The CLT staff survey was conducted using Bristol Online Surveys between 30 May and 4 July 2008. There were 86 respondents, recruited from members of the clt-announce mailing list and from the readers of this blog.

Report

The following summary highlights the key results.

  • The vast majority of respondents thought that their course had benefitted from the introduction of a VLE. However, several commented on the high initial workload required to get a course online.
  • Respondents identified the following changes that they had made to their teaching since starting to use a VLE. Some respondents, however, commented that they felt they were not yet making the most of Moodle’s potential.
    • Enabled blog-type comments on course readings
    • Measured students’ extent of use of online resources
    • Used quizzes to monitor student progress
    • Provided online support outside office hours
    • Followed up issues online after seminars
  • There was an overwhelmingly positive view of the e-packs service, with personal commendations for the work of Mei Pang and Jane Secker. There were also, however, some comments that the process was rather time-consuming.
  • All agreed that the Moodle Training run by CLT provided the skills needed to get started developing a Moodle course.
  • More generally, there was almost complete satisfaction with the support and training offered by CLT, with several complimentary comments.
  • Areas that respondents wanted to see CLT cover in future workshops included the following. We shall be reconsidering our training programme in light of these requests:
    • Demonstrations of exemplar courses, to provide inspiration and directions for good practice. This was repeatedly requested.
    • Use of screen capture
    • Use of quizzes
    • Turnitin (plagiarism detection service)
    • Special workshops focussed on particular departments
    • Audio / Podcasting
    • Virtual Worlds (such as Second Life)
    • Techniques to motivate students
  • The question “Would you be willing to have your lectures video- or audio-recorded and made available to students?” produced a 3-way split between “Yes”, “No” and “Maybe”. Amongst the Noes and Maybes, some of the reasons given were as follows:
    • It discourages students from attending lectures. This was the most widely-cited reason.
    • Worries about intellectual property – about how long recordings will be kept, and to whom they will be distributed. This was also a common concern.
    • Discomfort about being recorded
  • Other requests and suggestions included:
    • Requests for an ‘Advanced Moodle’ course. (Note our “Moodle Next Steps” course is now available.)
    • Use of Personal Response Systems

One final comment we particularly liked:

“CLT has done a magnificent job over the past year and there are no suggestions for improvement.”

Given that, and the fact that it’s 6pm on Friday, I’m going home.