www.alt.ac.uk ALT-C 2009 “In dreams begins responsibility” — choice, evidence, and change Conference Introduction and Abstracts 1 Acknowledgements Section one: Conference Introduction Production editing by Lucy Saxton, ALT Welcome to ALT-C 2009 �. .ii Produced with the assistance of Statement of Support from David Lammy. iii Melanie Fox (ALT), Oxford Abstracts, and Bob Pomfret The ALT-C team. iv Design by [email protected] ALT-C 2009 Programme Committee. .v Cover Design by Bob Pomfret Major sponsors. vi Printed by Nuffield Press Keynote speakers. .vii ALT gives permission for authors to Invited speakers . ix reproduce and distribute their own work on the understanding that the origins of Introduction to Abstracts . xiii the publication are fully acknowledged. Abstract layout . .xv Please use the following format for referencing: Section two: Abstracts Your name (2009). Your paper title. In Blackey, H. Jefferies, A. Masterman, Tuesday sessions . .1 L. and Whalley, B. (Eds). “In dreams begins responsibility” — choice, evidence Wednesday sessions �. .71 and change. The 16th Association for Thursday sessions �. 150 Learning Technology Conference (ALT-C 2009). Held 8–10 September 2009, University of Manchester, England, UK Section three: Abstracts Posters Copyright of individual papers remains Abstracts Posters �. 182 vested with individual authors and/ or their institution. Other material is copyright 2009 the Association for Indexes Learning Technology, and is Creative . Commons licensed (Attribution-Non- Titles by paper number 213 Commercial 2.0 UK: England and Wales). Index of principal authors . 218 ALT is a registered charity, no. 1063519 This document is available online at: respository.alt.ac.uk/467 i Welcome to ALT-C 2009 anchester University sets the scene for this years’ conference from which we are thrilled to offer an all-encompassing programme Mbased on the challenges our community faces. Our three excellent keynote speakers for 2009 are: ■ Martin Bean, Vice Chancellor Designate at the Open University, UK; ■ Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas 1 State University, USA; ■ Terry Anderson, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education at Athabasca University, Canada . Tom Boyle Alongside our keynote speakers, the programme will be infused with sessions London Metropolitan University addressed by the following invited speakers: ■ Jonathan Drori, CBE; Director, Changing Media; ■ Heather Fry, Head of Learning and Teaching, HEFCE; ■ Diana Laurillard, Professor of Learning with Digital Technologies at the Institute of Education; ■ Matthew McFall, Learning Sciences Research Institute and School of Education, University of Nottingham; ■ David Kennedy, Director and Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning Centre, Lingnan University, Hong Kong; ■ Richard Noss, Co-director of the London Knowledge Lab; ■ Vanessa Pittard, Director of Evidence and Evaluation, Becta; ■ Aaron Porter, Vice President (Higher Education) of the National Union of Students (NUS); Gilly Salmon ■ David Price, Co-founder of Debategraph (www.debategraph.org). University of Leicester ALT-C 2009 offers an extensive programme of demonstrations, long papers, research papers, short papers, sponsor sessions, symposia and workshops from a broad representation of the ALT and e-learning communities based on the challenges our community still face: ■ learning from history to build on past gains and avoid previous mistakes; ■ spreading innovations that are of true value, rather than mere fads; ■ redesigning pedagogy, the curriculum, and assessment methods to secure a substantial positive impact on learning; ■ ensuring cost effectiveness by various means, from working effectively at a large scale, to supporting peer-assisted learning cultures; ■ developing a research culture that informs practice, and a culture of practice that uses research evidence. We’d like to convey our appreciation to all those who submitted papers to the conference and to the Programme Committee for their excellent work in reviewing all submissions and selecting those that comprise the conference programme. A particular thank you goes to Haydn Blackey, Linda Creanor, Hugh Davis, Amanda Jefferies, Liz Masterman, Maggie McPherson and Brian Whalley Welcome to ALT-C 2009 for all their hard work in putting the research proceedings and abstracts together. The ALT organising team are also very deserving of gratitude. Their experience and understanding of what it takes to organise ALT-C is key in making this event a success year on year. As ever, it’s your continued support and passion for learning technology that keeps ALT-C at the top of the conference agenda in the UK, thus we hope you enjoy, absorb, and play