How do e-book readers enhance learning opportunities for distance work-based learners?

Abstract

We report on the incorporation of e-book readers into the delivery of two distancetaught master's programmes in Occupational Psychology (OP) and one in Education at the University of Leicester, UK. The programmes attract work-based practitioners in OP and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, respectively. Challenges in curriculum delivery included the need for more flexibility in the curricula, better access to essential readings and maximising the benefit of learners' limited study time. As part of a suite of pilot changes to curriculum design and delivery, 28 Sony PRS-505™ e-book readers were preloaded with course materials and sent out to students. The evidence suggests that the students' learning experiences improved as a result of four key benefits afforded by the e-book readers: enhanced flexibility in curriculum delivery to accommodate the mobile lifestyle of our learners, improved efficiency in the use of study time, especially short breaks during the working day, new strategies for reading course materials and cost. We discuss the opportunities and limitations associated with the e-book readers used and the challenges encountered in the study.Keywords: e-book reader; distance learning; work-based learning; m-learning; flexibility; innovation Introduction This paper reports a study of the incorporation of e-book readers into the curriculum delivery of two distance-taught master's programmes in Occupational Psychology (OP) and one in Education at the University of Leicester, UK. We discuss how e-book readers were used on work-based distance learning courses at the University of Leicester to address some of the challenges faced by learners on the three programmes.An e-book reader is an electronic device designed primarily for reading digital files such as electronic books (e-books). It is smaller, lighter and cheaper than a small laptop computer or netbook and uses black-and-white e-ink technology, as opposed to an LCD or backlit screen. Storage capacity and functionalities such as wireless connectivity and annotation features vary between models. The model used in this research was the Sony PRS-505™. Other examples of e-book readers include the Amazon Kindle™ and the Sony Pocket™. In the light of earlier research, we evaluate the potential of e-book readers for work-based distance learners. We show how the e-book readers were integrated into the three curricula and describe the process that led to the production and loading of materials. We present our research methods and discuss our key findings in terms of the potential and limitations of e-book readers as a learning technology for delivering content for work-based distance learning programmes at master's level. BackgroundMobile technology for work-based learning Work-based learning plays an important role in meeting the demand for increasing the employability of university graduates (Clamp and Warr 2002;Hills et al. 2003). Most higher education institutions already have work-based learners as a vital segment of their target audience in the...

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