Dr Margaret Buckley and Dr Conor Cashman, School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork
While we as learning practitioners speak of building responsive and student-enabling hybrid, digital learning environments, what has been the actual experience of students and practitioners in such environments? UCC’s School of Applied Social Studies received funding from the university’s Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) Fund to explore and evaluate this question.
The evaluation was developed in the context of updates to assessment formats of an undergraduate social research methods module – an online pre-recorded presentation was added to a research module in recent years. Students were asked about their experience of this assessment method. The experiences will be used to generate a broader discussion at student-teaching staff workshops about the role and value of technology within learning environments.
Preliminary results show that 60% of students are confident in using technology and that 64% think that technology should be integrated more in the classroom. However, 68% are of the opinion that essays and in-person exams are a good way to assess student learning (as opposed to online methods). 88% stated that preparing and recording a presentation helped to clarify ideas and 76% stated that it helped them to communicate their ideas. However, the survey results show a juxtaposition – 60% of students feel confident in using technology, but many experienced issues in creating and uploading PowerPoint slides and a number stated that they had no experience in doing such things before. So, when people say they are confident with technology, what type do they mean?
