AnaADIDoctoralResearcher–UniversityoftheWestofScotland,UK
PRConsultanthttp://anaadi.wordpress.com
NewMedia‐thechallengefortraditionalmedia,advertisersandcommunicators‐
ErasmusCourseEvaluation
Lecturer:AnaADI
Session2010/2011
Semester1–October2010
AnaADIDoctoralResearcher–UniversityoftheWestofScotland,UK
PRConsultanthttp://anaadi.wordpress.com
At theendof theNewMedia course, the17participating studentswereasked totakeasurveyinordertoevaluatetheNewMediacoursetogetherwiththelecturer’smethod, approach and enthusiasm. The evaluation survey was accessible onlineleavingstudentswiththeoptionoftakingitattheirownpaceandintheabsenceofthelecturer.Toavoidbias,studentswereaskedtosubmittheiranswersbeforetheirfinalgradesweredelivered.All17studentstookthesurvey,offeringresponsesfrom100%ofthecourseparticipants.
Thesurvey’sstructureoftheprevioussemestershasbeenmaintained.
Alloverall categories indicated forevaluationweremarkedby studentswith “verygood”and“excellent”qualifiers.Morethanthirdoftheclassdeemedtheteachingeffectivenesstobeexcellent,whilemorethanahalfofthestudentsfoundtheclasstobeverygoodcontentandexperiencewise.
1.Overallcourseevaluationresults
Asked to evaluate specific aspects of the course or the teaching process, thestudentsresponsesconfirmthehighevaluationsoftheoverallcourse.Whiletherearesomecategorieswerestudentsevaluationrestswithinthe“good”category,themajority of the evaluations are to be found within the “excellent range”. Thelecturer’sorganizationof thecourse, the lecturer’suseofexamples, the lecturer’suseoftechnologyandthelecturer’savailabilitytoofferextrahelparejustsomeofthe categories that obtained the “excellent” mark from more than 60% of thestudents.
AnaADIDoctoralResearcher–UniversityoftheWestofScotland,UK
PRConsultanthttp://anaadi.wordpress.com
2.Specificcourseelementsevaluation
Aswithprevioussessions,twoonlinelivevideoguestlecturersweresetup.Similarwiththeprevioussessions,theonlinelivevideolectureswereregardedasanoveltyaswell asagreatway to integratenewmedia in theclass.Theguest lectures thissemesterwere from threedifferentareasofexpertiseaswell as2 countries: JohnCosterfromLeicester,UKmanagingacommunityjournalismproject,JamesO’MalleyrepresentingIpadio,aphonecastrecording/sharingplatformbasedintheUKandDrMic Adam of Vanguard Leadership, a social networking policy specialist fromBelgium(presentintheclassroom)
3.Onlinevideoguestlectureevaluation
AnaADIDoctoralResearcher–UniversityoftheWestofScotland,UK
PRConsultanthttp://anaadi.wordpress.com
Amongotheraspectsofthecourseevaluatedweretheuseoftheclasstime(47.06%good), the relevance and usefulness of the course content (41.06% excellent and41.18%verygood)andthereasonablenessoftheassignedwork(52.94%verygood).Taking intoaccountthatthecourse isan intensiveoneandthatmorethan60%ofthe students grade relies on daily, in class work and projects that need to bedelivered within very strict deadlines, the very good mark is a reflection of abalancedorganizationofthecourse.
4.Othercoursedimensionsevaluated
With regards to presence, most students attended all classes and their expectedgradesrangebetween70‐100%.Threequalitativequestionswerepartofthesurveyaswell.Theyaimedtodeterminethe areas that students most liked or disliked as well as identify elements thatstudentswouldhavewantedthecoursetocover.Evenwiththecoursecovering8sessionsandtherefore24hoursofcontact,somestudentssuggestedthecoursetotakeevenlonger.
AnaADIDoctoralResearcher–UniversityoftheWestofScotland,UK
PRConsultanthttp://anaadi.wordpress.com
Suggestions for design andwebdesign programsweremade, showing a potentialinterestthatKATHOcouldcoverbyofferingsuchcoursesinthefollowingsemesters.
5.Newcourseelementswanted
Amongtheimprovementssuggested,anextendedclasstimeandfurtherdetailsintoblog publishing were made. An interest in publication strategy and increasingvisibilityofblogscouldindicatethatstudentsassimilatedthe101lesson(howtosetup blogs andwrite for the internet) and started thinking strategically about theironlinewritings.Thiswould indicatethatoneofthemain learningobjectivesofthecoursehasbeenattained.
