The Padlet Project: An experiment in empowering Foundation Year students [1743] Home : Annual Conference 2017

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Thu, Sep 7 2017, 10:45am – 12:00pm

Authors: Wendy Garnham, and Tab Betts

Room: Elizabeth Gidney I (2)

Theme: Empowerment in Learning Technology

Type: 20-minute session

Description

As digital technologies alter the meaning of what it means to study (LittleJohn, Beetham and McGill, 2012), the concept of the student as “prosumer” (McLoughlin and Lee, 2010) has emerged. As the volume of information uploaded to the internet increases, the traditional classroom model is being replaced with more active learning experiences which are socially directed and driven by a range of media (McLoughlin and Lee, 2010). For example, McLean, Attardi, Faden and Goldszmidt (2016) suggest that purposeful interaction with peers and application of content are two of the most positive aspects of these new style classrooms. The role of universities is therefore to increase scaffolding and support of problem-solving and creativity (McNeill, Gosper and Xu, 2012).

This presentation will report on “The Padlet Project”, an active learning initiative trialled with a Foundation Year cohort of undergraduate students. It had four key aims:

To encourage students to become competent in using learning technologies to help them both consolidate and expand their knowledge of key research areas
To develop staff-student partnerships in developing knowledge
To provide a “live” bank of learning resources that students can take ownership of and develop outside of seminar time.
To increase engagement and inclusion in seminars, particularly to give those who are usually too shy to speak up, a chance to contribute in a more relaxed manner.

103 Foundation Year students took part in the project over the course of a 12 week term. The project took place in two phases. In phase 1, students were introduced to a range of learning technologies and were encouraged to engage with the content of seminars via the Padlet app. At the end of phase 1, feedback was obtained from students in focus groups and online. This was then used to modify the project ready for phase 2. For example, some students felt that they would like active discussion reinstated into the seminars. This was addressed by structuring the seminars so that discussion preceded the posting of new content on the Padlet wall.

The presentation will outline how the project was implemented but also some of the results of this initiative including both student feedback and the effect on exam results. The presentation will explore how the project is going to be developed further for the next intake of Foundation Year students.

References

Littlejohn, A., Beetham, H. and McGill, L., 2012. Learning at the digital frontier: a review of digital literacies in theory and practice. Journal of computer assisted learning, 28(6), pp.547-556.

Mclean, S., Attardi, S. M., Faden, L., & Goldszmidt, M. (2016). Flipped classrooms and student learning: not just surface gains. Advances in Physiology Education, 40(1), 47-55. doi:10.1152/advan.00098.2015

McLoughlin, C. and Lee, M.J., 2010. Personalised and self regulated learning in the Web 2.0 era: International exemplars of innovative pedagogy using social software. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(1).

McNeill, M., Gosper, M. and Xu, J., 2012. Assessment choices to target higher order learning outcomes: the power of academic empowerment. Research in learning Technology, 20.

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