Development of an online learning environment to enhance field trip communication

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

Dr Robert Jackson, School of Biological Sciences
r.w.jackson@reading.ac.uk

Overview

An online learning environment was developed for a module, Microbiology Field Course (BI3B67), within the School of Biological Sciences (SBS). This online learning environment was used to facilitate staff and student communication while on a field trip, and was greatly successful, with students responding well to the use of technology to enhance their learning.

Objectives

  • Provide digital learning support.
  • Facilitate communication before, during and after the fieldtrip.
  • Provide a supportive and collaborative learning environment.
  • Encourage students to reflect on their experiences and think critically, in order to inform their study.
  • Encourage students to consider their social media and internet usage in terms of developing their professional identities.

Context

A field trip within the SBS has been in place since 2012, travelling to Iceland between 2012 and 2014, and Colombia in 2015. While the 2012 field trip to Iceland was a successful experience, it lacked an effective communication system, and students had independently created online communications facilities. As the 2014 trip was to be larger in scope, it was imperative that effective communication was implemented.

Implementation

The development of an online learning environment was made possible by the collaborative work of staff across the SBS and the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development. Dr Alice Mauchline was able to contribute expertise in using mobile technology for field research, and she and Dr Becky Thomas had previously collaborated on investigating how students use the internet to engage with their learning.

Students were provided with iPads so that they all had equal access to the digital learning facilities that were to be used. In order to ensure that all students were equally proficient in the use of these technologies, iPad teaching sessions were created before the field trip, providing students with training in how to use the specific applications which would be utilised on the field trip. Additionally, support was provided on the field trip, with all teaching fellows available to provide guidance on the use of the technology. As a result of this training, students were able to use the iPads to take photographs and video, these being used to create a video presentation as a legacy of their work, with these videos then being posted to a field trip blog. Students also used the iPads as a tool for their lab work, for note-taking, for editing and for communication.

A private group within the social media platform Facebook was set up, providing staff and students with a supportive online learning environment. On the trip, the Facebook group was used to direct student learning and promote critical thinking: questions were posed to students on Facebook, with students encouraged to consider their response before discussing these in class, thus flipping the classroom; students then posted their answers to Facebook, allowing further discussion to take place after class.

Students taking BI3B67 are assessed in four ways. While on the field trip itself, students undertake data collection through field and lab work. Using these results, in groups they create a presentation, which is then given at a symposium held during the field trip. Students also create a blog, in which they give a lay account of the data collection methods used during the field trip. After the field trip, students submit the lab book, which collates their results from field and lab work. Finally, 50% of the module’s final mark is weighted toward the writing of a dissertation, which includes a background introduction to the topic, materials and methods utilised, results and discussion thereof.

Impact

Both students and staff responded well to the use of technology on the field trip, especially the development of the online learning environment. Students commented in post-field trip questionnaires that they found having questions posed to them before classes valuable, and that they were encouraged to learn in a deeper manner.

Reflections

Using Facebook to flip the classroom saw students’ responses to the questions being asked of them improve. By using a platform with which the majority of students were already familiar, less training was required. As a result, staff and student communication were significantly improved.

Having the students produce a blog with videos was of great value, as this work is made available online for students to use for their professional identity when applying for jobs, thus demonstrating of their talents and enhancing their employability.

Setting up an online learning environment through Facebook is something that would be possible for others at the University to implement. As there are a number of experienced staff members at the University, expertise is not hard to come by.

Whiteknights biodiversity monitoring: building an app to collate long-term monitoring data of campus wildlife

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

Dr. Alice Mauchline, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development; Dr Alastair Culham, School of Biological Sciences; Dr Karsten Lundqvist, School of Systems Engineering; Professor Alison Black, School of Arts and Communication Design; Dr Hazel McGoff, School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science
a.l.mauchline@reading.ac.uk

Year of activity: 2013-14

Overview
KiteSite
A mobile app was developed for the collection of field data, supporting the activities of the Whiteknights Biodiversity Blog, and providing a central database for students and staff to monitor long-term changes in the local environment on the University of Reading’s Whiteknights campus.

Objectives

  • To develop an app, suitable for use with Android and iOS devices, that was user friendly and had strong branding and identity.
  • To build a community of users for the app that would utilise and enjoy the app for biodiversity monitoring objectives.
  • To create the app as a tool that would support the teaching of biodiversity in a range of modules across several schools.
  • To create an app that could support the work of the Whiteknights Biodiversity Blog in monitoring long-term changes in the local environment of Whiteknights campus, including the University of Reading Phenological Monitoring Network (UoRPMN).

