Leon Litvack
L.Litvack@qub.ac.uk
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 Examine the context for use of C&IT in
English studies
 Demonstrate model from intranet VLE, for undergraduates
 Demonstrate model using internet at postgraduate level, in constructing research resource in the public domain
 Consider how C&IT can be used for summative assessment, in context of degree in English studies
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 Develop critical thinking & judgement
 Engage students imaginatively in reading & analysing literary & non-literary texts
 Develop range of subject specific and transferable skills, including high-order conceptual, literacy & communication skills
 Provide intellectually stimulating & satisfying experience of learning & studying
 Encourage enthusiasm for subject, & appreciation of continuing social & cultural importance
Source: 3 http://www.qaa.ac.uk/crntwork/benchmark/english.pdf


Transferable outside the discipline:
 oral & written communication skills
 interpersonal skills (work in a group context)
 time-management skills
 collate & process information from a variety of sources
 respond positively and productively to feedback
 think creatively and flexibly in diverse situations
 basic word-processing & other IT skills
Source: QUB English programme specification
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‘We believe that the innovative application of...
C&IT holds out much promise for improving the quality, flexibility and effectiveness of higher education. The potential benefits will extend to, and affect the practice of, learning and teaching and research’

Does achieving Dearing’s vision of a ‘learning society’, aided by developments in internet / intranet based software systems
NECESSARILY apply to all teachers and learners?
Consider your objectives carefully 5

 For staff
 Worth time spent?
 Training
 Applications for other areas of activity?
 Relation to career advancement
 For students
 Worth time spent?
 Training
 Skills
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 Pedagogic criteria
 Teaching Facilities
 Appropriate environment
 Features, specifications & cost of software
 Access to terminals outside class time
 Support
 Department
 Central IT services
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 Intranet
 Private network
 Admission across firewall
 Requires authorisation
 Useful for delivering & sharing information on selective basis
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 Internet
 Public network
 No authorisation required
 Useful for delivering & sharing information on global basis
 Consider usefulness of information to outside users
 What level of scrutiny to ensure accuracy of content?
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 Creates micro-world – allows teacher to construct learning activities enriched by multimedia resources
 Curriculum divided into assessable/ recordable elements
 Student activity & achievement can be tracked
 Online learning supported by staff & peers
 Offers central & remote access
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Demonstration of Queen’s Online VLE http://www.qnet.qub.ac.uk/
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 University-wide (only one system to learn)
 Linked to student records database
 Single sign-on for all university systems
 Time to learn system – 1 hour
 Easily navigable
 Satisfies demand for acquisition of specific skills
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

Flexibility of time and place of access
Copes with increased student numbers – esp. undergraduates
 Sharing and re-use of resources
 Facilitates Student-centred learning
 Enhances variety of teaching and learning strategies
 Supports constructivist conversational approaches to learning (see Laurillard,
Rethinking University Teaching:A Framework for the Effective Use of Educational
Technology [London: Routledge, 1993])
 Can reduce administrative burden
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 Information can be disseminated quickly
 Photocopying bill for course packs eliminated for department
– cost transferred to students!
 Information remains in-house: not published to wider world
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 Rigid & hierarchical
 Designed for delivery rather than interaction -flow of information is largely one-way (tutor to student)
 Only recognises official (QUB) email addresses for students
 Students cannot email each other through VLE
 One person controls information (implications for team-taught modules)
 Favours IE browser (not Netscape)
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 Planning of teaching sessions requires more staff time & care
 Proactive attitude demanded from staff, to ensure that students are coping – esp. in early stages
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 A wrap-around (50/50) system (see
Mason, ‘Models of Online Courses’ [1998])
 course materials wrapped by activities
 online interactions and discussions occupy roughly half the students' time
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 Student presentations (delivered via
PowerPoint) – 10%
 Individual effort (collaborative work harder to assess in terms of individual input)
 Approach to topic discussed with student beforehand, and among students working in same area
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 Contribution to asynchronous, threaded online discussion – 10%
 Requires careful planning & structuring
 provide specific tasks (e.g. developing answers to set questions in readings)
 Set deadline by which contributions must be made
 Other elements:
 Assessed essay (students design own questions)
 Exam
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 Consistent across the English curriculum
 Relevance – also considers implications, assumptions, & nuances of the issue/question
 Knowledge – demonstrates breadth and range of reading
 Analysis – analytical treatment of evidence, resulting in clear synthesis
 Argument & Structure – coherent response to issue/question
 Originality – distinctive response, showing independence of thought and approach
 Presentation – includes spelling & syntax, readable style, use of particular medium, appropriate documentation
Source: http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/ug/Marking-criteria.doc
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
Lee & Thompson (QUB), ‘Teaching at a Distance:
Building a Virtual Learning Environment’ (MSc in computer-based learning)
 http://www.jisc.ac.uk/jtap/htm/jtap-033.html
 Stiles, COSE (Staffordshire)
 http://www.staffs.ac.uk/COSE/cose10/welcome10.html
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
Landon (Douglas College, BC), ‘Online Delivery
Applications: A Web Tool for Comparative Analysis’

 http://www.ctt.bc.ca/landonline/
Britain and Liber (Univ. of Wales, Bangor), ‘A
Framework for Pedagogical Evaluation of Virtual
Learning Environments’ (assesses various VLEs, including COSE)
 http://www.jisc.ac.uk/jtap/htm/jtap-041.html
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
Mason (Open Univ.), ‘Models of Online Courses’
 http://www.aln.org/alnweb/magazine/vol2_issue2/Masonfinal.htm
 JISC, Requirements for a VLE
 http://www.jisc.ac.uk/pub00/req-vle.html
 JISC, Managed Learning Environments
 http://www.jisc.ac.uk/jtap/theme-L.html
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
Used in conjunction with Queen’s Online
VLE
 Aim: dissemination of student-generated material to the wider world as a research resource
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Demonstration of Imperial Archive http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/imperial/imperial.htm
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Project’s origins relate to Laurillard’s
‘conversational framework’
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


Student-centred learning at the heart of project development
Smaller numbers – allows more time with each student
VLE used in ‘wrap-around’ (50/50) manner
 Material assessed according to standard
English curriculum criteria:
 Relevance
 Knowledge
 Analysis
 Argument & Structure
 Originality
 Presentation
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 Material for Imperial Archive generated in HTML
 Scrutinised online by internal & external examiners
 Project worth 15% of overall mark
 PowerPoint presentation – 10%
 5000-word assessed essay – 75%
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
‘footfall’ through archive -http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/logs/

External examiners’ reports
 Feedback from students
 Dissemination of methodology through http://info.ox.ac.uk/ctitext/publish/comtxt/ct16-17/litvack.html
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 Many ways to use C&IT systems


Importance of staff-student and studentstudent interaction in the class
Focus on educational needs – not technology
 Time spent must justify learning goals achieved
 Consider how you currently teach, and how this might be improved
 Consider the strengths & weaknesses of the technology when planning/ modifying courses 31

 Do not necessarily abandon what you already do well
 Make sure adequate support is offered to staff
& students
 Prerequisites:
 ECDL?

 Other in-house IT training?
Plan for disasters – network failure, power failure
 Assessment methods:
 Comparable to those used in ENGLISH learning environments not employing C&IT?
 Use of marking criteria?
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 Bear in mind contribution made to
 Subject knowledge & understanding
 Intellectual skills
 Subject-specific skills
 Key skills
THROUGH ENGLISH STUDIES
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http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/research/stoke-presentation.ppt
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