Student use of electronic information services in further education

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Abstract

This paper presents a profile of user behaviour in relation to the use of electronic information services (EIS), information skills, and the role of training and wider learning experiences in UK further education colleges. The research was conducted under the JISC User Behaviour Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. Work was conducted in two strands, by two project teams, JUSTEIS and JUBILEE. JUSTEIS profiled the use of EIS and assessed the availability of EIS. JUBILEE objectives focussed on understanding the barriers and enablers, with a view to developing success criteria. JUSTEIS used a multi-stage stratified sampling process, and collected data from 270 respondents from 17 departments in the baseline survey (2001/2002). JUBILEE conducted in-depth fieldwork in five institutions and snapshot fieldwork in 10 institutions, collecting data from 528 respondents. Information skills and experience develop across work, home and study. There is a growing use of EIS in curriculum, but practice varies between institutions and disciplines. Tutors express concern about student's ability to evaluate and use the information that they find. Assignments can promote EIS use. The main categories of EIS used by students are search engines and organisational web sites. Search engines are the preferred search tools and search strategies are basic. Information skills are acquired through a variety of routes, with peer instruction, surfing and personal experience, instruction from tutors, and LIS induction and training all making an important contribution. The solutions to improving students’ information skills may include use of the Virtual Training Suites, but librarians need to adopt different roles in promoting and evaluating use of such tools.

Introduction

The research described in this article was conducted under the JISC User Behaviour Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, during the third annual cycle of the Framework in 2001/2002. The first two cycles of the Framework focussed largely on the use of electronic information services (EIS) in higher education (HE), and identified a range of barriers and facilitators associated with the development of the use of EIS within disciplines and institutions. During the second cycle (2000/2001) a pilot study in further education (FE) demonstrated that it was possible to develop a parallel methodology to assist in the understanding of the integration of EIS into learning and teaching in FE. It was, however, evident that developments in FE both in learning resources and ICT had been much more modest and variable than in HE. It therefore seemed appropriate not just to survey ‘what is’ but to explore whether research could also intervene and thereby facilitate change, using action research approaches that involved cooperation between researchers and information professionals and lecturers. This led to proposals for two studies in FE during the third cycle of the Framework:

  • 1.

    a full scale user study of barriers and facilitators to the use of EIS in FE, in parallel with the study in HE.

  • 2.

    a modest action research study to investigate the impact and transferability of action research interventions.

This article describes the first of these studies. The study was conducted as two separate but linked projects by the JUSTEIS project team, based at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and the JUBILEE project team based at the University of Northumbria. The aims of the paper are to describe the baseline study, and discuss the implications of the findings for later developments in electronic information provision in FE, including the introduction of managed and virtual learning environments. It was not the intention of the project to focus on the development of managed learning environments or the provision of information literacy programmes, although the survey work, covering general tertiary and specialist colleges, of all sizes, and across a range of locations, inevitably revealed projects in progress and planned. Relevant findings from later cycles in the project support the discussion.

On 1 April 2002 the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) formally replaced the FE Funding Council and Training and Enterprise Councils. The LSC was made responsible for all post-16 education and training excluding HE, and that included FE, work-based training, adult and community learning and (from 2002) school sixth forms. It operates through 47 local LSCs (in 2002), and these councils strongly reflect business and commercial interests. The key priorities are to encourage young people to stay on in learning, increase the demand for learning by adults, maximise the contribution of education and training to economic performance and raise standards (DfES, 2002a). The Green Paper stresses the need for a coherent 14–19 phase, that allows greater choice, high quality vocational opportunities, while implementation of the Connexions Service was intended to support young people in the choices they make (DfES, 2002b). For adult learners the priority was to increase learning opportunities, and the mechanisms included use of a full network of UK online centres, and expansion of e-learning. A workforce development strategy was planned.

The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), a government-funded agency, has a key advisory and development role to play in FE developments in IT. Becta's National Grid for Learning Directorate provides expertise in computing and networking, web development and technical research, and the Lifelong Learning Directorate supports initiatives in FE and HE. The National Learning Network (NLN), the information and learning technology (ILT) investment programme in FE, is being developed by the LSC's Further Education Information and Learning Technology Committee (FEILT).

Becta played a part in the planning of the NLN and led the programme for the ILT Champions Programme. In a programme which started in Summer 2000, selected members of staff from each FE college were designated to encourage and lead ILT initiatives within each college, and be ‘ILT Champions’.

Other initiatives included the Regional Support Centres (funded by JISC) (JISC, 2004). RSC Wales, for example, aims to provide curriculum staff in Wales with the support they need to make the best use of ILT and to develop e-learning. Such centres usually act through the ILT champions in each college, and centre staff make site visits and offer training, as well as providing e-mail discussion lists and help desk support.

In 2001/2002 some HE institutions were using virtual learning environments, but development in FE was at a very early stage (JISC, 2000). The different organisational and funding structure in FE was likely to affect the way MLE and VLE development progressed, as a later study (Social Informatics Research Unit, 2003) confirmed.

Section snippets

Methodologies

The first two cycles of the Framework activity focussed primarily on user behaviour in HE, through two parallel projects. The JUSTEIS project was a sector wide survey that aimed to profile user behaviour and identify trends. The JUBILEE project aimed to provide a longitudinal understanding of user behaviour and the barriers and facilitators to the effective use of EIS. In the second cycle (2000/2001) both projects pilot tested adaptations of the methodology for FE, and in the third cycle

Purposes of EIS use

Respondents were asked about a recent search for information, which had involved use of a computer, and were asked to indicate the reasons for the search. For students the need to complete assignments is the major reason for using EIS, and similarly FE staff are using EIS to help in the preparation of teaching materials (Table 1). There is some evidence that EIS are used for non-academic, vocational and work-related reasons; this is presumably a reflection of the number of part-time students

Discussion

The pattern of EIS use observed in the following cycle of JUSTEIS was almost identical. Of the 151 students interviewed, 72% described a search related to coursework, 17% described a search concerned with recreation, shopping or travel. The EIS used in their research were predominantly search engines or organisational websites, often known to them. As far as awareness of particular EIS there may be greater awareness and use of e-reference resources. A higher proportion of FE students (27% as

Conclusion

The research for the Framework was a significant study of information use across FE in the United Kingdom, to build a profile of the key aspects of that use and to offer some pointers for the development of effective information use. The baseline study found that, despite a much later start in ICT networking in FE colleges than in HE, FE students were using the Internet with a degree of confidence for their studies. Their confidence also came from general Internet use at home and at work.

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