Contact details
• Lead name: Lindsay Jordan, e-learning development officer, l.jordan@bath.ac.uk
• Dept/Service: Faculty of Engineering (Distance Learning Unit)
• Project Duration: until 31st May 2009

Background
What are you planning on doing and why will SMS texting help?
We are planning to use the Edutxt software to provide additional guidance and encouragement for students on the second module of the MSc in International Construction Management, a distance learning programme. The programme is undergoing a significant amount of development in terms of learning & teaching and assessment methods, many of which are facilitated through the Moodle platform. The diversification of L&T and assessment tasks means that students now have more set tasks, dates and deadlines to grapple with. Feedback received from the students after the previous study session told us that they would appreciate more guidance in terms of what they have to do, and when. The use of SMS ‘nudges’ to remind students of weekly online tasks, approaching deadlines, and upcoming events, is part of a suite of new developments that also includes more sophisticated use of the Moodle calendar and the provision of graphical representations of tasks and timescales for each module.

Examples of SMS content:
• Reminders of weekly discussion tasks
• Reminders of approaching deadlines
• Notification of ad-hoc online events
• Notification of changes to tasks and/or deadlines
• http://go.bath.ac.uk links to assignment submission and info pages and online activities.

The SMS system will provide students with up-to-date information about their module, and, we hope, motivate them to log in and engage with the online discussion tasks. If a student is not engaging with the tasks then the facility to follow up with a personal text will be useful in addition to sending an e-mail.

How will this be managed?
The e-learning development officer will be the primary user of the SMS system,
Mobile phone numbers will be sought from the students through Moodle; students will be asked to submit some online text (using the Assignment tool) with either the mobile phone number they would like notifications to be sent to, or an opt-out message. Numbers will then be uploaded manually to the Edutxt address book.

What questions are you trying to answer?
The ICM programme team are interested in evaluating whether receiving text messages helps students to stay up-to-date with the online activities, and improve their awareness of tasks and timescales. We are also interested in how the receipt of text messages influences the way a student feels about the programme; particularly in terms of how ‘connected’ they feel to the University, considering that the vast majority live abroad and work full-time. Students who take part in the pilot will be asked to complete a brief online questionnaire, and will be invited to take part in a focus group session at the next residential in June.