In autumn 2021, Loughborough College ran a 10-week Reflective Exploration project in the use of educational technology (EdTech) funded by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF). The project was focused on digital accessibility, answering the question “How can EdTech platforms and accessible tools be used to create a more inclusive learning environment for learners?”
The College had introduced Immersive Classrooms set up for hybrid delivery and wanted to ensure that the learning experience for in-class and remote learners would be equally accessible and inclusive.
Hybrid delivery is when learners are simultaneously attending the same delivery session from different learning spaces. Some learners will be physically in the classroom or workshop and others attending the training virtually, using different technologies and connectivity to join. The challenge is how to optimise learning activities for both groups of learners.
The staff involved were:
Participants were supported by the ETF EdTech Mentor Alistair McNaught.
Participants used the bite-size EdTech training resources on the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform, focusing mainly on the Accessibility modules but also dipping into:
They obtained 1-star digital badges for completing modules. Some also progressed to 2-star and 3-star badges which require submission of reflections and resources.
The Project Lead and each of the three participants pursued different areas of interest where they wanted to improve their practice. They also shared practice across subject areas and worked collaboratively to explore new teaching approaches.
Jesse focused on digital accessibility and specifically the use of accessibility features in Microsoft (MS) Office 365 to help his Level 2 low literacy learners – some of them ESOL learners – with their academic writing and progression onto Level 3 studies.
Project Lead Jesse Jackson comments on his digital accessibility exploration
Jesse hosted a learner-focused accessibility training session for learners in his department. Although there was a blog post on accessibility tools available to learners, not many were using the blog. Jesse decided to focus on simple accessibility tools readily available in Office 365 such as Immersive Reader and the Transcribe function. With Transcribe learners can record conversations or meetings, convert speech to a text transcript with each speaker separated, revisit and edit the transcript and save the transcript as a Word document. This can help students who are not confident taking notes.
One of Jesse’s Level 2 students who spoke English as a second language explained that they wrote assignments in their first language then put the text through Google Translate. This learner was worried that copying the translation from Google would be seen as plagiarism. Jesse showed his students how they could write their assignment in MS Word in their first language then use the MS Translate function to translate it into English. He explained that sometimes the automatic translation might not be quite right so suggested they use the Read Aloud and Grammar functions to review the translated piece. The students tried this process and fed back that it worked very well for them.
Learning point:
There are many tools built into basic digital platforms like MS Office which can help students with low literacy and low digital competencies to overcome barriers and progress academically.
Jesse also decided to try Socrative as a potential tool for supporting summative assessment. When he went on the Socrative website he found that it was not really designed for summative assessment, so he tried using it instead for formative assessment.
He asked his students to do some research to find statistical data on crime in their area. He logged in to Socrative, input a question about the research, then students were able to access a virtual “room” using a code to input their information, which they could do anonymously if they wished. They could do this via their phones.
At the end of the session, Jesse was able to export the information they had entered as a tagged pdf and upload to the College’s VLE for students to use as an information resource.
“The project has given me the confidence to take a more adaptive approach to including digital tools in the classroom, which has meant I am more proactive in recognising where digital tools or technology should be introduced to support a more inclusive approach, or when digital tools need to be adapted or changed to continue to encourage and develop an inclusive college environment.”
Learning point:
Trying out different digital tools for teaching and learning can help tutors to build confidence, which in turn helps to develop awareness of where other digital tools could help or could help if used differently.
Adam focused on providing more ways for students to give feedback from their group work in class using tools like Mentimeter, Padlet, Microsoft Forms and discussion forums on the college’s VLE:
“Rather than just getting students to ‘say’ their answers they can provide their answers using platforms like Mentimeter and Padlet which are more fun for the students and a good way for them to share answers with their peers. I use these platforms as some students don’t like to verbally say their answers to a question or talk verbally to the whole group.”