Context

The project to develop the app, which was named KiteSite, grew from Dr Mauchline’s involvement in Enhancing Fieldwork Learning, a Higher Education Academy funded project that sought to promote the use of technology in order to improve student learning in the conduct of fieldwork.

The need for the app grew out of the success of the Whiteknights Biodiversity blog. Since being established in June 2011, the blog generated increasing interest, and coordinated multiple records on biodiversity, including a growing phonological dataset, the UoRPMN. The app was conceived of as a field recording tool that would support the work of the blog in monitoring long-term changes in the local environment of Whiteknights campus. Crowd-sourcing data in the manner that such an app would allow will provide researchers with access to data on more species, over a greater area and period of time, than they may be able to collect themselves.

Implementation

First, a scoping study and literature review were conducted in order to identify existing apps, software and online resources that could be utilised.  Concurrently, six student champions, drawn from five schools across the University, interviewed staff members within their schools in order to establish the teaching needs that could be met by the development of the app.

As a result of these findings, a ‘HackDay’ event was held in December 2013 in order to decide upon the requirements for the basic functions of the app.  EpiCollect was chosen as an open source, generic, data collection tool that could be modified but already provided the functionality of sending geotagged data forms and photos to a central project website from mobile devices. The student champions modified EpiCollect to produce a prototype app, which was then tested by user-groups and refined by agile development.

In order to test the app, a mock species identification session was run, followed by field data collection using the app.  This and further data collection and feedback allowed the app to be refined and the database to be developed and enhanced.

In anticipation of the launch of the app, which was named KiteSite, a website and social media profile were set up, while promotional materials were printed and disseminated.

Ultimately the app was launched in June 2014, and a launch event was held, attracting a number of teaching and learning staff who expressed interest in using the app in their teaching and learning.

KS thumbnail

Impact

The project successfully created the KiteSite app that is currently being used by a small community for the monitoring of biodiversity on the University of Reading’s Whiteknights campus, and supporting the University of Reading Phenological Monitoring Network dataset.

Reflection

Those involved in the project felt that they benefited from working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, as they developed their skills in effective communication and learnt to avoid the use of subject specific jargon.  Given that team members also had other commitments besides the project, it was sometimes difficult for them to balance their workload.

While it was not possible to create a dedicated iOS app, as had originally been planned, a functioning equivalent within the existing EpiCollect app that operates on iOS was created.

The appointment of student champions was valuable, as by having the project led by the principle end-users, they were provided with the opportunity to shape how the final project could be used and developed most effectively for their needs. The student champions took the lead on developing the website for the app, and one of the student champions drafted the reflective paper that was then published in the Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change.

Follow up

The project team continue to seek further uses for the KiteSite app. While it is used in teaching, the current objective is to engage with student societies that might make use of the app, such as BirdSoc, an ornithology student society.

Other universities have expressed interest in the project, and are looking to set up similar resources mirroring KiteSite.

Links

Are you interested in biological recording & monitoring with your students? By Dr Alice Mauchline

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

KS logo small scaleThe University of Reading now has ‘KiteSite’ – a free, bespoke mobile app for biodiversity recording on the Whiteknights campus. KiteSite has been designed as a generic tool to support field training in biodiversity and taxonomy at the University and it can be used in any module for field data collection. There is a supporting website available at:www.reading.ac.uk/herbarium/kitesite

KiteSite was developed in 2014 by a multidisciplinary team of undergraduates and staff with funding from the University’s Teaching and Learning Development Fund. It is available for Android devices from the Play Store and the iOS version is available through the host app EpiCollect. Full instructions on how to download and use the app are available on the project website along with links to online identification guides and ideas of how to use KiteSite to support teaching activities.

Features

IMG_0122 (640x480)KiteSite automatically records time, date and geolocation data; meaning that the first piece of data captured is a photograph of the specimen. The subsequent data headings can be filled in to the level of knowledge known about the organism (Organism group, Common name, Species name). They can be completed with all known information if the recorder has some idea of the identity of the organism or left blank if the organism can’t be identified. A confidence rating is asked for at the end of the data sheet which can be used for confirmation of correct identification. A notes section has also been included to provide a space to record any further information about the sighting.

Two sections of the data form have been customised to allow for groups to add their ‘Project Code’ and for individual recorders to identify themselves with a unique ‘User code’ (e.g. their student number). This allows for easy data extraction from a single teaching excursion and for students to submit their own data for assessment.

Data storage

IMG_0111 (800x600)The data are stored in a central database which is publically available and constantly updated. These data can be used in a multitude of ways to support teaching & learning; for example, they can be analysed to ensure that the students made correct species identifications; time series data can be examined for temporal patterns; spatial data can reveal species movements across campus; phenology data can be examined etc.

