Regent College

Year 1:Improved learner engagement for 14–19 year olds in the Foundation Learning Tier and NEET groups using mobile technology 2007/2008

Geddes (2004) defines m-learning as the acquisition of any knowledge and skill through using mobile technology, anywhere, any time, that results in an alteration in behaviour.

The use of mobile learning in the post-16 sector is in its infancy. Pilot project work has been summarised in the LSN report Mobile learning in practice (Savill-Smith C et al). This project built on this research by asking how m-learning can be of benefit to Foundation Learning Tier and students not in education, employment or training (NEET) and their teachers.

Across the two colleges, learners from health and social care, business studies, English, information technology, maths, media, science and art were given opportunities to use mobile technologies to blend into their learning experiences. At Gateway College gadgets were used with learners who had learning difficulties and disabilities. College mentors also used gadgets with learners who need guidance with study skills such as time management and motivation.

The results, including improved success rates and class attendance, were very encouraging. Questionnaire data and focus groups indicate learner motivation, concentration and general self esteem can all be positively affected with the careful use of m-learning and there does seem to have been a genuine benefit to the colleges involved, their students and their staff.

College and Project Background

The project consortium consisted of two inner-city, multicultural sixth form colleges in Leicester.

The lead partner was Regent College which has more than 1100+ full-time equivalent students – a diverse and inclusive student body, where 78% of students are from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds including many recent arrivals.  Over three-quarters of the students (80%) speak at least one other language (and at least 50 different languages are spoken); 62% of students are from Widening Participation areas – the 12th highest in UK and the highest WP outside London, Birmingham or Manchester; 60% of 16–18 year-old students are eligible for the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). Regent has a highly inclusive intake and curriculum offer where 41% of full-time students start below Level 3 (compared with 19% overall in sixth form colleges, SFCs); 21% of the 16–18 year olds are at Level 1 (3% in SFCs) and GCSE points on entry are lower than SFC average –  81% of the A-level students have <5.2 GCSE points ( where nationally it is 28%).

Achievements include 20% growth in the number of 16–18 year-old students since 2004; 36% improvement in success rates since 2002; success rates at or above most benchmarks; and ‘outstanding’ value added (in top 10% of SFCs).  Regent College also delivers ESOL, literacy and numeracy to adults in the local community and provides NVQs in business administration to local hospitals. For the last two years it has run a programme for young people who are not in education, employment or training. About 60% of its students are working below Level 3. It was last inspected in 2004 as satisfactory and since then its success rate has risen from 55% to 78%.

Gateway College is larger, with about 1170 full time students, but has a similar ethnic breakdown. The College provides courses for 16–19 year olds from a variety of educational and cultural backgrounds. The curriculum offer is diverse with a mix of academic and vocational qualifications. It also has a special needs centre, called the Broadview centre, where there are a number of students with leaning difficulties and disabilities (the LLDD cohort). About 30% of its students are working below Level 3. Gateway College was inspected recently as good, including a grade 1 for inclusion. It has a success rate of around 78%.

Both colleges recruit students from across the city, with no particular catchment area, including an increasing number of newcomers to the city. Recently Gateway College was awarded a grade 1 by Ofsted for its social inclusion and Regent College has also self-assessed as a Grade 1 for this area. A wide array of learners are integrated into both colleges.

Project aims

• To help re-engage NEETs in learning which leads to progression
• Monitor and support learners better to improve re-engagement and retention.
• To use learning delivery methods that better engage learners and provide instant or near immediate feedback
• To develop learners’ IT and numeracy skills
• To trial and develop new learning materials
• To improve retention and progression , especially for the NEET groups
• To develop staff experience and confidence in using these technologies
• To develop learning networks of staff with our partner college and with other members of the MoLeNET projects.

Key objectives

• The colleges will expand the small pilot JISC-based SMS texting system to include the above groups of learners to provide a range of monitoring and support systems:
• text students or their parents who are absent from lessons and thus improve attendance and retention
• allow students to use their mobile phones to download content and quizzes and text answers to teachers and gain feedback
• The colleges will provide learners in these groups with access to small wireless tablets to enable learners to:
• download learning activities
• access their attendance record, their current working grades and target grades, to help them monitor their own progress and take better ownership of their own learning
• develop  skills in recording their activities using MS Journal and digital cameras
• undertake appropriate diagnostic assessments to determine the support needed
• enable students to have personal access to our Key Skills Builder tests and materials to help improve numeracy and literacy skills
• encourage students to develop personal/group websites of their work
• To develop the colleges' SMS texting infrastructure and in particular to develop and trial mobile phone learning content suitable for low-skilled learners
• To use existing curriculum partnerships between the two collaborating colleges to develop local networks of staff working with the cohorts. These networks can be used to share training and to swap experience and learning tips.
• To develop the partners’ staff skills base in using mobile technologies for learning with these cohorts by engaging in networks and activities with the other colleges in the projects
• To develop local training activities across both partners using the services of the project mentor and the LSN
• To develop appropriate technical expertise of mobile technologies in support staff in both partners
• Additional – to improve the manual dexterity, movement and sight skills for students with learning difficulties and disabilities.

