Forging new pathways of research and innovation in open and distance learning

Towards Designing an Oxford Experience in an Online Distance Program
Jill Fresen, Xavier Laurent
2. In the structure of the online modules, we use the Lessons tool which offers the
pedagogical advantage of tailoring a learning pathway for the students, with integrated
content, relevant activities and assessment opportunities (Laurent et al., 2016).
However, we found that the link to the interactive version of a particular recorded
lecture can only be embedded within Lessons pages if the recording is public (but that
has licence and cost implications). This is due to the current integration between the
LMS and the lecture capture software used by the University being “light” LTI (learning
tools interoperability) integration, as opposed to a “deep integration”. Thus, at the
current time, only the exported .mp4 versions of recorded lectures can be embedded
within learning pathways. The alternative of providing a link to a folder of all the
recorded lectures would deviate from the preferred pedagogical learning pathway.
3. It was not surprising to find that academics who are used to presenting traditional faceto-face
lectures are hesitant to change their thinking and adapt to online distance
learning techniques. The literature shows that the optimum length for recorded
lectures in an online course is 3 to 6 minutes (Guo et al., 2014). However, lecturers on
the OPSM have decided that they prefer to record a 1-hour lecture, and if they want the
students to pause it and participate in an activity, they will say within the lecture: “Now
pause the recording and do an activity, then return here later”. One newly-appointed
academic who will teach the research methods modules is interested in exploring more
interactive ways of teaching, e.g. peer assessment, using social media, student-generated
content (student pages), and interactive simulations.
Implications
One of the factors that previously hindered the development of distance courses at the
University of Oxford is that the assessment model is still largely paper-based. Students either
write formal examinations under examination conditions, or are required to submit paperbased
summative essays in person at what is called the Examinations Schools, located on the
High Street in the city of Oxford. Although the Medical School runs over 50 formal University
exams online every year, the central academic boards were not happy to do so at a distance,
for reasons of information and identity security.
Thus any online assessment strategy needs to consider the best way of assessing the breadth
and depth of a student’s learning, and enabling the online submission of summative work.
The OPSM has elected to offer eight ‘extended essays’ and to require the students to present
themselves for one-week of contact time during the two-year program.
During the course of the WISE project, additional design and support resources were
available. However, the department and the local learning technology group in Medical
Sciences need to consider the resource requirements to build further online content and
maintain the course sites once they are live. Other departments wishing to follow a similar
approach may consider employing a part-time learning technologist for this purpose.
However, a candidate would need to have the right balance of skills, including writing code
for online simulations and maintaining the code for the personalized skin.
Reaching from the roots – 9 th EDEN Research Workshop Proceedings, 2016, Oldenburg 15
ISBN 978-615-5511-12-7