As the database grows, these data will become a valuable record of campus biodiversity. The records will supplement the activities of the Whiteknights Biodiversity Blog which collates records of all organisms found living on campus.

Mobile devices available

Several field-ready mobile devices (10 iPad minis and 4 Google Nexus 7s) are available to borrow to support the use of this app in fieldwork teaching. Please get in touch if you would like to borrow these devices or if you’d like to discuss ways to integrate the use of this app and the database in your teaching. I would also be very interested to hear via email (a.l.mauchline@reading.ac.uk), Twitter @UniRdg_KiteSite or via the Whiteknights Biodiversity Blog of your experiences of using KiteSite in teaching & learning activities on campus.

Facebook, iPads and ‘extreme’ microbes in Iceland by Dr Becky Thomas, Dr Alice Mauchline and Dr Rob Jackson

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

This post relates to activities carried out on the EU ERASMUS Intensive Programme grant awarded to University of Reading to fund 10 students from each of Belgium, Germany and the UK, plus 5 staff in total from the three countries, to travel to Akureyri in Iceland. Once there, the grant funded a 2-week residential field course, including Icelandic students and staff, plus other lecturers from Reading, Iceland and Spain.

In July we set ourselves the challenge of combining technology enhanced learning, with a field trip to Iceland to sample ‘extreme’ microbes, with 34 students, many of whom had very little field experience. Also mix a multi-national environment with students from Belgian, German and Icelandic universities and you can see why we wanted to develop an effective online learning environment. The field trip had taken place previously in 2012 (see:http://ow.ly/A0EBo) and 2013, but this was the first year with so many nationalities involved. Our general objectives were to bring this diverse community together to teach them about microbiological techniques and processes, and to introduce them to environmental microbiology, by taking them into the extreme environments of Iceland to collect their own samples.

Group photo at Aldeyjarfoss waterfall
Group photo at Aldeyjarfoss waterfall

 

 

 

 

 

 

We chose Facebook as our platform for an online learning environment as we had experience in using it in previous modules, and with 1.23 billion active users, we hoped it would be something that many of the students were already using! We created the private group in February, and invited the students to join (making it completely voluntary). Initially we wanted to use it as a way to prepare everyone for the trip, posting relevant information and encouraging the academic staff who were involved in the trip to participate so that the students had a way of getting to know them before their arrival.

In the next stage we wanted to see whether we could use this Facebook group as a way of getting students to feel comfortable in preparing and posting a reflective blog post about their experiences on the trip. To do this we staged their learning, asking them to add short reflective posts within the private Facebook group, which could include photos and links. Not all of the students did this at first, but by the end many of them had done, or had at least commented on other peoples posts. The group also became useful for so many other aspects of the course. Simon Clarke ran a seminar, where students broke out into small groups and answered questions within this group by posting on the Facebook page. Simon was then able to discuss each group’s answers with the class, leading to some very active discussion. We also posted ‘breakfast quizzes’ which again lead to some very interesting discussion between the academic staff and students.

One element that worked very well was the use of iPads on the trip. We benefitted from investment made by the School of Biological Sciences into purchasing iPads, so that we were able to provide each student with their ‘own’ iPad facilitating many aspects of the field and lab work. For example we geo-logged each sampling location enabling students to record the conditions where their samples were taken, which helped when they came to interpret their findings.The iPads also meant that the Facebook group remained inclusive, not disadvantaging anyone who hadn’t brought along their own laptop, smartphone or tablet device.

Students using iPads in the field
Students using iPads in the field

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the trip we ran focus groups with the students and staff to evaluate their perceptions of the use of the Facebook group during the trip. We are still going through all of the results, but the feedback was generally positive from both sides. The students and staff created their own safe learning environment, enhancing the experiences of both groups and enabling a different kind of learning which we couldn’t achieve otherwise.

As part of the assessment for the Reading students we set them the task of writing a short blog post about the benefits of fieldwork for microbiologists in a multi-national setting. They also produced short videos to demonstrate the process of collecting their samples through to their lab work. They created these entirely on their iPads and the results are really impressive. If you are interested then the blog posts are available here: http://ow.ly/A0OrW and we are currently organising a TEL showcase where we will discuss this project more, later in the new academic year.

Creating a campus biodiversity recording app by Dr Alice Mauchline

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

IMG_2897 (2)There is an on-going multi-disciplinary, student-led project at the University of Reading to create an app for recording biodiversity sightings on the Whiteknights campus. This project was funded by the Teaching & Learning Development Fund and is currently engaging students, staff and external natural history groups alongside design and technology experts to create and customise an app for data collection on smartphones and other mobile devices in the field.

