Abstract:

This presentation discusses student blended learning experience enhancement specifically via online assessment and feedback. The current context of economic driven change in the UK Higher Education sector is reviewed along with some implications regarding its potential impact on the student learning experience. Whilst blended learning offers many educational advantages around accessibility to a wide scope of resources and student flexibility about the pace, place and time of learning it also needs to provide robust means of accessible personalised feedback and guidance. This communication loop is a necessary part of an excellent student experience.

A case study of a funded online marking and feedback intervention with nearly 500 students is introduced to demonstrate how adoption of a Turnitin online marking and feedback tool provided an opportunity to enhance quality and rationalise processes. Whilst the aims were achieved and some benefits of online working were realised other issues were also raised that merited further analysis. These included factors that enable staff to support the adoption of a new online tool and those that facilitate student interaction with the technology to optimise the added value to their learning development.

In conclusion it is argued that the provision of a quality student experience is one that manages the students' expectations and competency acquisition regarding the applications used in their learning. It also includes guiding staff transition as part of the change management that is a feature of technology supported education.

Keywords:

On-line marking, feedback, quality, student experience, blended learning.