In their own words: student stories of seeking learning support

Over the last 12 months Open and Distance Learning (ODL) has become the 'new normal' with the rapid growth of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Meanwhile, many longstanding ODL providers report that their distance students are prone to significantly lower rates of retention and completion than campus-based students. Against this background, there is growing interest and innovation around distance-specific learning support services. The objective of the current research was to investigate the experiences of university students during their first semester as distance learners. The overarching methodology was Design-Based Research, within which phenomenological data gathering methods were used to study the experiences of twenty first-time distance learners from their own point of view. Using Sony bloggie™ cameras, over twenty-two hours of video self-reflections were gathered using a diary technique adapted from previous studies. Consistent with a phenomenological approach to understanding experiences in participants' own words, a grounded theory approach was applied to the process of thematic data analysis. Results reveal how participants varied in their engagement with learning supports, including orientation events, outreach activity, cultural services, learning consultants, library services, fellow students, lecturers, residential courses, and other people. The discussion reflects on clusters of participants who utilised learning supports effectively, moderately and barely. The paper concludes by summarizing how the current research has had an impact on the design of learning support services at one of the world's leading providers of distance education