“Lets Educate, Learn and Flourish: how can we open doors, light fires and race with machines?”

Becky Strachan

November 2017

Professor of Digital Technology and Education,

Associate Pro Vice Chancellor Strategic Planning & Engagement,

Faculty of Engineering & Environment, Northumbria University

“Technology can become the ‘wings’ that will allow the educational world to fly further and faster than ever before – if we allow it”

Jenny Arledge

“Lets Educate, Learn and Flourish: how can we open doors, light fires and race with machines?”

Becky Strachan

November 2017

Professor of Digital Technology and Education,

Associate Pro Vice Chancellor Strategic Planning & Engagement,

Faculty of Engineering & Environment, Northumbria University

“Technology can become the ‘wings’ that will allow the educational world to fly further and faster than ever before – if we allow it”

Jenny Arledge

“Lets Educate, Learn and Flourish: how can we open doors, light fires and race with machines?”

Becky Strachan

November 2017

Professor of Digital Technology and Education,

Associate Pro Vice Chancellor Strategic Planning & Engagement,

Faculty of Engineering & Environment, Northumbria University

“Diversity : the art of thinking independently together.”

Malcolm Forbes

“Cherry, plum, peach or damson blossoms – all, just as they are, are entities possessing their own unique qualities”

Teachings of Buddha

“Lets Educate, Learn and Flourish: how can we open doors, light fires and race with machines?”

Becky Strachan

November 2017

Professor of Digital Technology and Education,

Associate Pro Vice Chancellor Strategic Planning & Engagement,

Faculty of Engineering & Environment, Northumbria University

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”

Ralph Emerson

How do we learn?

Opening Doors: Can technology help widen participation?

Racing with Machines: Can technology transform education?

Lighting fires: Can technology inspire and engage our learners?

Where next?

How do you learn well?

Think of something that you’re good at,

something that you know you do well.

How did you become good at it? Share

this with the person sitting next to you.

How do you learn well?

Motivation

Good Support

Taken from Phil Race’s ‘Ripples’ Model of Learning, seewww.phil-race.co.uk

My Philosophy on Learning & Education

“I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”Albert Einstein

“Every student can learn. Just not on the same day or in the same way.”George Evans

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”Mahatma Gandhi

“I try never to let my schooling get in the way of my education.”Mark Twain

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”Yeats

“You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”

Richard Branson

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

Quote attributed to Confucius

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”

Sydney J. Harris

Active Learning

Make mistakes

Educate not train

Independent Learning

Open Doors

Think for Yourself

Lifelong learning

Inside and Outside the Classroom

Education … more than training

Belief that people can be ‘more’

Involves physical, intellectual, emotional, cultural, spiritual, vocational, aesthetic, moral, language, social, religious and recreational developments

Society and Culture

Narrow Focus: – Education from age 4 – 21 years

– Expected norms: university vs work

– Environment & Culture: formal learning

Leaky Pipeline– Gender imbalance in different disciplines

– Mismatch between demand and skills

– Becomes more stark at higher levels

Can Technology help ‘Open Doors’?

Fast changing discipline

Focus on interaction/active learning not

content

Maker/Tinkering Activities

Hackathons/code clubs

Career inspired …

How do we Open Doors with technology?

Start early

One Example: NUSTEM

Focus on ‘STEM capital’

Sustained engagement

Gender inclusive

Career inspired

Partnership working

Targeting ‘hard to reach’

Colleagues: Carol Davenport, Annie Padwick, Jonathan Sanderson, Joe Shimwell, Sarah Hilton, Opeyemi Dele-Ajayi, Kate Winter, Dan Wilkinson, Antonio Portas, Itoro Emembolu, Luke Haworth

www.nustem.uk

of NUSTEM Research

Among young people (7 – 15 years), the following declines with age:

– Enjoyment of science– Engagement of science– Confidence in science

And females decline more sharply

As early as age 7 years, males & females differ in their self-identify (most like me)

Males know more jobs particularly STEM from an early age

Males talk about science with a wider

set of people in and out of school

Racing with Machines:

Technology Enabled Learning

“It is very important to put education in the driving seat of future technology development … I want to turn that around, and begin with the requirements of education, and challenge technology to meet them.”

