The iPilot: embedding mobile devices into learning and teaching through an institution-wide project

Public Group Active 5 years, 6 months ago

Wed, Sep 6 2017, 3:00pm – 4:30pm

Authors: Matt Elphick

Room: Mountford Hall (G)

Theme: Empowerment in Learning Technology

Type: 20-minute session

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Description

Mobile Devices, such as iPads, have become an important piece of educational technology in HE, allowing students the ability to access resources and collaborate with their peers in new ways (Al-Emran, M., Elsherif, H.M. and Shaalan, K. 2015). The portability of these devices, coupled with their intuitive touch-screens and operating systems, give students a powerful and flexible learning tool that can facilitate learning both inside and outside of the classroom, empowering students through technology.

This presentation will discuss an institution-wide pilot project, dubbed the iPilot, that sought to assess the use of iPads in a classroom setting and to investigate whether giving all students the same devices had an impact (positive or otherwise) on students’ digital capabilities (JISC), creativity and their ability to collaborate with their peers. This project at the University of Winchester, developed by Learning and Teaching Development in partnership with the Student Union, has now come to the end of its second year and so initial findings will be discussed.

Seven undergraduate programmes were selected to take part in the iPilot, following an application process, and the staff and first year students from these were each provided with an iPad mini 2 and case. Staff were provided with training through which several apps, and how they could be incorporated into the delivery of content, were demonstrated. As the benefits of staff-student partnership are numerous (both to the staff and students involved, as well as the wider university community) and the concept of student engagement is a focus for the sector (Healey, M., Flint, A. and Harrington, K. 2014), the programmes involved were allocated funding in order to recruit a ‘Student Fellow’ (El-Hakim et al, 2014) to work alongside the programme teams on a project relating to mobile devices. These Student Fellows worked alongside staff partners from their programmes in order to assess the impact of the devices on learning and teaching and to promote good practice.

This presentation will look at case studies exploring how the iPads can be embedded into teaching and will highlight areas of innovative practice. It will evaluate our initial findings from staff and student feedback gathered through surveys, focus groups and observation of teaching. Drawing on this information, this session will also look to reflect on what worked well and what we would seek to do differently in the future.

The university is looking to develop both staff and student digital capabilities (JISC) and the findings from this project will help influence the institution-wide approach to this.

References

Al-Emran, M., Elsherif, H.M. and Shaalan, K. (2015), ‘Investigating attitudes towards the use of mobile learning in higher education’, Computers in Human Behaviour, 56

El-Hakim, Y. et al (2016), ‘Evaluating partnership and impact in the first year of the Student Fellows Scheme’, Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, Vol 2, No 1

Healey, M., Flint, A. and Harrington, K. (2014), Engagement through partnership: students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education, HEA

JISC. Building Digital Capability. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/building-digital-capability [Accessed 27 March 2017].

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