iPads and Secure Online Testing

After a week of investigation and deliberation I came to the conclusion that an app and a case was the only viable solution. Other people where coming up with some frankly odd solutions including purchasing 200 laptops that faculty could book and having them moved from room to room as needed. Changing an Independent Learning Centre that we have at the college into a testing centre and so on.  

The general problem with doing any testing on an iPad is the lock down functionality will not work with the iPad. Every app has to be approved by Apple before it’s added to the app store I've been reading up on this process and it's a very complicated problem. From what I have been reading Apple will not allow any app to disable the home button or have it interact with an app as we require.  

So this leaves a very big gap in the security. The solution I have found is to use a Kiosk App AVD Browse or something similar that locks the software side and then with a special/bespoke case you can block the home button. Something like this iPad enclosures “With the Evolve iPad case, one can decide to have access to the iPad buttons or not by simply adding the custom inserts upon assembly.” It would be a little expensive the App is 7.99 US$ then we would need to have the cases or even have them made but it is possible. There will be other ideas and developments but unless Apple change their minds about the home button a case that blocks the home button is the only solution I can see.  

The ideas that I have thought off and that are mentioned above or that other people have suggested to me are all a; unfeasible b; logistically impossible c; technically impossible d; more expensive or e; all of the reasons mentioned. So that leaves two other alternatives the first to use paper based exams or just do the tests in a none locked-down iPad.  

So what are people’s thoughts?

Home schooling: Why more black US families are trying it

Intresting artical by Brian Wheeler BBC News, Washington
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17224662

Blended Learning: Teaching Languages to Young Learners

Overview

I created the following sections:	For the following purposes:
Announcements	-To introduce the module and welcome the students - To announce time and place of extra activities relevant to module
Module Information	To store information such as: Module flyer Schedule of sessions Bibliography Assignment rubric
Learning resources Divided into subsubsections - A section for each session Video	To store materials, resources relevant to each session. A video clip which was introduced in a session but which requires observation many times in order to do the required analysis was also stored in this area.
Module wiki Divided into subsubsections - One for each session I taught	4 students were chosen (by register order) at the end of each session to summarise the session collaboratively on the wiki and then to invite comment from all other students. They were given 36 hours to do this. Thereafter other students responded with their comments. At the beginning of each session the comments were projected and used to recap the previous session and re-engage the students in the topic.
Assignment	This area on the VLE was used to display answers I gave to queries on the assignment which I received by email from individual students.

Objectives

The storage of materials provides easy access for all involved in the module. Putting the video on the VLE space enabled students to view it as much as they needed to in order to carry out the observations that were needed for the depth of analysis required at this level.

The use of the Wiki had several aims:

1. To make explicit student’s responsibility in their learning / to give students autonomy in their learning / to evaluate how much they had understood / to evaluate my own teaching;
2. To prolong students’ engagement with the theme of the session and to encourage further thought and discussion;
3. To enable all students to participate to the discussion and debate in some way;
4. To provide an efficient way of recapping previous work at the beginning of new sessions.

Implementation

The wiki was far more successful than I had anticipated. All students read and followed the discussion and most contributed. Reading their entries myself gave me a better idea of the depth of students’ understanding than I usually get from classroom sessions and this allowed me to identify things which needed to be clarified.
Setting up a site to display answers to assignment queries meant that I did not receive the same question from many students.

Reflections

Yes; what I did worked. It was accessed by students and they appreciated this type of support.
I will certainly do it again. The management of the wiki needs some further thought as I am not sure the ‘collaboration’ facility was really exploited by the students (I think that they divided the task up and wrote separate sections, rather than collaborating on the text through the editing and re-editing facilities). I plan also to extend the activity from merely summarising to discussing a particular issue.

Next time I will also use the module space on the VLE to make links to journals.

And, I hope to learn about other things that i can usefully do to enhance the experience of taking my module.

