benefits in partnership with
the York St John Business School.
As a result of working with Wimba, the university purchased licences for another product,
Wimba Create which as reported above is being used by English Language and Linguistics
to develop on-line materials. This allows tutors to create richer web-based content, directly
from Word documents, for their students. Effectively, this tool turns word documents into
dynamic web pages, which can include audio, video and assessment materials.
13 Plans for the future development of the project
A striking benefit of the EEL Project has been the application of Wimba tools to building
institutional relationships and contributing to the University‟s internationalisation agenda. This
will certainly be further exploited as the synchronous nature of the Wimba tools is ideal for
conducting meetings and discussions with partners and potential partners wherever they
may be.
We envisage consolidating the use of Wimba tools and related technologies through the
establishment of stronger links with the business community through the York St John
Business School.
We also anticipate spreading the use of these technologies into other subject areas where so
far exposure to and use of the Wimba Suite has not taken place. The team identify Modern
Foreign Languages and MA TESOL as key areas where increased use of these technologies
promises significant benefits.
More members of staff – and more students - will be exposed to these new and emerging
technologies. The virtual classroom has been successfully trialled, as has audio feedback
and other forms of electronic support. International opportunities are being developed in the
Netherlands, Spain, Japan, Bahrain, Kenya and Rwanda – all of these are extensions of the
EEL Project. Others (such as Mexico) are at an earlier development stage, but we are
confident that both within our own university, and internationally, the EEL Project has had an
extremely positive and widespread impact.
Simon Sweeney (Project Leader)
Mark Dransfield
Steve Watson
Diana Wetherell Terry
York, 30 April 2009
Page 15 of 10
Acknowledgements
The EEL team would like to acknowledge the support of all colleagues and students who
have engaged with the products and initiatives introduced through EEL. Students in
particular have been hugely supportive of these efforts and have welcomed the innovative
approaches described above.
Thanks are also due to our external partners, especially Paul Munden of NAWE, Bob
Rotheram of Leeds Metropolitan University, and Mike Bailey and Jeremy Bradley at Wimba.
Finally thanks to colleagues at C4C CETL, especially Julia Smith and Rebecca Reese for
their tolerance and forbearance when things are delivered (not always on time).
Appendices
Wimba Virtual Classroom – Report by Mark Dransfield
Sounds Good Report – by Simon Sweeney
NB Other documentation can be found on the EEL Website under Documents
http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/learnteach/eel/
Page 16 of 10
Related docs