Health and Social Care Lecturer Adam Bird comments on his Reflective Exploration
Adam found that platforms like Mentimeter and Padlet empowered quieter learners to participate in the lesson. Some learners, who had previously never spoken in class, even started to make verbal contributions in whole-class discussions within a few lessons of using the tools.
Initially, some learners were negative about some feedback tools such as forums, however, this dissipated after several uses and became part of their routine.
Learning points:
Adam started using the branching tool on Microsoft Forms to make learner feedback more personalised and help lower achievers. The branching tool presents a slightly simpler question if a learner’s first answer to a quiz question is incorrect. This enables the learner to arrive at the correct answer on their own without the system just telling them the answer, so building confidence. Adam reported:
“This worked really well as even if students got an answer incorrect, the system would give them a follow-up question that was slightly easier. All but a couple of students got the follow-up question correct. This ensured they got to the correct answer on their own without the system just telling them the answer. For students who got the follow-up question incorrect, the system asked them if they would like further support with the task. Not all students like asking for support but the quiz made it easier for them. This was useful as I am now able to target further support in class to address any misunderstandings purely by using the analysis of the quiz that Microsoft Forms provides me with.”
One or two students had some difficulty accessing the quiz which delayed the exercise. Adam also found the application of the branching tool in MS Forms to be quite limited and is now exploring other tools that allow branching in quizzes.
Learning point:
Using the branching tool in a quiz application like MS Forms can help to build confidence in lower achievers and enable them to request further support behind the scenes. This can help to expose and address lack of understanding in class rather than later through assignments, enabling faster progress. A tool like MS Forms is a good starting point for experimenting with branching tools.
Adam designed another exercise that required students to work on a group task using Microsoft PowerPoint to note down their work, and then use the recording function in PowerPoint to record a voice over for presenting their work. Each group was tasked with watching one or two of each other’s presentations and writing down three things they had learned from the presentation in a forum set up on the college’s VLE (LearnZone). The aim was to make the presentation task more interactive and improve student engagement. The voice over also meant the PowerPoints could be useful for revision.
Some learners really enjoyed recording the voice overs and were very confident, using their own choice of recording tools. Others felt anxious about doing an audio recording so did not do one. Adam felt that introducing the idea of audio recordings gradually would enable them to practise and build up confidence.
Using the VLE forum worked well because:
Learning points:
Susan felt that not all learners were able to benefit equally from online learning delivery and wanted to focus on digital accessibility. She found the bitesize webinar on Accessibility training modules on the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform useful for building her digital skills and confidence for teaching online. It helped her to realise that she could make her teaching resources more accessible by using technologies already in place within the college’s VLE and Microsoft platforms.
Health and Social Care Lecturer Susan Bowley comments on her Reflective Exploration
“… Today I completed the ‘‘Supporting special learning needs’ badge [on the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform] which I found interesting as it reminded me that many individuals have different learning needs, not just those with special needs, and incorporating different tasks/methods into my teaching would help not only those with special needs but also learners who are considered not to have any support requirements. If I incorporate not just text but other things such as images, audio, video and some interactivity, not only in lessons but when setting assignment tasks, then learners would have a balance of strategies to use.”
Susan started to use the inbuilt accessibility checker in the college’s LearnZone VLE to review her resources, make changes and then review again. As a result, she changed some information on PowerPoints for learners, but she also found that some changes she thought would be better were flagged up again by the accessibility checker:
“I scaffolded learning with clues to what might be coming next and re-caps on what we had done so far to ensure understanding. This seemed to work well, and learners recognised and developed their skills at re-capping…
I tried to provide clear information by using media instead of text to support learning and when I did use text, I tried different fonts to differentiate the content that was showing. This worked for some but not everyone, owing to the constant changes in colour and size of font used which I will review. I also limited the information on the PowerPoint and added this in the notes section as I tend to go over the top with information when clear, concise information is of more value to learners…
I added in discussions rather than providing them with all the information, then they were able to take down their own notes, which might be better to support them with assignment work. Using the accessibility tool helped to support me doing this, but at times it was confusing as changes I thought were better were not as accessible.”