Case study - Electronic plagiarism detection in the Law School

Overview
Part of my role within the School of Law is to deal with all aspects of plagiarism.  I put electronic copies of all assignments on the VLE and a Turnitin link for the students to submit their work to. All of our students are asked to submit their assignments via Turnitin otherwise they don't get back a copy of their assignments with feedback. We do this because we can't penalise them under the current practice for not using Turnitin and we don't wish to go down that route (at least, not yet). We try to explain to all the students why we are using Turnitin and we try not to scare them. We don't systematically go through each Turnitin instance looking for plagiarism; if we happen to see an assignment with a high percentage of copied material or if an academic asks me to look at a particular assignment further we will then investigate.

Objectives

We really wanted to use Turnitin to provide the academics with a bit more support with regards to plagiarism. We also wanted to be more proactive with regards to eliminating plagiarism. There have been cases where Turnitin has pointed out to the academic that an assignment has been plagiarised. Academics can't be expected to know the content of every website on their topic. Using Turnitin we can also guard against students submitting assignments that were written by someone else during a previous year or prepared collaboratively. This year we've also tried to keep a closer eye on the first year assignments where Turnitin can highlight incorrect referencing as opposed to deliberate attempts to cheat. Previously, students had been asked to submit an electronic copy of their assignment as well as the paper copy and my understanding was that we were running out of storage space for all the CDs and floppy disks; so Turnitin has helped with that too.

Implementation

I actually just started in the summer after the School handbooks had been produced and the procedures had been decided; but as this is the first year we have had to be flexible. The School did use Turnitin last year for Masters modules and the students had to go to the Turnitin website to submit their work. Setting up Turnitin was a lot more time consuming using the Turnitin website. Students need to be registered and the class size limit meant things could become confusing. Using Turnitin via the VLE has simplified the process and we've implemented Turnitin across all modules. We did get people from the VLE team and the Library to come and demonstrate Turnitin to the staff and have needed the support of the VLE team on a couple of occasions. It's nothing we haven't been able to sort out. As we don't hand back assignments with the feedback support staff have to check that the students have submitted their assignment, which is extra work for them. Students have emailed me with problems e.g., submitting the wrong assignment, or confusion over the preview box now showing footnotes and the word count Turnitin produces. It's not been a massive problem and this is something new for all undergraduates so next year things will be better as it's only new to the first years.

Reflections

It's definitely been a valuable tool to use. Next year I want to do some student workshops on plagiarism where I'll show the students a Turnitin report. Showing them how it looks and what we do with it. We may also do an optional test submission for first years where students will be able to see the report for the assignment they submit. This will have to be looked at closely so that students don't use something they're going to submit in the future. I would certainly look at online marking (Grademark) and some of my colleagues are very keen on the idea.

Case study - Student video for communication, community and reflection

Overview

Using video for student communication within a distance learning Masters program in deaf education. Students are encouraged to use British Sign Language (first language for some on the module) to communicate with other members of the group. This has been successful in creating a sense of community amongst learners and promises to lead to enriched opportunities for learning networking and scaffolding within the cohort.

Objectives

To facilitate accessible opportunities for student communication.
To use video to introduce group members, create community, provide opportunities for reflection and increase opportunities for support and information exchange within the group.

Implementation

Basic training and information provided to students on how to create video using their own equipment (webcams, digital cameras, etc.). Videos are uploaded to LUTube for conversion to formats appropriate for online delivery and then embedded by students in areas that they can edit within the VLE (e.g. wikis, blogs etc.).
Following the initial introduction and socialisation stage, students will be encouraged to engage with tasks more oriented towards learning, such as information exchanges and collaborative problem solving.

Reflections

Students were able to start using equipment and online delivery fairly easily although support was provided where required. This approach has made communication within this group more accessible and has provided a viable and in many way superior alternative to written forms of communication. Video also allows students to refelct in more informal and, at the same time, deeper ways.

Case study - Audio Feedback

Worked with Dr Nick Robinson, School of Polities and International Studies, University of Leeds looking the best way for him to provide his student feedback with audio recordings.

Overview

Provided digital audio recordings as feedback on students' essay drafts. This was made available through the VLE.

Objectives

• To be able to produce detailed feedback for lots of students in a short space of time (save me time)
• To improve the experience of giving feedback
• To improve the quality of feedback for students and increase student engagement with the feedback.

