The evaluation of the use of digital pedagogies in the lab’s OIL (Online International Learning) modules revealed the following key points through the evaluation process:
Delivery of teaching and learning activity
- Using learning designed to promote online international discussion stimulated students’ critical thinking, problem-solving, team work and intercultural sensitivity
- Both synchronous and asynchronous internationally mixed discussion forums were used across institutions to promote flexible ways for students to engage
- The online international dialogue promoted the importance of an entrepreneurial mindset and students were able to explore how to increase professional know-how and influence and professional visibility
Lessons learnt:
- Students were prompted to pursue new learning spaces and take responsibility for organising their own learning through effective time management, working to overcome obstacles and identifying opportunities
- Working in international online groups offered opportunities for students to interact with other students’ cultural models, leading to the disruption of their respective ways of thinking
- Need to add in a point about the skills required by academic staff to facilitate online discussion and help integrate / strengthen students’ skills in intercultural sensitivity
- Digital pedagogy should be led through consideration of how to generate inclusive classroom conversation around ideas/concepts open to interaction/interpretation
- When challenges in online engagement and learning occur, it is important to interpret them and respond in ways that can deepen students’ learning through a better understanding of how best to prepare graduates with skills and strategies to promote agency and professional visibility
- Managing students’ frustrations and trepidation about contributing to and engaging with online learning/contributing effectively to online learning requests and discussion with peers
- More opportunity is needed within curriculum to enable students to wrestle with uncertainty, risk and educational challenge, and to replace their feelings of doubt/insecurity with improved agency
Assessment
- In response to the change in the learning context and the perceived value of students producing work for an outward facing project, students’ ambition was raised and was seen to improve the quality of students’ coursework
- To ensure that all students participate from all countries summative assessment will be linked to the engagement/learning from the online discussion forums
Review and improvement of programmes and practice
Online learning projects were seen to:
- Facilitate creativity and dialogue, facilitate students’ confidence as professionals in a global context and up-skill students with practical means of contributing to their future practice
- Challenge habitual approaches to knowing (e.g. art production, disciplinary assumptions), raising students’ awareness of their own learning needs
- Expand student horizons into new territories and new ways of working through (for example, paradigms of expanded cinema, or creative thinking required for practitioners working in under-resourced communities)
- Encourage students to develop learning about their practice through the promotion of different peoples’ cultural approaches
Student support and guidance
- Challenges of online international collaboration include students not responding to one another’s requests, time differences and technology
- More preparation prior to the live phase could help to create enhanced dialogue between students. Online icebreaking sessions, small group collaborations and more directed discussions could help to break down the barriers and create more interaction between the groups
- Guidelines are needed for contributing to discussion forums, alongside solutions to facilitate online language barriers and encourage students to contribute when they are not familiar with online discussions
Effective use of resources
- Online platforms enable online international delivery of teaching and learning: Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Moodle and face-to-face methods to build intercultural connections (Twitter was less popular than Facebook)
- Implementing a translocal (international as well as local) project requires adequate technology and familiarity with that technology on the part of staff
- Staff feedback indicated that it was necessary to balance risks associated with opening up the classroom through social media
- Learning platforms that enhance learning can ensure currency, interest and diversity within the curriculum
Preparation for an Uncertain World: International Curriculum Development for Mental Health Occupational Therapy
Wimpenny, K. , Lewis, L. , Roe, S. , Desiron, H. , Gordon, I. and Waters, S. (2016)
Source: Coventry University Open Collections
Preparation for an Uncertain World: International Curriculum Development for Mental Health Occupational Therapy Practice Preparation
Wimpenny, K. , Tombs, G. , Lewis, L. , Gordon, I. , Roe, S. and Desiron, H. (2015)
Source: Coventry University Open Collections
