User Testing of the SIMPLE VLE

Karen Counsell, Department of Law, University of Glamorgan

The project leader was awarded a laptop computer, digital video camera and digital voice recorder. The department uses a VLE called SIMPLE (simulated professional legal education) which was designed to simulate a transactional learning environment for law students although it is applicable to other disciplines. The pilot ended in the summer of 2008. The developers considered issues of accessibility when developing the environment but wished to conduct a more formal examination of the accessibility issues when moving on to the next phase, particularly for the next version of this environment which would produce inter alia, check lists for what they need to consider when dealing with special needs students and to provide on-line support for staff. At the conclusion of this project, we hope to be able to disseminate this information more widely within the academic community, most likely hosted by the SIMPLE foundation.

The SIMPLE environment is used for the first year module called the Law of Torts as a method of assessment. We divided the students in to 28 teams containing an average of 4 members who took on the roles of solicitors advising either a claimant (a victim of a personal injury accident at work) or the defendant employer – the University of Cwmfelin. Our environment invented a fictional welsh town called Cwmfelin, a map, a directory, allowing students to receive information in the form of documents, photographs, from role playing members inside the simulation, usually their senior partner (the tutors). We allowed the students to choose their own team members. The simulation was divided in to four states with teams needing to be closely supervised through the character of a senior partner who would sign them off each state before they proceeded to the next. They would also interact with a senior partner.

I initially used the lap top computer to work with these students in the classroom in order to provide support. Once the project had been underway and the students had gained some confidence, the lap top and digital video camera were used to allow the tutor conduct interviews with the students interacting with the software whilst being filmed. I had anticipated filming the computer screen to see exactly what they were clicking on, how they moved from location to another (as I have some academic background in this area), but this proved difficult to actually see on the recording disc.  Use of the lap top in class allowed the students to gain confidence in using the software within the classroom environment and to raise any issues they might have. The 5 students were also given digital voice recorders in order to maintain a log or diary of their experience. However this was not a great success. Out of the five students, one has still to return his device. Another student gave me back her recorder but had not recorded anything. A third student used it to give me a blow by blow account of what they said and did in meetings, no consideration was given to disability needs. Luckily two of the students did provide excellent overviews of the software and I have incorporated their suggestions in to this report.

Significant Developments
The students provided very useful guidance regarding the issues of inclusion. I have to say that it was fascinating to listen to their opinions generally and I would suggest that the way in which this exercise was carried out allowed them to reveal their own opinions in an uninhibited manner.

I thought at the start of this project would be reporting on the physical aspects of the VLE e.g. layout, colour etc but came to realise that the method of working encouraged by this environment was also an important factor for special needs students. The original developers of this environment appear to have hit on a method of working that is very beneficial to the needs of such students. The students appreciated being able to break down tasks, to work at their own pace and to be given the opportunity to check their work for presentation, spelling etc before communications. They would not feel so comfortable in class doing this. Sometimes class work just moved at too quick a pace for them to assimilate information or they lacked the confidence to participate in class work.

The student completion rate this year was excellent with only one team out of 28 failing to engage. All of my project students completed and all gained marks over 60% which was most encouraging. The students seemed to blossom within this type of environment and appeared to enjoy this method of working.

I don’t think this saved staff time but would suggest that it would not take up much staff time to consider these issues before such a project started. The benefits produced in terms of student satisfaction, increase in confidence and development are beyond measure.

In terms of unexpected developments, I mentioned that the audio diary did not work very well. Obviously, I must take some responsibility for this in terms of supervision etc but I would comment that the students were really quite shy about using such a device. This did reinforce our experience with the final task which asked them to produce an individual written log, a reflection on their work, their views and development of the law: they found it a rather personal experience and seemed reluctant to produce their own feelings, opinions etc. It might be because they are first year students.

Benefits of this approach for inclusion

1. Staff gained a valuable insight in to how special needs interact with their learning environment.
2. Students were able to identify practical issues which can now be passed on to the VLE developers:
• Larger text
• Tags should be alongside the icons.
• Being able to change the colours, background text size in order to match their particular dyslexic requirement.
• Being helped to make decisions about how to deal with information through better structure, or differing functionality
• Even with one particular condition such as dyslexia, students still have differing issues such as colour spectrum, the system needed to be able flexible.
• One line work removes pressures from class work.
• Having to take their documents out of the environment in order to edit them was an extra barrier to learning.
• More effective use of colour to identify the function/treatment of documents within the VLE.
• Trying to reduce the amount of time they physically need to spend looking at a computer screen.
• More opportunities to personalize their team space.
• Closer replication of the ‘look’, functionality of the site to correspond with their experiences of social networking sites such as face book.
3. The students valued being able to interact with these materials in their own time and in their own space.
4. Inclusion does not mean students are different or separate; it is a means of ensuring as far as possible that such students are able to fully participate in all learning opportunities offered to them which can benefit all users.

Drawbacks and disadvantages
Obviously I’ve not yet had time to take forward these findings as the project has only just closed. However, I don’t anticipate barriers to this from within the University. The University of Glamorgan takes great pride in their care for special needs students. I intend to take forward this approach within two modules offered for the Faculty of Advanced Technology (computer law modules) and will liaise with their relevant staff. However, as previously stated, our general approach to inclusion is good and I don’t anticipate difficulties. Thanks to the equipment used during this project, I will now be able to better support these students within the classroom. I cannot see any disadvantages or draw backs to this approach. Indeed, the issues raised by the project members were of value to all students and I can see this inclusive approach as being of value to all the students in terms of their learning experience. Besides physical resourcing and staff time (the usual constraints) I can only see positives in this approach.

Summary and reflection
I did think when I started on this project that I would be looking just at physical, technical issues but discovered the issues involved were much broader than this. I’ve learned that some basic changes (maybe not just in technical terms) to the SIMPLE environment can greatly enhance the student learning experience but that already the VLE is providing a positive contribution to their study of law. The students appreciated the opportunity to experience the law as realistically as possible as they were better able to understand what the legal rules were trying to achieve e.g. how to prove a personal injury has occurred, how to ascertain an appropriate level of damages, what are damages really trying to achieve. This method of working was providing definite benefits to these students as they were able to break down the tasks, work in a less pressurised classroom environment but still enjoy the close assistance of staff should they need it. I intend to use these lessons within other modules I teach via SIMPLE but also to check again my use of Blackboard to see if there is anything I can improve e.g. use of colour, buttons, the way I structure files and information contained within, my approach to assessment generally. I intend to provide more background guidance for my students generally as I did not appreciate how overwhelmed they felt at times with the amount of information I was passing on to them through the simulation. This is not easy as the tasks are incremental and the subsequent tasks build on their earlier work. The Torts team contain three members of staff plus one other lecturer who helped with the student training who are also keen to use these lessons within their own modules.

I do believe this approach worked well in terms of pedagogical terms. It fits in well with the University’s overall strategies. What I needed from my own personal perspective was the opportunity to work more closely with my students in order to better understand them. Nothing can ever be as satisfactory as actually working with the students involved and gaining their feedback in as relaxed an uninhibited a manner as possible. You think you’ve got a great way forward to help them but then find, that it is only when you’ve walked in another man’s shoes (to quote To Kill a Mocking Bird) what the learning experience is really like for such students. I believe the most important lesson I’ve learned from undertaking this project is that inclusiveness is not treating students with special needs differently it is integrating approaches which ultimately benefit all students.