a part in its success. Co-Chairs, ALT-C 2009 Programme Committee Section one: Conference Introduction ii Statement of Support from David Lammy, MP, Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 1 y Department and the Department for Children Families and Schools both appreciate the important role of learning Mtechnologists and learning technology in education and training worldwide. I very much welcome the theme of the 2009 ALT Conference and in particular its emphases on the spread of innovations that are of true value rather then fads and on developing an evidence-based approach to technology decision-making. Technology has a central role to play in enabling learning providers to innovate and to respond, and we see it as a vital tool to help achieve our ambitions. Its role is vital to ensuring our university system remains world class and that our whole education system meets the needs both of learners and of the economy. Ensuring that providers and learners use technology well is a crucial component in our plans and we see the strong need for a technology strategy which supports learners of all ages and sectors as they move through the education and skills system; and not just in this country, but across the world through high quality, effectively-supported on-line distance learning. The last few years have seen a major and irrevocable structural shift in the scope for ICT to enhance learning wherever it is taking place. The shift results from the ubiquity of the Internet and of devices — often personally owned — through which learners can find and access content, and from the increasingly large volume of content that is available online. Thus the first place we now look to find out something is on the Web, rather than in Section one: Conference Introduction a place, in a book, or directly from an expert. ALT, through the community of learning technologists it supports and through conferences like ALT-C, is playing a key role in developing our understanding of the changes that are taking place, by supporting a research culture that informs and is informed by practice and a culture of practice that uses research evidence. Learners create learning; but teachers and institutions create the conditions under which learning can take place. The structural shift is changing those conditions for good: by taking account of this, universities, colleges and schools will serve their learners, and the economy, well. It therefore gives me great pleasure to put on record our support for ALT-C Statement of Support from David Lammy 2009 “In dreams begins responsibility” — choice, evidence, and change, as well as for the valuable work of ALT and its individual, organisational, and sponsoring members. I’m sure that your conference will generate debate, enthusiasm and action. I wish the conference well. iii The ALT-C team n behalf of the ALT-C organising team, we welcome you to the 16th International Conference of the Association for Learning OTechnology. This year’s conference will maintain the quality of previous conferences while incorporating features that will further enhance your experience. This includes our social networking site ‘CrowdVine’, which you can use to locate and connect with people attending ALT-C and find the most up-to-date 1 information on what’s happening at the conference itself, visit: altc2009. crowdvine.com ALT-C 2009 will also be the launch-pad of the ALT Open Access Repository Our repository will not only contain post-prints of ALT-J and other learning technology materials, it will also be the holding area for this years conference timetable, abstracts and research proceedings for your perusal, visit: repository.alt.ac.uk Also, you can now follow it on twitter: twitter.com/A_L_T, enabling you to keep in touch with what’s going on in the association through an additional channel. We look forward to meeting you and hope you not only enjoy this year’s conference, but also find time to experience many of the activities Manchester has to offer. Seb Schmoller Chief Executive Emma Carr-Jones Maren Deepwell Melanie Fox Lucy Saxton Finance Manager Membership Services Administration Officer Publications Manager Manager (Publications) (maternity leave cover) The ALT-C team Seb Schmoller John Slater Victoria Watson Hayley Willis Chief Executive Director of Administration Conferences and Events Development (acting) Officer (Events and Manager Membership) Section one: Conference Introduction iv ALT-C 2009 Programme Committee Co-Chairs Professor Tom Boyle, London Metropolitan University and Professor Gilly Salmon, University of Leicester Research Proceedings editors Linda Creanor, Glasgow Caledonian University, Hugh Davis, University of Southampton, Maggie McPherson, University