Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Implementation and Analysis of an Online, Student Centred
Learning Environment to Support Personalised Study
Iain Stewart, William McKee and Kevin Porteous
Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK
i.f.stewart@gcu.ac.uk
w.a.mckee@gcu.ac.uk
Kevin.Porteous@gcu.ac.uk
Abstract: The majority of University teaching is still heavily predicated towards the use of the lectures (Lammers
& Murphy, 2002). While there are many issues with the lecture as an educational tool, lectures are still an
outcome-effective and a cost-effective way of presenting information, when it is delivered by subject experts in a
structured form which supports the linear development of concepts and promotes the depth of understanding
characteristic of this level of education (Heward 2003). However, the current generation of students display a
lifestyle in which they are used to accessing information in a variety of modes across a range of platforms, often
concurrently. (Kennedy et al, 2008). In particular they tend to prefer to work with small chunks of information and
to assimilate them by relating them to other pieces of information in their own time. The challenge faced by
educators is how to take advantage of the benefits of the traditional lecture approach while also gaining from the
advantages of Web 2.0 technologies where user-driven discussion, user generated content , and the capability to
take non linear routes through information and content can all contribute to the learning experience (Ravenscroft,
2009). While traditional Virtual Learning Environments such as Blackboard are moving towards this with the
incorporation of technologies such as Wikis and blogs, there is still a rigid structure to such systems which makes
it difficult to truly integrate these elements into the learning experience. The authors have worked for a number of
years in the area of lecture capture, both to support students with disabilities and also to provide rich learning
resources. Recent work has led to the development of a software prototype which has been applied to material
designed for and gathered in a classroom environment to produce web-based, self-guided learning products.
This prototype integrates a range of resources (captured lecture video, audio and presentation slides) but in
addition to simply presenting this content as a passive viewing experience, many other resources including
tutorials, FAQs and student feedback are used to drive the navigation through the content and to allow the
students to discover and develop linkages within the content. This paper describes the evolution of the
specification of the prototype, the development of the software and the feedback received from the students who
utilised it. A critical analysis of this data is presented and from this the specification of the next evolution of the
software is presented.
Keywords: lecture capture, personalised learning, student centred, Web 2.0
1. Background
The lecture is recognised to have a number of limitations when used in education; these include the
one off nature of the event, the often impersonal nature of the presentation, the passive nature of the
event and the way that the lecture environment can discourage questions (Williams and Fardon,
2007), (Black, 2005) There are also advantages to the use of lectures. When done well a lecture can
allow a subject expert to present content in a structured and logical manner which allows the
audience to follow the evolution of concepts and ideas. (Heward, 2003), (Dolnicar, 2005).
Other advantages of the use of lectures which these and other authors (Edwards et al. 2001), (Moore,
et al., 2008) identify include:
Ensuring that all students are presented with the same baseline content.
Allowing the lecturer to get instant feedback while presenting concepts and thus recognise areas
of difficulty and address them immediately.
Any questions raised are answered to the benefit of all of the attendees.
It is a cost effective way of providing access to subject experts
The structure of the lecture can allow the content to be developed in a logical and coherent
manner so as to form a structure for the student’s learning
The authors have been working in the university sector for a number of years and initially became
interested in the use of lecture capture as a means of improving the accessibility of the taught content
for deaf and hearing impaired students. This work resulted in a product called “Talkshow” (Figure 1)
which used voice recognition software to provide live transcription of the lecture content for the
students. (Stewart & McKee, 2004) While there were a number of issues with the product (in
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