Implementation

Notes were made on student work which formed the basis of the feedback to be recorded. Feedback was recorded on available personal equipment (iPhone). Audio files were transferred to a computer via iTunes which integrates seamlessly with the iPhone, renamed to the name of the students and then uploaded to a folder within the VLE labelled student feedbcak. The need did not arrise to access control the feedback and no students raised an issue with their feedback being available to others. Students accessed their feedback from the VLE and either listened to feedback online or downloaded the files for offline use.

Reflections

Student feedback was universally positive with a great deal of enthusiasm being shown for the process to continue. The process saved Nick a great deal of time and made the task of giving feedback more stimulating and less stressful. Students commented that they appreciated the more personal nature of the feedback and the depth of meaning that is conveyed by a spoken voice. Nick will definately be continuing with this approach to giving feedback and am looking to expand it to providing summative feedback on assignments this summer.

Other info. / Links / Comments

JISC funded project on providing audio feedback: http://www.soundsgood.org.uk
Learning technologies @ Leeds podcast By Simon Davis Cast 01 (View in iTunes)

Case study - E-learning in deaf education

I have been working with Dr Ruth Swanwick at the School of Education, University of Leeds  helping her using Virtual Learning Environments to enhance her students experience.

Overview

This is the range of things I have tried out:

• Use of personal blogs for reflection on module material
• Use of tutor blog to give feedback to the whole group
• Use of discussion board for sharing responses to module reading amongst the group as well as general networking
• Use of wiki for shared comments on assignments and also for some admin purposes (signing up for tutorials)
• Use of Module Folders for providing module materials and also for setting up links to other resources (e.g. library, Deaf Ed. websites)
• Use of chat room for tutorial but changed to pilot WIMBA for this to allow for visual contact with deaf students
• Use of links to LUTube to give some information in BSL and to allow students to give and share feedback in BSL.
• Using the WIMBA classroom to organise group and 1:1 tutorials with deaf students using BSL and an interpreter (this is being separately evaluated)

Objectives

The overall aim of using the blogs, the wiki and the discussion board was to was to:

• enhance the interaction, networking and support opportunities for all students
• enable Ruth to provide more support through input to discussions and blog comments
• provide a mechanism for Ruth to gain more feedback on students' responses to the learning activities week by week.
• Increase opportunities for deaf students to contribute to discussions in BSL and to have feedback and information from Ruth in BSL

Implementation

• Using the VLE and setting up modules with different tools has not been difficult but we have had plenty of support from VLE Support team. Learning how to use the tools is not really difficult but working out how to use them well to actually enhance what you already do requires some thought and opportunities to share ideas with other colleague (across school or faculty). You don't need extra resources for this, just some time and support.
• Linking between the VLE and LUTube can just be done (in theory) with a camera with some video facility. Working with short clips like this or using the webcam is not complicated.

Reflections

• Being able to easily post resources and links; use the announcements and email easily has been liberating as I do not see my students week by week to remind them of things or give them handouts etc.
• Using the blog and the discussion board as part of the module activities has helped Ruth to be much more in touch with all my students week by week and to gain a better understanding of their responses to the module activities. The students, however, feel slightly anxious about these tools and also more accountable. I could set them up better by managing the students' expectations more effectively.
• Starting to experiment with the use of visual messages and comments in BSL is really exciting and the response from the deaf students has been very positive. I have used a Flip Camera for this and made links to short video clips in LUTube. The students have tried to do the same. LUTube is easy to use. You can make links quite easily in the VLE but sometimes it comes apart at the making of the video stage. I would like a smoother way to get from filming to uploading. We could then more confidently encourage students to do this themselves across all aspects the programme and it is entirely appropriate for a programme relating to deafness and communication.

Other info. / Links / Comments

Using video and visual tools has the most exciting potential for my programme but it has been the most challenging area and so these examples and links are all relating to this:
This link to LUTube in the VLE which is Ruth feedback about the blogging in BSL rather than in writing.


This is a student giving some feedback about using the virtual classroom. By putting this link in the VLE other deaf students can get an idea of how this pilot is going. http://lutube.leeds.ac.uk/eduras/videos/684


This was just a video of regional tutorials so that students can see what other groups do.

http://www.sddu.leeds.ac.uk/casestudies/casestudy.php?ID=17&faculty=4&search=yes