AnaADIDoctoralResearcher–UniversityoftheWestofScotland,UK
PRConsultanthttp://anaadi.wordpress.com
6.Suggestedimprovements
Among the things the students liked the most were the team project, the classinteractionthatthecoursefacilitatedandtheveryappliednatureofthecourse.Theentirelistofresponsesisincludedbelow.
AnaADIDoctoralResearcher–UniversityoftheWestofScotland,UK
PRConsultanthttp://anaadi.wordpress.com
7.“Whatdidyoulikemoreaboutthiscourse”answers
AnaADIDoctoralResearcher–UniversityoftheWestofScotland,UK
PRConsultanthttp://anaadi.wordpress.com
ObservationsandConclusions:Alltheanswersgiventothequestionsaskedareinthehigherpositiverange–fromgoodtoexcellent.Theareasmarkedthestudentsasbeingexcellent(obtainingalsothemajorityvote)were:
• Thelecturer’suseoftechnology(76.47%)• Thelecturer’suseofexamplesandillustrations(70.59%)• Therelevanceandusefulnessofthecoursecontent(52.94%)
Thepracticalaspectsofthecoursewerementionedasstrongpointsofthecourseandgood learningexperiences. Itshouldbenotedthatthissemester featuredtwoindividualassignmentsandtwoteam‐workassignments,apartfromthefinalteam‐project all other projects having as deadline the end of the day’s class time. Toshowcasethestudent’sassignmentsthefollowingplatformswereused:http://kathonewmedia.wordpress.comhttp://kathonewmedia.posterous.comhttp://kathonewmedia.pbworks.comThesespaceswerealsousedtoshowcasethestudent’sfinalpracticalprojects.Itisnotablethatmanyofthestudentsindicateasanimportantfactorthelecturer’senthusiasm and support. As with previous semesters, this shows reiterates thepotential, if not the need, for courses to be delivered in a more interactive waywherestudentsareconstantlygivenchallengestosolvetogetherwiththelecturer.Whenitcomestotheuseoftechnology,eventhreeyearssincethecoursewasfirstoffered,theonline livevideoguestlecturesobtainedstillaverypositiveevaluationevenfromagroupwhoisaccustomedtousingonlinelivevideostreamingplatformsforpersonaluses.Theresponsesindicatethatthetransferofknowledge,dialogueaswellas learningobjectivescouldbeachievedregardlessofthepresence inclassofthe lecturer. Furthermore, the good evaluation the online live video lecturesreceived show that students appreciate contact with industry experts. It alsopresents a potential for application in other courses and other environments as ashort‐termyetcost‐effectivesolution.Recommendationsandsuggestions:
AnaADIDoctoralResearcher–UniversityoftheWestofScotland,UK
PRConsultanthttp://anaadi.wordpress.com
Takingintoaccountthestudents’observationsandinanattempttomakealinktotheareasdeterminedinthecourseevaluationashavingapotentialforimprovementitissuggested:
• An expansion and diversification of the social media curriculum fromgeneral topics such as the one suggested by this course to moreplatform/useorientedonessuchasdesignorbranding.
• An expansion of the New Media course to local students as well (notnecessarilyinthesameclassroom).
• Toattemptselectingstudentspriortobeggingofclass(submissionofonlineresumeandSkype interviewwouldallow the lecturer to interact firsthandwiththestudentsandensureinterest,motivationandpreparationarehigh).This will enable the visiting lecturer to search and negotiate short‐termprojectswithsmallandmediumcompaniesthatwouldbenefitfromtheworkand feedback of the students. Moreover, it will ensure that the contentdeliveredmeetsthestudentsspecializationneeds.
• Tocontinueemphasizingonthepracticalaspectsofnewmedia.• Toliaisewithcommercialclientsandthusofferthestudentstheopportunity
toworkonprojectswithrealimpactonbusinessactors.• To liaisewith other educational institutionswithin and outside of Belgium
enablingstudentstocollaborateand interactwiththeirpeers inshort‐termprojects.
• To continue to have guest lecturers from different universities joining viaonlinelivevideo.
• To continue emphasizing on short‐deadline assignments as a means ofpreparingstudentstothriveintheirfutureworkingenvironments.
• Toofferthecoursetoreturningstudents(iftheywantto),theirassignmentbeing to develop an online communication strategy or campaign for aproduct/companyoftheirchoiceortoworkonnewmediaaspectsthatcouldrelatetotheirhonour’sdegreesfortheirhomeinstitutions.