Author: Shirley Bennett, s.bennett@hull.ac.uk

JISC e-Learning Activity Area: Learning Resources and Activities

Higher Education Academy Subject Centre: Sociology, Anthropology and Politics

This case study illustrates...an effect on learning, an effect on student personal development, student satisfaction with e-learning, innovation in learning and teaching, an influence on educational research, staff satisfaction with e-learning, staff personal development, an influence on policy, use of resources

Technology Used

What technologies and/or e-tools were available to you?

The range of geographical and professional contexts represented by the student body on the programme means that the approach taken is largely based around asynchronous communication, involving discussion, online activities and project work. The principal tools used are those of the VLE (until now the University of Hull's own VLE - Merlin) and include a pathway tool, resource centre, email, text-conferencing and e-portfolio tools which include a form of blogging tool. However, increasingly the learning and teaching makes use of synchronous tools external to the VLE itself such as Skype, MSN, wikis and Googledocs.

The Merlin VLE was for many years the ideal tool for the programme as it was designed and built specifically to facilitate and enhance online collaborative learning along a social-constructivist model involving the creation of an online community. The VLE has, however, had little investment and no development in recent years and the programme will transfer to the new institutional VLE once this is selected.