Learning point:
There are usually inbuilt accessibility checkers in VLE and desktop tools that will flag up issues with resources. Since 2018 it is now a legal requirement to ensure that public sector web resources are accessible. Once you have made changes to resources to make them more accessible, it is worth checking them again as sometimes changes that appear to help can introduce fresh issues.
Susan found the ETF’s webinar on Accessibility Maturity very useful for developing a broader perspective on accessibility and how it impacts all areas of an organisation from practice to process to policy.
Susan’s reflection on ‘Creating inclusive content’ submitted for a 2-star badge in Accessibility at Adopting (intermediate) level.
Kerry focused on the Digital Teacher and Accessibility training modules and gained a range of 1-star digital badges on the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform, also working towards 2-star badges. She found the Accessibility modules were a helpful reminder and a prompt for embedding these skills into her lessons to enable her learners to progress more easily on their own, rather than having to rely on peers. She noticed that some of her learners felt empowered being able to work independently.
Unfortunately, Kerry could not engage fully with the Reflective Exploration. She was able to try out some flipped learning, to help learners identify and develop their research and independent learning skills. She intends to incorporate collaborative tools to enable learners to share progress they have made with tasks ahead of lessons so that she can review and adjust the lesson content accordingly.
Course Leader for Childcare Level 2 Kerry Shay comments on her Reflective Exploration
“Expanding my knowledge on flipped learning and how this could benefit my students is of great interest to me, as at times I am trying to cram so much into my lessons. However, if I try this technique it will reduce that pressure and then I can use the lessons to embed, explore and retrieve the information which will hopefully make the lessons more entertaining and engaging for them.”
Kerry’s reflection submitted for a 2-star badge in the Digital Teacher at Exploring level.
Exploration 1: Jesse Jackson
Exploration 2: Adam Bird
Exploration 3: Susan Bowley
Exploration 4: Kerry Shay
Early indications suggest that:
Key learning points from the case study are summarised in the introductory section.
“At the moment, it’s about building a skillset and building evidence of improved outcomes. I think as staff develop their own digital practice through digital CPD engagement this will drive an effective hybrid learning environment.”
Jesse Jackson, Project Lead
Loughborough College is a medium-sized further education college located in the borough of Charnwood in Leicestershire, one of the most deprived local authority areas in the county. It shares a large educational campus with Loughborough University and the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) College, Loughborough.
The core recruitment area includes Loughborough, the surrounding rural area and the northern outskirts of Leicester. The college also recruits learners nationally and internationally, especially in sports. Most of the college activity takes place on the main campus.
The College uses Microsoft Teams to communicate with learners and for remote teaching and has introduced Immersive Classrooms for hybrid delivery. Digital and Learning Champions have been introduced who are attached to departments and are on hand to support digital delivery and update the shared College’s digital learning blog.
In autumn 2021, the ETF’s EdTech team supported 10-week Reflective Exploration projects to help teachers and trainers in six organisations to develop their digital pedagogy by engaging with EdTech resources on the ETF’s Enhance Digital Teaching Platform. The six projects were funded by the Department for Education.
The aim of the projects was to encourage participants to undertake bite-size training on the Enhance platform, apply and reflect on what they had learnt, submit reflections and resources on Enhance to gain digital award badges, and engage in pedagogic dialogue about those reflections and resources on the Enhance Awarded Practice Wall after gaining their badges – helping to build an EdTech community of practice across the sector.
The projects were asked to focus on the digital skills needed for effective hybrid learning environments. As indicated above, hybrid learning is when learners are simultaneously attending the same delivery session from different learning spaces. A more detailed definition of hybrid learning and what it implies can be found in the ETF Enhance Learning Ecosystem slides by National Head of EdTech and Digital Skills, Vikki Liogier.
The six organisations involved in the Reflective Explorations were at different stages of development in providing hybrid learning and the stories reflect this – with some focusing on the building blocks to enable effective hybrid learning such as accessible teaching resources and understanding of a wider variety of digital tools.