Support Me! Develop Me! Retain Me! How e-resources can enhance student engagement!

1
Support Me! Develop Me! Retain Me!How
e-resources can enhance student engagement!

• Becka Currant
• Head of Learner Development and Student
  Engagement
• University of Bradford

2
Overview

• What is Develop Me?
• Context
• Feedback from Users
• Institutional Implications

3
Develop Me!

• Expectations survey
• First Year Experience questionnaire

Meet and chat online
4
A Brief History of Develop Me!

• Extended student model HEA Pathfinder, NTFS
  Outduction
• Pre-entry to post graduation
• E-induction HEA e-learning Research Observatory
• Seamless transition into University
• Integrated online support HEFCE
• 24/7 support available
• Responding to diverse students ELESIG/HEA/JISC/HEF
  CE
• Digital typology
• LLiDA work, development of SaPRA

5
E-induction
Primary objective enable students to manage
process of transition in social and academic terms

• Academic
• Early engagement with academic materials and
  development of academic skills (ning)
• Completion of SaPRA to identify levels of
  confidence and develop action plan to reflect on
  with personal tutor and evidence in PDP (online
  resources)

• Social
• Start process of making links with peers on
  courses and other students in University (ning)
• Share hopes, fears and concerns about starting
  course (ning)
• Identify challenges and find answers to burning
  questions (expectations questionnaire)
• Feel at home (mobile guides)

6
Future support (2008 onwards)
Integrated Online Support
7
The Issues We Faced

• Time
• Updating of materials long term
• Staff engagement and ownership
• Taking it forward to next level
• Institutional buy in using ning for other
  things
• Usernames and passwords IT buy in
• Competing with other systems e.g. facebook
  groups

8
Things That Werent Issues

• Dead space with no replies
• Inappropriate content
• Abuse of the space
• Too much to handle/moderate
• Support issues for students using space
• Data protection
• And so on and so on and so on!

• No one using the space
• It just wouldnt work
• Harassment and bullying
• Ning crashing
• Using external service
• USA based servers
• Yet another social network for people to join

9
The Student Voice

• The forums are great as you can meet other
  people before beginning University. It makes you
  feel less nervous. 
• I like being able to meet and talk to people
  before starting
• Youve got his huge edifice which is a
  University, but what you need is a human face on
  it.
• Thanks for the warm welcome note, it gave me a
  great first impression about the university of
  Bradford  

10
Student Reflections

• Ive used Facebook before, and Ive used MySpace
  before that but found Facebook much easier to use
  because its much simpler. Where I was the
  computers werent so good, so it was very
  important to have something simple and easy to
  load up. The Develop Me! website was somewhere
  between the two in terms of complexity, I found
  it quite easy to use
• I knew their faces, so I was happy to approach
  them, and they recognised me as well.
• Most of the things that related to the serious
  aspect of University I found on the University of
  Bradford website.
• It was good to be able to find out about things
  any time of day.

11
Comments from Staff

• This Develop Me! is great. I am so pleased
  that you have set this up and its an easy way
  for me to talk to the new students and get to
  know them better  
• They did seem a lot more self reliant with
  getting themselves registered and getting going
  with things.
• I thought I was too old to do all this social
  networking but its not as hard as you think and
  the students obviously seem to benefit from it

12
Key messages

• Cant get people on board until they see it
  working need to take a risk and see what
  happens
• Branded social network not FaceBook! less
  frivolity, more serious issues and posts
• Need to have someone there moderating every day
  on a little and often basis to welcome. Make
  people feel welcome and part of the community.
• Staff can be very reluctant to take a leap of
  faith into the unknown
• Technology has to be part of retention strategy
  most students are using this so capitalise on it
  but not at the expense of alienating those who
  arent

13
Current/Future Work

• Digital ethnography u-sed
• Transfer of LLiDA areas into SaPRA
• HERE project with NTU Bournemouth
• IT survey (May 2009)
• Design and implementation of new Student
  Experience Strategy
• Partnership intern posts
• Redesign of the academic year (!)

14
Institutional Implications

• University wide strategies for this type of work?
• Lead responsibility has to be with senior manager
• Coherent implementation approach needs to be
  developed
• Staff development needs to be taken seriously
• Student engagement needs to be supported and
  nurtured
• Technological issues support, access, training
  etc

15
Discussion

• How can we best support learners in transition
  to new ways of studying, new expectations and new
  modes of technology use?