Connecting teaching and learning via technology
Mr Paul Bland - School of Health Sciences, City, University of London
Dr Soph Willis - School of Health Sciences, City, University of London
ShowMe’ allows promotes technology to enable learning via the creation of dynamic, interactive learning resources. These promote connections between learning and teaching to enhance the educational experiences of students, fostering positive learning communities.
When students encounter new concepts for the first time, it can challenge them as learners resulting in them feeling isolated; subsequently, both their learner ‘agency’ and self-confidence can be undermined (Tito, 2008). ‘ShowMe’ is a virtual whiteboard iPad app that allows academics to create dynamic, interactive tutorials that are embedded within Moodle to successfully flip-the-classroom and promote student engagement both on/off-campus to realise greater understanding of new concepts (Berret, 2012). Consequently, increased student achievement via interactive support and more effective collaborative between staff and students throughout both UG and PG provision may be realised (DesLauriers et al, 2011).
To review the effectiveness of ShowMe to promote engagement with learning new curricula concepts.
A three-year appraisal of student module evaluations (n=60 per year) was conducted, involving analysis of summative assessment results and quantitative/qualitative feedback.
Evaluation evidenced that students’ perceive ShowMe learning resources helped them to engage with new curricula concepts. The overall module satisfaction increased over a three-year period from 94% (2013/14) to 98% (2015/16). A further positive feature has been articulated as ‘a very comprehensible way to learn the topic’.
Longitudinal data analysis of summative student achievement over a three year period evidences an increase in student achievement with the average mark increasing from 51% in 2013/14 to 55% in 2015/16. Furthermore, the number of students achieving above 60% for the module increased from 27% in 2013/14 to 64% in 2015/16.
ShowMe is deemed an effective example of how technology enhanced learning can improve assessment results, enhance the sense of learning community between students and staff and transformed the way in which support can be provided throughout the learning experience. It is further conjectured that its integration more broadly within Moodle will promote connections between teaching and learning; resulting in more positive and confident learners.