Benefits for participants

Benefits for learners, across all learner groups

Learners gained:

• new ways of learning in class
• simple non-written methods of logging and presenting work
• development of manual and dexterity skills for learners with learning difficulties and disabilities
• the facility to join in more for learners with learning difficulties and disabilities
• being supported in learning when away from the class or on long term absence
• access to learning materials when away from the college
• greater facilitation of discussion of work and focus on what needs improving
• more instantaneous feedback
• opportunities to take responsibility and show trustworthiness.

Benefits for staff

Staff gained:

• more exciting ways of teaching
• more effective ways of communicating with the learner
• better tracking and checking of learning
• more opportunities for the students to learn through developing their own materials
• good development of IT skills
• more interesting and challenging ways of improving numeracy and literacy skills
• more instantaneous feedback
• very good opportunities for group and pair work
• good opportunities for sharing ideas, good practice and networking (and showing off).

Benefits for the lead college

The lead college gained:

• a buzz from students about being at the leading edge
• opportunities to share learning experiences with colleagues in another college
• opportunities to work  with colleagues in another college
• building trust relationships
• opportunities to share and learn technical expertise and to solve problems
• being at the forefront of a piece of educational research.

Benefits for institutions taking part (partners and colleges)

The institutions gained:

• a buzz from students about being at the leading edge
• opportunities to share learning experiences with colleagues in another college
• opportunities to work  with colleagues in another college
• building trust relationships
• opportunities to share and learn technical expertise and to solve problems
• being at the forefront of a piece of educational research.

Teaching and learning lessons

Probably the most important lesson is to be prepared for surprises. Students may react to these devices differently from the way staff may expect. For instance, Gateway students much preferred the iPod Nano to the iPod touch because they did not like the touch screen and Regent students did not really like the SMS quizzes, although in both cases staff felt these would be winners. Gateway students were very keen to be offered a choice of devices. Not all students like using IT, and some definitely do not like mobile devices. Students may have difficulties with their sight that are not apparent while they are working on the larger PC screens. Have a backup plan such as working in pairs or have the material available on a laptop as well.

The second major issue is power/battery life. If working in a class or sending students out with devices there is a good chance that at least one device will fail due to discharged battery. Regent College gave its staff a power multi-block with each set of devices so that they could run from the mains in an emergency. However, because of trailing lead health and safety issue steachers need to consider re-arranging seating around a power point to avoid this. It is worth giving a charge to students moving around the college so they can at least have power to ensure their work is properly saved. A spare device is also helpful.

Think about and deal with the health and safety issues of the devices at the earliest possible stage. Getting the learners to make their own video of this may be useful for later reminders.

Several staff have seen using mobile devices as an excellent opportunity for students to record their work and record evidence or research. Digital cameras, MP4 capture devices, PDAs and mobile phones can all do this successfully and students learn how to make useful video clips very quickly with the help of a few basic instructions. A guide card with tips is useful when students start off. However, there are two big issues. The first is file conversion because it is likely your students will want to edit their video. The natural choice is likely to be Movie Maker, but this won’t always import the raw video files. The ideal would be to have a recorder that produces files in the right format, but if this is not possible plan for conversion.

 The best and most exciting learning took place when the students recorded or made things and then these were played back to others in the groups. Regent health and social care students gained a great deal by making short health and safety videos of real and imagined issues around the college.  Entry-level science students were very animated when producing home language materials to support next year’s students with work on meteors.

This approach seemed particularly true of quizzes and tests. Although a first thought might be to produce tests for the students, and give feedback and collect results electronically, more learning was delivered by getting the students to produce tests/ quizzes in groups for others in the class. However, there is a place for formal testing in this way and the Senteo voting system is particularly good for this and for providing good opportunities to identify points students need to work on more. Regent students did not really take to SMS text quizzes or tests, they felt reminders and additional learning points were more useful. For example, don’t forget your coursework for tomorrow’s lesson or a good clue for tonight’s homework is …

If students are going to use a device to record in an employer’s premises you need to obtain their permission. A pro forma that the student can take to interview or on the first morning is helpful, but you may want to send it out in beforehand if you are integrating the activities into a work plan for the student.

Gateway were able to support a student to examination during her pregnancy by recording work and learning materials to a player and sending it home at regular intervals.

If you use a device like the Archos, which is a reasonable size video player then students can download materials from Teachers TV and use them for activities and revision in their own time.

For students with learning difficulties and disabilities it is very important to share the activities with carers and parents, to help avoid pitfalls and plan more effectively, and also to listen for feedback from the learners.