Case studies archive

E-learning Case studies

Editing Lady Hester Pulter - March 2010: As part of a second-year undergraduate module ‘Seventeenth-Century Literature and Culture’, students were asked to annotate a series of unpublished poems by Lady Hester Pulter (1605-1678). The results were displayed on a custom-built website hosted at the University of Warwick.

Enhancing interactive learning in the classroom with Turning Point - March 2010: Engaging students in class discussion can be difficult when they feel reticent or not confident enough to openly express their personal views, especially in a module focused on prescriptive vs. descriptive attitudes to language. This case-study describes the use of an innovative resource which helps foster and enhance interactive teaching and learning by means of an electronic response system with voting pads, namely Turning Point.

Enhancing interactive learning in the classroom with Turning Point - March 2010: Engaging students in class discussion can be difficult when they feel reticent or not confident enough to openly express their personal views, especially in a module focused on prescriptive vs. descriptive attitudes to language. This case-study describes the use of an innovative resource which helps foster and enhance interactive teaching and learning by means of an electronic response system with voting pads, namely Turning Point.

Teaching transitivity: One of the difficulties involved in stylistics and Critical Discourse Analysis is the time it takes for students to become fluent and confident in handling a new vocabulary when discussing and describing texts. This case-study describes a way of introducing students to a new technical vocabulary by way of an approach drawn from creative writing and textual intervention. The VLE is used to both support and enhance the learning taking place.

Using online learning journals to enhance students’ engagement with literary theory: This case study describes how online learning journals were used to help students to engage with literary theory on a module on contemporary Canadian fiction. Amongst the many benefits described the reflective journals enhanced seminar discussions and motivated students to complete the critical reading.

Using Blogs for Peer Feedback in a Creative Writing Course: This case study describes and analyses the use of blogs as a method of peer feedback on an undergraduate module in Creative Writing. As well as a description of the use of blogs at the University of Brighton (within the Blackboard virtual learning environment (VLE), the case study includes a brief assessment of the literature on blogging and the results of an informal survey of student opinions on this innovative pedagogical technique.

Plot-casting: Using Student-Generated Audiobooks for Learning and Teaching: This case study reports on a recent pedagogical initiative making use of podcasting technology in the classroom. The project involved getting students to create their own ‘talking book’ or audiobook recording of a Victorian novel.

From stick to carrot – using Turnitin to help improve students’ writing: This case study looks at how Turnitin (an electronic plagiarism detection tool) works within a VLE (WebCT/Vista) and demonstates how it can be set up as a pre-submission checking tool for students.

Using Wikis to support small group work: This case study describes the innovative use of wikis to support small group activities in the School of English at Birmingham City University. The wikis are used in class time (on lap tops) so that students can access digital texts alongside more conventional offline media (worksheets, flip charts, oral discussion).

Text.Play.Space: Creative Online Activities: This case study offers an account of some creative-critical online activities which appear as part of a portfolio of assessed online activities on an undergraduate course on the Victorians at the University of Wolverhampton.

Using Eighteenth Century Collections (ECCO) as a learning and teaching resource: This case study looks at the authors experience of building the Eighteenth-Century Collections Online (ECCO) database into a first-year undergraduate module. The aim was to enable students to experience directing their own research using eighteenth-century editions.

Using Screen Capture Software in Student Feedback: This case study looks at an innovative way of providing feedback to students on their written work in English Language Teaching courses by using ‘screen capture software’, software which basically allows you to record the screen of your computer as if you had a video camera pointed at it.

Testing Language Skills using Computer Assisted Assessment (CAA): This case study explores a first year module at the University of Wales, Bangor where a series of multiple choice tests on sentences, commas, semi-colons and apostrophes are provided for the students in the Blackboard virtual learning environment to improve their language skills.

Creating a Learning Community: the Canterbury Tales VLE: This case study explores the integration of e-learning elements into a 'blended pedagogical approach' to a first year single semester module 'Introduction to Middle English' at the University of Manchester. The course utilises creative approaches to assessment as well as active use of discussion forums to help create a sense of community beyond the classroom.

Depositing a Learning Object with JORUM: As part of the project to build the online Old English coursepack, funded by the English Subject Centre, the completed web site was deposited within JORUM. JORUM is the recently launched national archive of Learning materials. This case study briefly outlines the experience of trying to deposit material into the archive related to English literature.