Diane Laurillard (2008)

“Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.”

Christina Lous Lange

Data, Information and Content

Amount is overwhelming

Estimate that the

information we create and

store doubles every two

years

By 2020, the digital

universe will reach 44

zettabytes, or 44 trillion

gigabytes.

How do we access and use it?

Same applies to education.

Not about content creation but how do we signpost

and use it with students.

Mobile devices are permitted!

Question: What is to 5 decimal places?

How would you have found out this

‘Before Google’ and mobile phones?

Development …

of Technology Enhanced Learning

Technology Enabled Learning

UK HEFCE Report (2009) on technology in learning and teaching highlighted three main benefits:

•efficiency (existing processes carried out in a more cost-effective, time-effective, sustainable or scalable manner)

•enhancement (improving existing processes and the outcomes)

• transformation (radical, positive change in existing processes or introducing new processes).

Efficiency:

• Online learning management systems e.g. Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas

• Lecture capture e.g. Panopto

• Electronic assessment submission

Enhancement:

• Online feedback (immediate)

• Mobile apps to access content, timetables, etc.

• Interactive whiteboards

Transformation:

• Less obvious …

Are we playing too safe?

An Example: Interactive Video

https://life-saver.org.uk/

Video based, interactive, real-life, time

based

Difficult to reproduce this in the classroom

Learning should be

fun, stimulating,

exciting, enjoyable and

inspirational

* facilitate * communicate * coordinate * disseminate * stimulate *

* support * listen * update * inform * liaise * innovate * proactive *

Example 2: Lighting Fires’

Using Games for Learning: Two Projects

Project 1: Using MMORPGs for Second

Language Learning

Colleagues: Isara Kongmee, Alison Pickard

Project 2: Using educational games to

improve engagement with Mathematics

Colleagues: Opeyemi Dele-Ajayi, Jonathan

Sanderson, Alison Pickard

Project 1: Gaming to Support

Second Language Learning

Background

Students learning English as their second language

need to practice their language skills to become

competent

Difficult to provide opportunities to interact with

native English speakers

Classroom delivery in Thailand is quite traditional

and second language learners are under achieving.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games

(MMORPGs) provide space to meet people across

the globe

“When people learn to play video games,

they are learning a new literacy”(Gee, 2005: 13)

Methodology

Action Research

Learners

Virtual Ethnography

Hiddenavatar

Knownavatar

Observation

Tasks:

Game based

Guidance & Support

Conclusions

Online role playing games can support active and situated learning.

Provide a stimulating and engaging environment

Students personalised their learning: exemplified by the different roles of ‘leader’, ‘economist’ and ‘socialiser’.

Avatar characterisation provides anonymity providing a safe environment, that helps increase their confidence in using the language.

Students gained cultural knowledge too

Tutor can support in and out of the virtual environment

Example 2: Motivation for the Study

But also supported by research including:

Mathematics is important but boring: Students’ beliefs and attitudes

towards mathematics, Kislenko et al, 2005

“They do not like mathematics, many of them

see it as hard and impossible, then they get

disinterested in the classroom”

Teacher, Nigeria 2015

Anecdotal

Challenge: Engaging Mathematics

‘Racing with Machines’

Can games help?

Children appear to enjoy and have greater concentration during computer based learning1

But do they need to foster deeper learning?

Our problem is about engagement, not educational performance

1:Wrzesien, M. and Raya, M.A., 2010. Learning in serious virtual worlds: Evaluation of learning effectiveness and appeal to students in the E-Junior project. Computers & Education, 55(1), pp.178-187.

