Today we hear about the MSc Sport Coaching Team. Dr Colum Cronin has written an article about the ways in which TEL has influenced the delivery of the course.

“The MSc is in Sport Coaching is a bit of an unusual course in SSLN. Most notably, the MSc. Course is unique because it is a ‘blended course’. What constitutes blended learning is, however, somewhat contested. For some it includes flipped classroom and for others includes MOOCs. For us, the blended learning on the MSc involves “a combination of “face-to-face instruction and computer-mediated instruction” (Graham, 2006, p. 5). In practice, this involves a ‘1 day’ contact session every month, which is supplemented by 3 weeks of online material. Thus, over the course of a semester, students will have 4 ‘full days’ at IM Marsh and work online for the remainder of their learning. This format works particularly well for the ‘mature students’ on the course who often have jobs in industry and are not necessarily based in Liverpool. Indeed, we have students who commute once a month to Marsh from Dublin, Coventry and London.”

I have highlighted how Colum used the video tool in the discussion board to support the transforming of his students from strangers into a learning community.

“I asked students to consider and discuss some key readings. To engage in the discussions, students simply recorded their response as a video file on the phones. Then, using the Canvas app, they uploaded their answer to the site. As a ‘carrot’, students who uploaded their answers could see other student’s answers, but if you did not engage you did not benefit from the thoughts of your peers. This was a successful approach because the MSc course has some high performing and professional individuals. In effect, the coaches want to learn from each other as well as the staff…

… As a lecturer, the discussion boards also helped me to get to know the students. We rarely see these students face-to-face and this was a way for me to hear their thoughts, check their understanding, and get to know them as individuals. On that note, the video upload rather than the traditional text was a personal approach and meant that there was a more connection between the group, who rarely see each other.”

For  more information on how you could use video in your discussion boards or any other aspect of TEL, contact the TEL team on x5343 or x5879 or visit B005 at Marsh or 2.61 at Henry Cotton.

read the full article written by Colum …

Upskilling the online material on MSc Sport Coaching

Against this backdrop of a ‘Blended Course’ with mature and distant students, it was important for the team to ensure that the online material was good quality and engaging. Our external examiner Professor Brendan Cropley from Swansea supported us with this. A large percentage of courses at Swansea are delivered online. Lectures are recorded in dedicated rooms with ‘green screens’ and a substantial IT team format these. During his visit in the summer, Brendan shared some examples with us from their Blended Coaching Course, which includes online material and residentials. Inspired by these, the teaching team met and considered:

• How do we present a professional and uniform canvas Site and panopto?
• How do we engage students in online activities that involve more than reading?
• How do we connect distant students and develop more relationships between them?

Over the course of the summer months, we drew upon support from the TEL team. Ruth, Chris and colleagues came and provided some options to help us improve the online material.

Following a meeting where we reviewed these options. The course team decided to present a uniform site. Dr Nic Robinson and Dr Gus Ryrie worked up a front page (Figure 1 below) that we used across the sites and showed the team how to use ‘pages’ rather ‘modules’. This has provided students with a more professional and coherent structure to their learning across modules.

Figure 1

Dr Kevin Enright showed the team how to embed presentations into a canvas page using google slides (figure 2). This approach is more presentable and means less clicks for students. It also means that it easy for staff to update a presentation in google slides, which automatically updates the presentation on canvas. No more saving and reloading versions of presentations! We also developed a professional intro and conclusion for all of our Panopto videos.

Figure 2

For me, the TEL team also provided valuable support with three discussion boards (1 a–month). Specifically, I asked students to consider and discuss some key readings. To engage in the discussions, students simply recorded their response as a video file on the phones. Then, using the Canvas app, they uploaded their answer to the site. As a ‘carrot’, students who uploaded their answers could see other student’s answers, but if you did not engage you did not benefit from the thoughts of your peers. This was a successful approach because the MSc course has some high performing and professional individuals. In effect, the coaches want to learn from each other as well as the staff.

Figure 3

The discussions were very popular with only 2 students out of 14 not engaging. The discussions may have also led to more engagement on the site in general. Indeed, on average each student viewed about 1000 pages on the site over the semester. This is a big increase from the previous year where each student viewed the site about 500 times. As a lecturer, the discussion boards also helped me to get to know the students. We rarely see these students face-to-face and this was a way for me to hear their thoughts, check their understanding, and get to know them as individuals. On that note, the video upload rather than the traditional text was a personal approach and meant that there was a more connection between the group, who rarely see each other.

Moving forward, I intend to continue to use the discussion boards with this course. I will however, make some minor changes. First, I intend to make the questions relevant to the students own coaching world. This will encourage them to share more about their own coaching and help us to understand their practice. Secondly, I intend to introduce the Canvas app and discussion on the first ‘contact day’, to make sure everyone can use the technology. These minor changes will make the process more effective. Indeed, due to the investment of staff time, critical thinking and with support from the TEL team, I am now confident that the MSc Coaching has some best practices in online pedagogy to go with the world class expertise of the staff.

Graham, C. R., Woodfield, W., & Harrison, J. B. (2013). A framework for institutional adoption and implementation of blended learning in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 18, 4–14.

Created by Ruth Nagus with article written by Colum Cronin