Learning-Teaching Innovation of a University E-learning Course

This contribution presents and analyses how e-learning technologies were employed to innovate a University course focused on e-learning itself. The three classic elements of the teaching-learning process (lecture, study, exam) were transformed by the ongoing engagement of the students in the computer lab and online. Student-Generated Content and Reciprocal Peer Teaching were adopted for defining and sharing the contents of the course, and Peer-and-Self-assessment for the evaluation. Moodle facilitated all the activities. A social annotation environment (Perusall) was used to improve the learning of course materials by collaborative annotation, and a Peer-and-Self-assessment environment (Peergrade) was used to enhance the formative elements of these practices. We documented how these tools innovated the learning-teaching approach. We conducted a study to assess the success of the Course on the students achieving the target knowledge and skills, as well as in improving student's attitudes. To investigate the research questions, we asked students to complete a survey before and after the course. We analysed the differences using Paired Sample T-tests for variables with normal distributions, and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests for those non-normally distributed. Results show statistically significant differences in student's perceived knowledge and skills, as well as on their attitudes, with effect sizes from “medium” to “giant”. The findings suggest that the Course has been effective in improving the students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes analysed.