28 Academic skills support for online distance learners
Sarah Ison
Sarah creates an accessible and inclusive learning environment for teaching academic skills to this diverse, global cohort. She acknowledges cultural differences, explains UK expectations regarding referencing and academic integrity, and signposts students to other academic skills support in the University.
Teaching area
Academic skills support
Course
These are optional live sessions (also recorded) for Postgraduate Online Distance Learning (ODL) students across all the ODL courses. The sessions are optional – but students are strongly encouraged to attend.
Description
I provide online workshops and resources and one-to-one appointments. The students vary in age from people in their 20s to 70s. Many have been out of education for more than ten years. Of the cohort, 40 per cent are from the UK, and 60 per cent are international students.
I have developed an accessible and inclusive learning environment for this diverse, global cohort through informal icebreakers, flexible modes of engagement and shared community spaces such as the Study Online Student Support (SOSS) Canvas site (our Virtual Learning Environment). I stress the importance of recognising cultural differences in academic practice, particularly through the explicit articulation of UK expectations regarding referencing and academic integrity, alongside the proactive signposting of institutional support. Drawing on my experiences of working with neurodivergent students and colleagues, I demonstrate how relatively small pedagogical adjustments can lead to meaningful improvements in learning experiences for all students.
Online resource
All the essential information is on the SOSS Canvas site, and I record all my workshops. I aim to be friendly and approachable. In my introductory presentation, I start by asking the students how they are feeling. I break the ice by asking students where they are in the world and to indicate how they’re feeling using an emoji.
I acknowledge the cultural differences in the cohort and set clear expectations about the course, including the need to reference in assessments and avoid academic misconduct. In other sessions, I explain University services, such as the Library, research and academic skills support, referencing and academic integrity.
Here is the content of one of my slides:
Cultural differences in learning styles
The approach in academic writing, of acknowledging sources, citing, referencing and using other people’s work may be a new way of working for you.
Some ideas are considered common knowledge – this may vary between geographical areas/cultural background.
In some institutions (e.g. in Vietnam) it may be satisfactory for students to include a full bibliography, but not explicitly refer to each resource within the text (Phan Le Ha, 2006).
Phan Le Ha (2005) ‘Plagiarism and Overseas Students: Stereotypes Again?’, ELT Journal, 60(1): 76–78, https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/cci085
Top tips
I ‘drip feed’ additional information at the point of need during the module. Every Tuesday, I provide a top tip, such as how to find materials in the University of Sussex Library from Google Scholar or how to find screen readers and audio books. Here’s a tip about proofreading:
Did you know…????
There is a proofreading policy. Sometimes I am asked about how to find a proofreader for your work, so it would be useful for you to know the guidelines around proofreading. Unfortunately, there is not a proofreading recommendation service available through the university, and we would not recommend that you pay anyone to do this for you either…
- Proofreading is when you do a final check of your spelling, punctuation, grammar and referencing.
- If you ask someone to proofread your work, they should only be making suggestions to correct your use of language, spelling etc. and NOT make suggestions on the content, or rewrite any content for you.
- It is best to ask a proofreader to record their comments using ‘track changes’, adding comment boxes, or noting them separately from the text and not directly changing/editing your work.
- There are quite a few things a proofreader can and can’t do, so please do read this page and the University’s proofreading policy.
Videos
My 20-minute videos offer more in-depth support, for example on how to find academic resources and grey literature.
Outcomes
Academic skills and student support
The training I give on referencing and academic integrity has had positive results. Academic misconduct by ODL students in 2024–25 fell by 30 per cent compared to the previous academic year; only 0.6 per cent of ODL students were affected by it.
Comments
Students greatly appreciate the support I offer – here are some examples of feedback:
I have nominated Sarah Ison, the Online Distance Learning Librarian, for this [University of Sussex teaching] award because, for me, she has brought alive the values of inclusion and kindness within my learning experience at Sussex.
Sarah dedicates herself to anticipating and responding to the library and information needs of the online Master’s students and through this makes a massive contribution to the inclusion of a large number of diverse and geographically dispersed students.
Many of the online Master’s students have been out of academia for many years, even decades. Our research and study skills are rusty and we are unfamiliar with technology such as reference management software. Sarah treats all our questions with respect and anticipates questions we haven’t thought to ask with occasional ‘top tips’.
Links
Learning Matters podcast and transcript
