Vignettes from the Field
Snapshot
Charlotte |
Student |
Discipline |
Psychology |
Enrolment status |
Full time, on campus |
Year |
3 rd Year |
Experience |
Positive |
‘There are times in a Statistics lecture where they’re talking about certain terms and equations where it would actually be helpful to have the visuals, but I just don’t actually have the capacity at the moment’ .Charlotte
Charlotte ’s story
Charlotte is currently in the third year of a Psychology degree. She is enrolled as a full time student, but her part time work commitments rarely enable her to attend on-campus lectures. She describes her course as ‘moderately difficult’ and although she does attend practicals, she relies on WBLT for ‘almost all’ of the lectures:
(WBLT) gives me flexibility, which I can’t stress the importance of enough. I would probably have to drop a whole subject otherwise.
WBLT and learning
Charlotte listens to WBLT recordings as a replacement to attending face-to-face lectures however she also finds them a valuable study tool:
When it’s getting close to exams, I often have them on whilst I’m driving.
The capacity to rewind and repeat complex materials is also beneficial:
There’s a lot to write and I can pause (the recording). I can capture a lot more information from each lecture than if I was actually just attending the lecture.
She usually listens to the entire recording and review particular segments if required.
Attending on-campus sessions so infrequently, Charlotte acknowledges that there are social aspects of university life that she misses:
It is a little bit of a shame to miss out on the lecture atmosphere and the face-to-face with the lecturer or the teacher. If you’re actually at the lecture, you can ask more questions and you can become acquainted with the teaching staff, which are all positive things to add to learning.
Impressions of using WBLT
Charlotte has had generally positive experiences with WBLT and agrees with the statement that she could learn just as well from the technologies as from attending face-to-face lectures. Although she considers the social aspects of on campus learning as beneficial, she acknowledges that this is less important to her than maintaining her part time work:
I wouldn’t drop a subject, I would use iLecture over those (social) things.
Her suggestions for improving the use of WBLT include the inclusion of visuals, however she acknowledges that her computer does not have sufficient capacity for such extras. She usually downloads the recordings onto her MP3 player.
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