Case studies in innovation: using Moodle for Scottish History

JISC Case Studies

Supporting Scottish History courses via Moodle.

University of Glasgow.

 In this case study, Moodle was used to create a VLE that would help to:

·         make materials more accessible to students as limited library resources (especially primary resources), and  a large of amount of background and extra reading which would not fit into lecture time meant that there was a need to improve student preparation time for seminars

·         improve communications between staff and students

·         reduce printing costs by having materials online

 In this case there was institutional encouragement to use elearning, although it seems that little real support and training was given to those who wanted to use it, they mostly taught themselves.

However, despite this, it seems that most of the course lecturers took responsibility for planning and completing their aspects of the course, whereas previously they have use admin staff to upload information.  This is a really positive aspect to this case study, as they were willing to embrace the changes and the case study mentions the enthusiasm of both staff and students. Unfortunately this also meant that they gave themselves a larger workload, which was a risk they had not planned for, and a subject that we have commented on throughout the forums.

The original scanning of primary sources took time, but I think this would be recuperated in the long term. However the cost of printing was deferred to students instead of the faculty.

Benefits included better grades, more valued, engaged and research led learning environment for both staff and students. Although some lecture attendance had declined because lecture notes available in advance, however the quality of the lecture increased with more interactivity between students and lecturers.

Concerns included the accessibility of students, which is a problem I think we will continue to encounter and the extra demands on staff time.

Innovation?

What I like about this case study is that the lecturers are the ones who really took on board the project and made it work. It’s innovation is in taking the course materials and making then more readily accessible for students. If this had been available to me during my undergraduate study, I would have found this engaging and useful, as often I did not prepare myself as it meant trawling to the library and trying to find the resources for myself.

 In a course like history a lot of individual research is needed to prepare for seminars, and making it easier for students to access primary material is very important. What it has done is made the learning a richer experience for the students and staff, which leads to that excitement. A simple solution but effective.

 To note:

·         willingness of faculty to take on new technology

·         accessibility to students (good and bad – those without technology at a disadvantage)

·         elearning required more staff time