Greenwich here we come: Academic Practice and Technology (APT) Conference: Connected Learning in an Open World

We are very excited to have had an abstract accepted for this conference in Greenwich in July.

Here is a link to the conference https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/ecentre/apt2014

This is our abstract:

During this presentation we will consider our experiences of changing assessment for level 5 students from a power-point presentation to a digital animation. We report on an innovative project that we have implemented over the last twelve months supported by a scholarship from Manchester Metropolitan University’s Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. The main aims of the project were to explore the use of animation in student assessment and to facilitate students to become partners in the co-production of learning materials.

The 2014 NMC Horizons Report identified that education technology will have a significant impact globally in higher education over the next 5 years (NMC, 2014). Growing use of social media, integration of online, hybrid and collaborative learning, and a shift from students as consumers to creators and partners are three of the key trends. A fusion of more dynamic, flexible and accessible learning approaches are central to the student experience and the report argues for more peer-to-peer collaboration.

Animations are an effective tool in learning and teaching (Lam and McNaught, 2006) and there are a myriad of high quality multimedia materials available online. According to Lam and McNaught (2006), these are accessible for undergraduate students. An initial literature review has identified that there is a gap in information for higher education practitioners about the effectiveness of using animation as a form of learning and assessment. The limited research that has been undertaken relates to science, computer and mathematics based programmes.

Our paper begins with an introduction to the existing research on using digital media as an assessment tool, and the co-production of course materials by students and lecturers. We then draw on our experiences of working with second year under-graduate social care students in developing animations about social care community-based organisations. We discuss our rationale for introducing this form of assessment, engagement with cross-institutional staff, our experiences of learning to animate, the involvement of voluntary and community sector partners and the unanticipated benefits of the project. The research findings that we have gathered will inform further work on the use of innovative forms of assessment.

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