'How it was for me…': First steps on our Learners' Journeys through HE

This paper reports on the early stages of the STROLL project, which set out to document and research into learners’ own views of their experiences of learning within what is seen as a technology-rich environment and to consider a range of learners’ experiences of learning recorded during their ‘journeys’ at the University of Hertfordshire (UH) and Hertford Regional College (HRC). Undergraduates reflecting a diversity of race, age, gender and nationality were recruited to the project as volunteers. Creating their own video or audio diaries with webcams or camcorders or using digital voice recorders, the students reflected on questions set by the research team in line with the Learners’ Journeys project aims. The project team will bring to the symposium examples of the early results from the first sets of diaries, including some sample video clips of the students’ reflections. These indicate students’ enthusiasm for using technology both for learning and leisure and a widespread use of social networking tools in line with findings from the Phase 1 outcomes. There has been relatively little research into the use of video diaries to capture student reflection on learning and the symposium will provide an opportunity to discuss this methodology.