1: DeSmet, A., Van Ryckeghem, D., Compernolle, S., Baranowski, T., Thompson, D., Crombez, G., Poels, K., Van Lippevelde, W., Bastiaensens, S., Van Cleemput, K. and Vandebosch, H., 2014. A meta-analysis of serious digital games for healthy lifestyle promotion. Preventive medicine, 69, pp.95-107.

“If we can present generally ‘complex’ scientific content through tangible and non-textually media like serious games, we may be able to engage reluctant learners in STEM subjects” 1

Research gap

Finding the optimal balance between entertainment and education ( Cowley et al. 2013)

What are the game features that support learning and promote engagement (Butler, 2014)

A critical step for effective education games is identifying the key game engagement factors.

Conceptual Engagement Framework

Initial Engagement Clarity of Goal

Thematic and Visual Appeal

Ongoing Engagement Rewards and Feedback

Social Interaction

Creativity

Challenge

Committed Engagement Immersion

Practical Implementation

Three schools in Nigeria

Carried out a ‘Technology Acceptance

Model’ (TAM) evaluation with teachers to

support them too

Designed a game ‘Speedy Rocket’ to

support estimation mathematics

Two weeks in the classroom trialling with

students and teachers

TEL in the Classroom

Games for Learning (but keep the

engagement factors!)

Recordings – video, audio, screen capture

Interactive Whiteboards & other media

Learning Management Systems and

online support – blogs, wikis, discussion

boards

Ebooks, e-library

Your turn: Peer Learning …

One minute: Count how many triangles.

Share your answer with someone else,

now share with another couple - decide on

a final answer.

What are students doing in practice?

A Study of International UG Students

19% (438,010) of all UK HE

students are international[Source: HESA return 2015-2016]

Often find our learning

and teaching methods

‘strange’ & ‘challenging’

Anecdotal evidence that many use digital resources e.g. facebook, youtube and other social media to support their studies

37

Research Approach

Research Questions:

what digital technologies are international undergraduate students using to support their learning?”

and

“how are they using these digital technologies to support their learning?”

Case Study Approach:

Survey (n=250) plus 12 in depth interviews

Colleagues: Sanaa Aljabali, Alison Pickard

38

Research Framework

39

Identified initial set of 10 Critical Success Factors for technology enhanced learning (from the literature)

Learning Community

Collaborative Learning

Educational Ecology

Ability to use Hardware/ Software

Hardware/ Software Platforms

Time SpaceLearning Contexts

Learning Activities

Life Experience

Key Findings: use of digital devices

Type ofDigital Device

Daily Weekly Monthly Never

Desktopcomputer

42%(104)

26%(65)

10%(25)

19%(48)

Laptop 88%(221)

6%(16)

2%(4)

2%(4)

Mobile phone 97%(243)

0 1%(2)

0

Tablet 32%(79)

14%(34)

12%(30)

31%(77)

40

Table 1. Frequency of Use of Digital Devices by Students

(out of a total of 250)Note some students did not provide an answer

Key Findings: On and Off Campus

41

Hours of Use

1-3 hours

4-6 hours 7-9 hours

10+ hours

On Campus

57% (143)

28%(69)

10%(24)

5% (13)

Off Campus

16% (39)

34%(84)

37%(94)

14%(34)

Table 2. Frequency of Use of Digital Technology by Students

(out of a total of 250)Note some students did not provide an answer

42

“I do find the library a very suitable place for my

studies … it’s a very quiet place to concentrate and it

have everything I need”

“I prefer to go home to study”

“When I don’t have my laptop with me … my

mobile phone comes in as it helps me to do this on

the go”

“I spend about two hours in the university using technology but three hours or more

outside the university”

Key Findings: Popular Technologies to

Support Learning

43

Table 3. Most Popular Digital Technology Tools

(out of a total of 250)Note some students did not provide an answer

Technology Tool Response

Internet Websites 79% (197)

Blackboard (eLP) 78% (195)

Email 76% (191)

Social Media 52% (131)

Youtube 51% (127)

