Category: Pilot Projects

Lessons Learnt 2

Happy New Year to all our blog readers!

Following on Daniel’s post I would like to add that probably one of the main lessons we learnt is the importance of having initial meetings and testing with staff. So the way our projects work is we have application forms which are available on-line. Staff are invited to fill them in providing the details of the activity they would like to use iPads for, learning outcomes, dates and times of their session/s.  When a complete application form reaches the project team, it gets discussed and assigned a project lead.  The role of the project lead is to liaise with the stuff member to identify the best way of using iPads to assist the activity. Aside from email communication with staff we try to have face-to-face meetings to make sure that staff are also comfortable with using iPads and that they are happy with the application that we suggested. We also found that sometimes staff need time to get familiar with using iPads and/or a particular app, therefore our solution is to lend an iPad to a member of staff prior to their session. This enables staff to be more comfortable when using a device at their session.

Overall, I would say that using iPads in the classroom really enhanced student learning and especially group work. From one of the latest evaluations students said that “iPads were very helpful and I could interact with other classmates”, also “could do more research without leaving classroom”. Common feedback about having iPads also included that it was “fun , helpful, interactive, interesting and different” .

Lessons Learnt

It’s been great to see staff and students enjoy using iPads in teaching sessions so far this year.  We have seen the use of iPads continually evolve and as a team we have learnt some valuable lessons on the way.

The feedback we have received from students has been overwhelmingly positive however we have found the excitement of using the iPads has on some occasions distracted students from the learning activity they have been asked to participate in. This has been highlighted by some of the feedback from the student evaluation:

“Disable other features such as the internet and TV so that people do not mess around on them.”

“Sometimes other Apps on the iPads can be distracting”

One approach a tutor has taken to help prevent this is to allow 5 minutes at the start of each session for students to explore and experiment with the features of the iPad. We have found that after this initial exploration that students have been much more focussed on the learning activity.

We have also tried to combat this issue by restricting access to certain features and other apps on the iPads. The Apple Configurator software has enabled us to do this – a new feature allows us to lock the iPads into a specific app. It has been more time consuming from an administrative point of view as we are now preparing the iPads specifically for the teaching sessions they are being used in.

A key to the success of the project so far has been the initial meetings we have arranged with tutors prior to them using the iPads in their teaching sessions. We have been able to discuss and advise academics on their use of the iPads to ensure that the sessions are pedagogically sound.

Use of iPad and app on Analysing Movement module

We have been experimenting with the use of Muscle System Pro III app on iPads to facilitate student learning on a first year, semester 1 module on the undergraduate Occupational Therapy degree programme.  Analysing Movement module enables students to learn observation skills and then apply these to analyse individuals completing everyday occupations, also known as activities of daily living.  This includes being able to analyse the motor skills, processing skills and the contextual influences on successfully participating in occupations.  Students learn to understand the implications for individuals with disability and how they may apply therapeutic interventions as future professional occupational therapists.  As part of analysing participation in occupations, students learn to identify muscles that enable joints in the body to move and analyse the muscle action.

Usually, this learning is done through use of lectures, workshops, links to web sites, YouTube and key texts.  Whilst these are helpful for students, we felt that using alternative media with some level of animation that would illustrate the 3D nature of the body, would enhance their learning and ability to understand the concepts.  We are increasingly aware of how much students interact with these media so felt it was a worthwhile chance to capitalise on this experience.

The iPads and app were used to enrich and supplement the learning in workshops, faciliated by lecturers.  Students worked  in small groups of 5 with an iPad as part of a larger group of 18-24 students.  Students quickly embraced the idea of using the iPads and app – many had prior experience of using the technology if not the app and assisted those who were novices.  Students were clearly working as co-learners.  Subsequent to the workshop, a short questionnaire using Survey Monkey was sent to all students [n=115] asking them to share their experiences.  This was overwhelmingly positive, a response that surpassed even our expectations.    Using the app helped students to understand musculoskeletal anatomy in a more interactive way.  This helped to improve their knowledge by accessing the information icons, identifying and naming muscles, viewing animations to help their skills of analysis and becoming aware of the features offerred by the app that they could use as a resource to help their independent learning away from taught sessions.  The level of interest, active participation and engagement observed in the students was rewarding, for students and staff.  Many students have subsequently purchased the app as a result of using it in one workshop and some have stated they have purchased an iPad!  Many students report using the app on their iPhones.

An opportunity for independent practice prior to the workshops for the 3 lecturers who deliver and structure the sessions, was really beneficial and made us much more aware of the potential benefits of using the technology.  This was a new foray into the use of apps and iPads for myself, as the module leader.  The support and guidance from Lena Henderson and Dasha Zhurauskaya was excellent.

