Nearly two thirds (60%) of graduates* in the UK said that lecturers or tutors had used educational media during their degrees. However, less than a quarter (22%) of them had taken part in the production of educational media themselves. The research** is published by The CADARN Learning Portal, which supports and stimulates the production of online and open educational resources.
Tom Bartlett, project manager, The CADARN Learning Portal, comments: “These figures reveal that only a small percentage of graduates have taken part in the production of educational media and universities could be missing a trick. Working closely with students could improve the relevance of the media produced, ignite their appetite for it and inspire generations of students to come.
“As a portal, we encourage collaborative working and believe it could be the key to meeting students’ expectations of educational media.”
Of those who have experienced educational media during their studies, 78% believe it enhanced their experience of education, while 83% said if they were studying for a degree today, they would expect to be offered such media to learn from.
Tom added: “It’s inevitable that people expect to learn from a variety of methods these days, from traditional lectures to digitally interactive experiences, as this reflects how they consume information in their daily lives. We are pleased to see that the expectation is high. It is now down to all of us who work in higher education to meet those expectations and provide students with the most enhanced teaching experience possible.”
The CADARN Learning Portal supports and stimulates the production of online and open educational resources and access to bilingual learning across its partnership of Welsh universities and higher education institutions: Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, Glyndŵr University, Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, The Open University in Wales, Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol & Reaching Wider.
In addition to the Learning Portal, the £1.5m HEFCW funded project has financed a set of audio visual equipment, recording spaces and a small mobile production team to assist teaching staff to produce some of the educational resources that will be shared through the portal. For more information visit https://www.cadarn.ac.uk/
*Graduates from 1960s to 2010s
**CADARN surveyed 156 people across the UK in April 2016