The biodiversity data records will be stored in a central database which students and staff can analyse to e.g. monitor long-term changes in the local environment. It is anticipated that this dataset will develop over time and that the app will be used to support curriculum teaching and other research projects at the University including those that are coordinated through the Whiteknights Biodiversity blog: http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/whiteknightsbiodiversity/.

One of the main aims of this project is to ‘engage students in research and enquiry in the curriculum’ which is one of the University’s T&L key strategic priorities. The multi-disciplinary team of students will have first-hand experience of developing a data collection tool that can be used for research projects in the curriculum across several Schools. The future availability of this app has already prompted both staff and students to think of ways that it could be used in teaching and research and it is hoped that it will help to ‘evolve our approaches to teaching and learning’ – a second T&L priority – and to support Technology-Enhanced Learning in fieldwork.

The team comprises six student champions: Liz White (Biological Sciences), Liam Basford (Typography & Graphic Communication), Mark Wells & Stephen Birch (Systems Engineering), Jonathan Tanner (Geography & Environmental Science) and Phillippa Oppenheimer (Agriculture). They are supported by a member of staff in each of these Schools; Alastair Culham, Alison Black, Karsten Lundqvist, Hazel McGoff & Alice Mauchline. The student champions are currently working together to gather information from staff in the relevant Schools about how this app could be useful in their teaching. They are also scoping other external projects and mobile recording apps to provide a basis for our design. The name, logo and branding of the project is also in development and the team held a recent Hack Day to decide on the basic functions for the user-centred app.

The team will soon have a prototype app for trialling and testing on campus and the student champions will be recruiting volunteers to help test the app for collecting biodiversity records. So keep an eye out for them and there will be further updates on this blog as the project progresses.

Please get in touch if you would like further information as we’d like to involve as many people in this project as possible! a.l.mauchline@reading.ac.uk

Technology in fieldwork

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

The University of Reading is part of a three-year HEA-funded project considering the use of technology in fieldwork. The project is now in its final year and has led to the production of a wide range of resources and publications which can be viewed on the project website at http://www.enhancingfieldwork.org.uk.

Alice Mauchline and Julian Park from the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development here at Reading have recently contributed an article to the Guardian Higher Education Network on ‘Academic fieldwork: six ways to make it work on a budget’. Their briefing report on ‘The future of fieldwork in GEES’ outlines current undergraduate GEES fieldwork provision across a selection of HE institutions in the UK and explores how location, duration and cost of fieldwork to the student may change as a result of the introduction of increased tuition fees.

Dr Alice Mauchline and Professor Julian Park

The Enhancing Fieldwork Learning Project by Dr Alice Mauchline and Professor Julian Park

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

Fieldwork is an important component of Higher Education in a number of subjects. As a Learning Space it provides good educational opportunities for students; including the teaching & practice of skills such as observation, data recording & analysis to report writing and teamwork.

Two University of Reading staff members, Julian Park and Alice Mauchline (together with colleagues from Chester & Sheffield Universities) have received HEA funding for the Enhancing Fieldwork Learning project which aims to develop and share ways to enhance fieldwork learning using technology. Incorporating appropriate technology into fieldwork teaching can be enabling, fun to use and can be cost effective. Importantly, it gives students problem-solving opportunities in the field and provides a vehicle for the development of a variety of subject-specific, generic and employability skills.

An important aspect of this project is about reaching and engaging fieldwork practitioners in Higher Education and creating a community to share ideas and good practice. The team regularly attend both subject-specific and T&L conferences to engage people with the project and run workshops to demonstrate the potential transferability of technology into practitioners’ own teaching.

Additionally, the team run their own events. A two-day ‘Transforming Fieldwork Practice Workshop’ has just been taken place at Hornton Grange, University of Birmingham. Four teams from different institutions each came along with their specific requirements and were supported in finding ways to develop, facilitate & sustain change in their fieldwork practice. Also, a Showcase event is taking place in September 2012 at which there will be demonstrations of a number of simple technologies which can enhance fieldwork learning e.g. how to shoot and edit videos using only a smartphone & applications of iPads in fieldwork.

The website for the EFL project contains a wealth of resources including literature on fieldwork learning, case study reports on the use of technology to solve pedagogic issues encountered during fieldwork and a blog & social media streams.

Therefore, we invite you to engage with the project; use the resources, attend a talk/workshop or come along to the Showcase event in September 2012. Enjoy!