Document Sharing e.g. Dropbox 41% (103)

eLibrary 40% (99)

Ebooks, discussion board, wikis, blogs

<35%

Key Findings: Main Purpose

Cultural Difference

44

Table 4. Cultural Differences on Main Purpose

of Using Digital Technologies

Purpose of Using Digital Technology

USA & Europe

North &East Asia

Midde East

Communicate with other students

91% 71% 71%

To ask questions 76% 66% 71%

To engage in discussion

55% 59% 51%

To share resources 69% 48% 34%

To support formal assessment

41% 45% 41%

To evaluate work of others

28% 22% 13%

Other Findings and Cultural Differences:

Communication and Feedback

Face to face (77%) preferred form of communication but over 50% also cited use of social networks and email with messaging and phone at just over 40%

Phone is particularly popular with students from Asia

Messaging and social media are most popular with students from Europe/USA, and is particularly low with students from the Middle East

Discussion forums are rarely used

More feedback is received by students via Blackboard (45%) and Email (42%) than face to face (32%)

45

Problems with Technology

Students from Middle East and North & East Asia reported more problems with technology than those from Europe/USA

A third of students from Middle East reported poor understanding of technology compared to under 15% from Europe and the USA

Internet addiction is higher for students from Asia (30%) compared to those from USA/Europe (25%)

14% of students from Asia report social issues with technology compared to <3% with Europe/USA

Main issues reported as technical

(38%) with 29% reporting Internet

addiction and 26% reporting a lack of

understanding with the technology

Conclusions from the Project

Students are becoming more mobile in

their use of technology – devices and

location

They are using technology for a variety of

purposes both inside and outside the

classroom

There are cultural differences in how

students access and use technology

47

Where Next?

Less distinction between technology for the classroom, face to face, distance, online, informal and formal learning

Move from resource based to contextualised, interactive and intelligent

– Two way interaction

– Social learning

– Content Curation

– Microlearning

– Adaptive to individual

Gamification/immersion (& keep the ‘play’)

Learner Analytics (but take care!)

In Conclusion

Education should be transformational

Using technology in learning should be driven

by the pedagogy, not the technology

Be innovative, try things out, make mistakes,

we all should be learning too …

Shared practice, learning together across the

globe!

Together we can Educate, Learn & Flourish

Technology Enabled

Learning should be fun,

stimulating, exciting,

enjoyable and inspirational

* facilitate * communicate * coordinate * disseminate * stimulate *

* support * listen * update * inform * liaise * innovate * proactive *

ReferencesStrachan, R., Dele-Ajayi, O., Sanderson, J., Pickard, A., A Modified TAM for Predicting

Acceptance of Digital Educational Games by Teachers, IEEE EDUCON 2017, Athens,

Greece, April 25-28 2017.

Strachan, R., Aljabali, S., How are international STEM undergraduate students using digital

technology to support their learning?, HEA STEM conference, Manchester, Feb 2017.

Dele-Ajayi, O., Strachan, R., Pickard, A., Sanderson, J., Learning Mathematics through

Serious Games: an Engagement Framework, IEEE Frontiers in Education, Erie, USA, Oct

2016.

Padwick, A., Dele-Ajayi, O., Davenport, C., Strachan, R., Innovative methods for evaluating

the science capital of young people, IEEE Frontiers in Education, Erie, USA, Oct 2016.

Strachan, R., Kongmee, I., Pickard, A., Using Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games

(MMORPGs) to Support Second Language Learning: A Case Study of the Student Journey. In

K. Terry, & A. Cheney (Eds.) Utilizing Virtual and Personal Learning Environments for Optimal

Learning, Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design: 52 Volumes, 1, pp.

87-109. IGI Global, Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, 2016

Strachan, R., Liyanage, L., Active Student Engagement: The Heart of Effective Learning.

Chapter in Global Innovation of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Professional

Learning and Development in Schools and Higher Education, 11, pp. 255-274, Springer

International Publishing, 2015