Area of Activity 4: Develop Effective Environments and Approaches to Student Support and Guidance

A4: Develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance

K2, K3, K4, K5, V1, V2, V3, V4

Introduction

The development of effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance has been an integral part of my different roles over the years. This applies to both face-to-face environments, for example in the form of my work with The Learning Centre at USQ, my involvement in faculty-based communities of practice (McDonald, 2012), and the Faculty of Education's First Year Infusion (FYI) programme (Henderson & Noble, 2009), as well as in my leadership roles in the development of online learning support environments at USQ, and in particular at Batchelor Institute and XJTLU. 

Blended learning environments

The basic idea of blended learning spaces is not difficult to accept, nor are its currency and relevance. However, to truly accept its potential requires a significant shift in the way we think about higher education and about the learning spaces within it, which will take some time. For example, Bradwell notes that “social networks, Google maps, mobile internet and the immediate availability of information have found their way into the everyday lives of those on campus, but they have not yet followed students and teachers into the classroom” (2009, p.55). Bradwell wrote this in 2009, and so they are now, in early 2017, quite resolutely headed towards the classroom. However, there is still a long way to go before we can say that blended learning environments are effective learning environments that oscillate seamlessly between face-to-face, online and mobile learning environments.

During my career as an educational developer, blended learning has been a constant thread. I generally think about learning environments in a holistic way, which means that I tend of think of formal learning environments as only one element in students' overall learning environments. In other words, our impact on students' learning in higher education is important but necessarily limited. This is what Cope and Kalantzis refer to as 'ubiquitous learning' (2009). If we recognise that students can learn potentially anytime and anywhere, then this becomes an important factor in developing effective and inclusive learning environments. By extension, effective approaches to student support and guidance would then need to take into account how the formal learning environments that we have some control over fit into students' overall 'learning ecology' (Kek & Huijser, 2017). 

At USQ, as part of my role in the Learning Centre, I led a project that involved developing an academic skills learning support environment online, called Academic Learning Skills Online (ALS Online). This was very much part of an overall blended suite of academic support for students through the Learning Centre. 

At Batchelor Institute, my role was primarily focused on developing blended learning environments across the Institute. One good example of this was the development of a Cert IV in Training and Assessment, which involved a three or four day intensive face-to-face element, following by student engagement in a range of interactive tools and assessment items online, including synchronous online classroom sessions. Rather than cramming everything into the face-to-face part of the course, we designed the course in such a way that the emphasis was on building a learning community and peer network, which could then be sustained beyond the face-to-face part of the course. Thus, students could support each other and we, as teachers, could offer ongoing guidance as well. The flexibility of the learning environment thus created was particularly important for this particular cohort, which mostly consisted of busy mature age Indigenous professionals.

At XJTLU, the blended learning theme is continued, as I am mostly engaged in the development and maintenance of effective online learning environments for both the Certificate in Professional Studies (CPS) Programme, and the Postgraduate Research Skills Development (PGR) Programme. The Moodle-based learning management system at XJTLU is called ICE (Integrated Communication Environment). Again, a key part of the design is a recognition of the local context, which means that engagement is more focused on resource material and feedback, rather than continuous engagement online, as most of the workshops in these programmes occur in a face-to-face context. Within that context however, we often integrate education technologies into the classroom activities, for example on the use of iPads or smart phones.

Social media are increasingly becoming a presence in educational environments, and I have used social media particularly at Batchelor Institute as part of developing effective learning environments and learning communities. Social media offer the potential to link into existing support networks, as well as build on those. At Batchelor Institute for example, I instigated and developed a number of Facebook groups (some 'closed' and some 'open'), all of which are continuing to be used by different cohorts of students and staff. One example is a Batchelor Institute E-Learning Group, and another is a Facebook group for Batchelor Institute postgraduate students.

Using social media is part of enhancing the student experience, and in particular the first year experience (Nelson & Clarke, 2014). This is even more important in relation to ‘widening participation’ and ‘equity groups’ (Thomas, 2013), as university can be a daunting experience at first, and using environments (i.e. social media environments) that students are already familiar with can potentially help with transition into higher education. As DeAndrea et al. note for example, “students who believe that they have social resources available on campus more successfully handle the transition to college” (2011, p. 1).

In terms of student expectations, social media are an integral part of students’ everyday lives, so the idea of removing social media from their university environment is basically implying that university is not part of the ‘real world’. In an Australian context, the role of social media in students’ everyday lives is even more relevant for some student equity groups, for example Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students (Corn, 2013), and it thus makes sense to at least explore the potential benefits that social media use offers in relation to engaging these students, especially in the first year (Hall & Maugham, 2015). Social media are often the most effective way of communicating with students, as they tend to be always ‘connected’, as opposed to email for example.

This also very much applies to students at XJTLU, although WeChat, rather than Facebook, is the most popular platform in the Chinese context. XJTLU however has a more cautious approach, as there are some concerns around security and liability.  Nevertheless, there are an increasing number of teachers who use social media at least as a communication tool with their students.

Bradwell, P. (2009). The edgeless university: Why higher education must embrace technology. London: Demos.

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2009). Ubiquitous learning. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Corn, A. (2013). Introduction: The Indigital revolution. In L. Ormond-Parker, A. Corn, C. Fforde, K. Obata, & S. O’Sullivan (Eds.). Information technology and Indigenous communities (pp. 1-8). Canberra: AIATSIS Research Publications.

DeAndrea, D., Ellison, N., LaRose, R., Steinfeld, C., & Fiore, A. (2011). Serious social media: On the use of social media for improving students’ adjustment to college. Internet and Higher Education. DOI: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.05.009

Hall, L., & Maugham, C. (2015). Going where the students are already: Reimagining online learning where students and lecturers co-create an interactive teaching and learning space. The International Journal of Technologies in Learning, 22(3), 51-61.

Henderson, R., & Noble, K. (2009). FYI (First Year Infusion): A vaccine for the first year plague in a regional university. SPERA 2009: Education in a Digital Present: Enriching Rural Communities, Adelaide.

Kek, M. Y. C. A., & Huijser, H. (2017). Problem-based learning into the future: Imagining an agile PBL ecology for learning. Singapore: Springer.

McDonald, J. (2012). Community, domain, practice: Facilitator catch cry for revitalising learning and teaching through communities of practice (Project Report). Sydney: Australian Learning and Teaching Council.

Nelson, K., & Clarke, J. (2014). The First Year Experience: Looking back to inform the future. HERDSA Review of Higher Education, 1, 23-46.

Thomas, L. (2013). What works? Facilitating an effective transition into higher education. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 14 (Supplement 1), 4-24.