1. Application of Learning
Technologies Project

2. Rationale
- Training programme for PhD students
- Significant number distance learning PhD
students
- ~80 different training sessions (all synchronous
face-to-face & few online)

3. Rationale - cont.
- What about distance learners?
- Nothing is provided for them
- Distance learners have the highest risk of
dropping out and not completing their
studies (Peters, 1992)

4. Project overview
- Creating audio-presentation (slidecast)
- Workshop is ‘PhD Progression Points’
- Clarifies what are the steps in their PhD
journey, what are the milestones and time
scales, what students’ responsibilities are,
responsibilities of their supervisors etc.

5. Project overview - cont.
- In past - recorder online sessions and
made it available
- Why audio?
- Durbridge (1984) emphasises that ‘as compared
with written text, the spoken word can influence
both cognition (adding clarity and meaning) and
motivation (by conveying directly a sense of the
person creating those words)’.

6. Project overview – cont.
- Slidecast will be online – always
accessible!
- Students can engage with it, learn from it at
their own time.
- Lacrombe and McCosker (2005) found that
60% participants in the online PhD
essentials course are ‘campus-based’
students.

7. Project so far…
- Adapting the existing presentation √
- Write the ‘story’ that goes with it √
- Set up/download software (Audacity) needed
for recordings and test if all works √
- Record the ‘story’ √
- Synchronise it with slides √
- Upload and share √
- Evaluate

8. What are Progression Points for?
- Provide Structure and Support
- Evaluate Progress
- Quality Assurance
Sisyphus from
www.mythweb.com/encyc/zooms/sisyphus.gif

9. What are Progression Points for?
Structure!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2037/2201791390_7bc614e27c.jpg

10. Project so far…
- Adapting the existing presentation √
- Write the ‘story’ that goes with it √
- Set up/download software (Audacity)
needed for recordings and test if all works √
- Record the ‘story’ √
- Synchronise it with slides √
- Upload and share
NEXT STEP

11. Evaluation
- Create an online questionnaire
(SurveyMonkey)
- Online questionnaire to all PGRs
- Q: if the slidecast was useful and in what way?
- Slidecast will be available on Slideshare
- Slideshare gives data on how many views,
embeds and downloads.

12. References:
Durbridge, N. 1984. Media in course design, The
Role of Technology in Distance Education. Kent:
Croom Helm.
Larcombe W. And McCosker A. 2005.
Postgraduate Essentials: An Online transition
programme for commencing PhD students.
LAS2005: critiquing and reflecting. pp.109-118.
Peters O. 1992. Some observations on dropping
out in distance education. Distance Education,
13(2), pp.234-269.