The E-Learning Production Scheme
A helping hand with your e-learning ideas
Launched in the summer of 2010, the E-Learning Production Service provides funding for members of Queen Mary staff embarking on e-learning activities that benefit students. We appreciate that academic and other staff don’t always have the time or technical skills to bring good e-learning ideas to fruition and whilst we don’t have the resource to complete projects ourselves, we were keen to plug this apparent “production gap”.
The resource we provide is in the form of dedicated E-Learning Assistants. These are Queen Mary students recruited for specific projects and given the necessary technical training. Given that all students will graduate into an increasingly competitive employment market, we are delighted to provide an opportunity for them to develop their professional skills, work closely with academic staff and earn money. We pay the students well, expect them to work to a high standard and support them throughout their work with a mentor from the E-Learning Unit.
Since its launch, the production service has funded seven projects in five departments – both academic and professional services – and there are more proposals due to start during 2011/12. E-Learning Assistants were recruited from all three faculties and worked on a wide range of initiatives, including:
- supporting lecture capture on a distance learning programme in post-graduate medicine
- an online course to improve students’ awareness of what makes an effective job application
- a learning resource to support Medical students in their preparation for “Short-Answer-Question” (SAQ) exams
- audio recordings in the VLE to supplement teaching on a Czech History module
So far, staff and student response to the service has been overwhelmingly positive. In 2010, Dr Hoda Wassif had been making significant enhancements to the way clinical skills are taught in Paediatric Dentistry. We recruited PhD student Hanadi Lingawi as an e-learning assistant to work with her to develop electronic flash cards as part of this project. Talking about the project, Dr Wassif says:
I had the idea to use a “Question Box” that included various points, questions and scenarios on index cards – students pick a card at random and we discuss its content. With the e-learning assistant, we were able to have the resource available for students online. The format was the same; however, students were offered hints and key points at the end of each case… the aim is not to answer a simple question at the end of each case, rather think about the topic, the patient and the management in general…
Each project we fund enables a student to gain technical skills and enhance their employability as they are presented with the challenge of working with professionals in an area which is new to them. Alice Middleton is a 4th year dental student who worked as an e-learning assistant during the summer of 2011, developing a short online module on Clinical Governance. She found the experience particularly rewarding, working with a subject she was due to study in her final year:
I’m really proud of the e learning tutorial we produced and learnt a lot whilst doing it.
I think the scheme is brilliant and I’m now going to try and convince another tutor at the dental school to apply for a project to help students understand oral pathology!
To find out more and to apply for resource for a project of your own, please see:
www.learninginstitute.qmul.ac.uk/elearning/service/production
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