In thinking about the future, we anticipate this approach becoming more mainstream for the teaching team.  Whilst this is a new strategy for us, we envisage using a range of apps on iPads in future workshops and lectures and are actively considering their application on numerous modules.  We plan to use some alternative apps on the Analysing Movement module before the end of the semester.  We plan to ask the Dean to consider purchasing additional iPads for FHLS as a worthwhile investment in exceptional student learning.  We are grateful to the staff in Learning and Teaching Development at YSJU for purchasing the Muscle System Pro II app and installing this onto the iPads.  We are liaising with our line manager regarding the purchase of other apps and accessing relevant free apps.  If we have dedicated iPads in the faculty, this should enable us to access them more readily instead of booking with another support service – more to go around!

Janet Golledge

Module Leader

22.11.12

Student feedback on the pilot projects

We’ve now carried out a couple of pilot iPad sessions and are in the process of collating student feedback. Student responses so far have an overwhelmingly positive attitude. It really feels that using tablets for class activities, in some cases instead of the computer in the library, definitely enhances their learning. In addition to informal feedback after the sessions, we have set up an on-line evaluation survey which gets distributed to the students via their tutors.  So far, we have received 33 responses with very positive feedback! Here are some of the quotes from  the students:

  • “Really useful to be able to talk with others and each have the capacity to search the internet on the individual iPads. It’s a nightmare trying to find a free computer for group work and then trying to all squeeze round it.”
  • “Excellent all classes should have them. It is interactive learning visual and shows examples so assisting learning, this is very useful for dyslexia students like myself.”
  • “Found I could easily find specific areas I wanted to explore, to get direct feedback was also really helpful, makes learning more diverse and interesting as its interactive.”

Using tablets to enhance enquiry based learning

 We had a very interactive enquiry-based learning workshop this morning with some of our level 3 students, making full use of the recently purchased iPads as a research, collaboration and presentation tool. The workshop was part of a level 3 module in the Occupational Therapy programme on External influences and contexts of practice, and the subject matter for the workshop was Challenging stigma and ageism; promoting well-being and personhood, in practice working with older adults. The subject seemed ripe for a student-centred, interactive and enquiry-based approach that students could really engage in and be motivated to research various aspects of the issues themselves, then present, critique and discuss their findings. To facilitate the workshop we had already set up a discussion forum on the module Moodle site where students had been able to share information, media and websites pertinent to the session learning outcomes, and for the workshop itself students worked in 4 groups, each one investigating a different aspect:

1.Stereotypes and negative attitudes about ageing

2.How stigma and ageism impact on occupation, health and well being

3.Older people as a social resource – positive views of ageing

4.Challenging stigma and ageism practically (including relevent policy,  legislation and professional guidelines as well as examples of good practice)

The advantage of using iPads in this session was that it greatly increased opportunities for students to work collaboratively and interactively, and to creatively research and engage with the topic. Since most classrooms only have one computer terminal,  previously an activity of this nature would have required that students go to the library and try and access as many computer terminals as possible to do their research and create a presentation. This process is time consuming, and as one student pointed out in the session, there is no guarantee they will all be able to access a workstation, and it’s much harder for them to work collaboratively under those conditions.

The iPads made it possible for them to stay in the room and work together, they were able to discuss topics and research information very quickly and effectively and much more collaboratively. Students used the iPads to share links, images and discussion points by posting them on the Moodle discussion forum we set up for this purpose, and were able to gather information in a variety of media, including video as well as images and text, and present it to their peers to facilitate a group discussion. They were creative and engaged and the feedback suggests that they found the session stimulating and to have been a valuable learning experience. As expected a few students needed some additional help getting used to the iPad interface and tools but this is where having Dasha in the session was invaluable (as well as some familiarity with the tools myself). This did not present a major obstacle though and most students seemed to find the interface easy to learn, even those unfamiliar with it. The main problem we encountered was the erratic wifi signal in DeGrey level 2 which at one point was significantly slowing down Internet access. For iPads and other tablet devices to be used to their best potential we need a IT and educational ecosystem in place that allows them to be used easily and without barriers. One of the aims of this session in terms of pedagogy was to evaluate how well such devices could be used in the context of core everyday learning processes; the focus was not on any particular apps or the technology per se, but on facilitating enquiry based learning and collaboration.

iPad workshop

I attended a workshop recently where we formally launched the YSJ ipad project . It was a really positive event and after getting through so many hurdeles I was amazed we managed to make it happen. All credit to the team for iroingin out some very challenging issues since we decided to do this in the summer.

We heard from two teams from YSJ who have been piloting the use of ipads in the classroom and I have to say it made me feel very excited as to how this could revoluntise and enhance the student experience. The app for the muscle system used by OT made me realise how much more exciting anatomy could now become! It felt as though you could actually dissect a body in the classroom. It was also good to see how ipads could be used effectively to provide formative assessment and feedback opportunites in an interactive and fun way in Teacher Education. I look forward to seeing how the project develops. I think I need to think how I coud use this to deliver a staff development event.

Mandy