Presentation at 2008 U-Learn ICT Teachers Conference in Christchurch New Zealand. Topic is: "How can student interactivity be enhanced through a blended learning approach?"

1. How can
student interactivity
be enhanced
through the use of a
blended learning approach?
Mark Callagher
MOE E‐Learning Fellow,
Wellington College

2. Outline
1) Online Survey [Questionnaire]
2) About the Project
3) Experiencing Moodle
4) Moodle Admin Tools
5) Research findings
6) What does the future hold?
7) Discussion & Questions
8) Action Plan – Where to start
9) Online Survey [Evaluation]
Handout: notes & links to all sites/resources
2

3. Online Survey
Go to http://markcallagher.com
Click on U‐Learn 08 tab
Follow link to complete & submit questionnaire
3

4. What is Blended Learning
…What is e‐Learning…
Participation
Engagement
Interaction
4

5. What is Blended Learning
…What is e‐Learning…
Increasing the availability of
Enables the sharing of learning: anytime, anyplace
ideas and learning
Allows student to
think about what they Opening students up
are learning in their to a whole new world of
own time and space information
Provides the opportunity to communicate
5
outside the classroom walls and contact time

6. Wellington College
State Boys School
Decile 10
1500 students
Good ICT Facilities
Y11 History Course History Department
NZ’s Search for Security Option for Years 9‐13
Origins of WW2 Year 11 History
Ireland 110 students = 4 classes
Palestine/Israel Trial class = 28 students
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7. Blended Learning using
Content Organisation
Highly Interactive
Many Features
Highly Intuitive
Very Robust
7

8. How has student learning been
enhanced?
1.
Engagement
5.
2.
Richer
Information
Sources
4. 3.
Reflective Interactions
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9. 1. Increase in and an equalisation of
ENGAGEMENT
10
83% Quiz Students Average Quiz Results
9
completion 8
7
Frequency 6
80% average quiz 5
result 4
3
2
1
0
41‐50 51‐60 61‐70 71‐80 81‐90 91‐100
Average % Score
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10. In Class Engagement Increased
Analysis showed that over half of students contributed
to discussion in each class
More students seemed to understand what was being
discussed
In particular lower ability student engagement
increased
Yeah like I was quite surprised cause when I did the
online work for once I come to class and like, I think you
Ah well I guess since you’re already probably would have noticed it like….I said stuff when I
coming prepared to class you sort of didn’t really ever do that in Year 9 & 10 or
know about the topic and sort of um anything…and then say if you got it right or whatever
there was definitely more discussion like you would, you would participate correctly and
going on um yeah it's...it’s good. everyone would like yeah that’s right, it would motivate
you.
We interacted more with the teacher.
Oh I interacted more. Like I got used
to doing it every day, in History.
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11. Online Forums
10
Total Number of Forum Entries per Student
Frequency (Number of Students)
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0‐2 3‐5 6‐8 9‐11 12‐14 15‐17 18‐20 21‐23
Nr of Forum Entries
Average 9 entries per student
Average (median) Forum size was 61 words
The number of students involved in the forums grew
from 43% (Forum 4) to two thirds of the class.
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12. 2. More INFORMATION absorbed
30%
Breakdown of Forum Entries by Day of Posting
25%
Percentage of Entries
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Day of Posting
Take their time
Different learning styles catered for
Discussion not lost
12 Enter discussion when feel informed & prepared

13. Parent Feedback
One parent said that:
The online learning seemed very effective in capturing [my son’s] attention
and enthusiasm.
He spent a great many hours watching podcasts and reading online ‐ we
often had trouble pulling him away from it!
The historical footage undoubtedly made the subject more real for him as
well as being more interesting than reading a lot of text on its own.
From what I observed, there was a lot of flexibility in that he could choose
from a considerable range of options and spend as long on different
aspects as he wished ‐ so he could follow up what seemed most interesting
to him in greater detail, and he was often drawn from one thing into
another.
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14. 3. More meaningful learning INTERACTIONS
More diverse views
Students participated in
the construction of
knowledge and meaning
Average 28 pieces of
new
information/evidence
introduced by students
in each of the Four
forums analysed
Over a third of student
responses were to other
students
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15. 4. More REFLECTIVE thinking
Promotes self‐reflective dialogue & dialogue Made you think about it more
and learn from what other
with others people write
SOLO Taxonomy:
At least 80% of forum entries were at a Multi‐
structural Level
Significant number at Relational Level and some
at Extended abstract level
Because it helped me to see different
viewpoints and to understand
different reasons for certain events
It was useful in a sense that it helped
you develop your own viewpoint, and
take the time to think about the topic of
the forum
One parent said that:
I was interested in the online forum. I read a good
number of the questions and comments and was It helped me learn because
impressed by the improvement in understanding we had to give our own views
on the topic which made us
15 displayed by students over the weeks. think about it more

16. 5. Access made to wider and much RICHER
SOURCES of information
As educators we need to be challenging our students to consider
new evidence otherwise we run the danger of perpetuating
historical myths.
The ability to organise and link information into the online course
site threw up great opportunities and enormous potential.
We are spoilt for choice if we can move students beyond the tatty
textbook and confined classroom space and into the online
environment.
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17. Before.....Now..…and..…Next?
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18. Online Applications & Increasing Collaboration
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19. Mobile Devices
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20. Action Plan
Where to Start?
More About Moodle & Benefits to Secondary Schools
Video (YouTube) – “How Moodle Changed a School”
Moodle Moot – Annual Conference in October Hols – Happening now in Napier (3 days)
Technical Support & Hosting
HRDNZ – www.learning.ac.nz
Catalyst IT – School Moodle Hosting & Installation specialists
Moodle.org – Free downloads & Support
Training
MoodleBites Course – 12 weeks (be a student & a course writer)
CeLDD – Certificate in Elearning Design & Development (Northtec)
Moodle School site – free learn how to courses
MoodleMan Playpen – Modules and Plugins Demo
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21. Summary
In this workshop we have:
Looked at one possible model of Blended Learning
Experienced Moodle LMS – tools and potential
Looked at how this can benefit student learning
Looked at other interactive tools including online apps
Had a glimpse of what the future might hold
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22. Thank you to
I would like to thank the following for supporting my research
project:
History Department & Y11 History Class
22 Full Research Report from http://www.efellows.org.nz early next year