Monday, 12 January 2015
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
Monday, 14 July 2014
Supporting diverse learners on eMatrix
My post on supporting diverse learners has been posted on LondonMet's eMatrix site. eMatrix is an excellent resource for HE staff as it gathers tutorials, articles and educational advice on online teaching, learning, assessment, feedback and facilitation. Worth to have a look!
Friday, 20 June 2014
Learning Technologies Summer Forum
Last week I went to the Learning Technologies Summer Forum combined with the Learning and Skills Group conference, and here are my thoughts on the part I enjoyed the most, that is David Price's keynote speech.
David Price describes himself as a 'learning futurist' and in his keynote he spoke about concepts he discussed in his recent book OPEN: How we'll work, live and learn in the future. In his view, the times we live in are characterised by a new set of values and modes of coexistence that, despite being relatively new, are now often taken for granted. They include sharing, transparency, informality, non-linearity and inclusivity. As a result, he observes, the gap between informal social learning and formal learning is dangerously widening and educators are now often faced with an 'epidemy of disengagement in formal learning'.
Engagement is obviously important because of its direct link with creativity, productivity and innovation. The reasons for disengagement include loss of autonomy, loss of trust and loss of job security.
Another characteristic feature of our times is disintermediation, the 'cutting out the middleman'. It has got its pros, like closer connections between people, but there are also obvious cons, like job losses.
In David's view, the economic value of learning is going down, however the social value of learning is skyrocketing. This is related to the recent trend towards opening and democratisation of learning. Social learning is not so much about technology, but about connecting and about values that drive motivation.
He lists six imperatives of social learning:
- Autonomy, i.e. do it yourself
- Immediacy, i.e. do it now
- Collegiality, i.e. do it with friends, e.g. through study groups etc.
- Playfulness, i.e. do it for fun
- Generosity, i.e. do unto others
- High visibility, i.e. do it for the world to see
This is the type of learning that, in David's view, is now gaining momentum. At the heart of this social learning is the open learning movement with its 'machine-shop' culture (no hierarchies, free exchange of knowledge), encouragement for unorthodoxy and diversity, learning 'by tinkering', social and horizontal learning, learning in the moment of need, freedom to roam for learners, and the freedom to fail and bring one's mistakes to the table for everyone to learn from them.
All this may come as a little unsettling to anyone involved in formal adult education who sometimes struggles with learners' (dis)engagement. I believe the crux of the matter here is that teachers tend to be reluctant to give some control over learning over to learners. Teachers very often have (and rightly so) a very strong sense of responsibility for others' learning, which commonly manifests itself through control and exerting authority. This may be directly related to institutional pressures on teachers as students dropping out reflect badly on the teacher (or this is at least how some teachers may feel about it). Therefore, for the open education movement to find its way to formal education settings, a new institutional worldview is necessary that would create an environment which encourages innovation, unorthodoxy, freedom, diversity and autonomy.
Monday, 12 May 2014
Heutagogy. Say what?
This post includes some thoughts and resources on heutagogy as a notion that seems to be gaining momentum in theories of adult education.
The concept of heutagogy is often expounded by contrasting it with the related concepts of pedagogy and andragogy. The term comes from the Greek words for 'self' and 'leading', which shows the underlying change of focus: from an external focus on 'child' and 'adult' in the two other approaches respetively, to an internal focus on 'self'.
The differences between the three approaches are clearly presented in this useful chart.
The differences in focus suggested by the three terms can be observed at several levels. One of them is the level of control over the learning process (or learner autonomy if looked at from another angle): while pedagogy is most teacher-centred in this regard, andragogy and heutagogy are more learner-centred. However, heutagogy differs from andragogy in that, in the former, the learning design and approach are not linear, and heutagogy is even more learner-directed than the latter. In andragogy, the stress is on getting students to learn, while in heutagogy the stress is on getting students to understand how they learn. In other words, in a heutagogical approach, learners do not only acquire new knowledge or solve a problem, but they also reflect on how they arrived there. Knowing how to learn is seen as one of the fundamental skills of future workplaces. The focus is not so much on the content or outcome as on the process of mastering the content or arriving at the outcome, which is believed to have a bearing on learners' preconceptions, values and attitudes. As a result, with regard to learning approach and cooperation, heutagogy has been usefully conceptualised as "knowledge sharing" as opposed to "knowledge hoarding".
The differences between andragogy and heutagogy are succintly presented, with informative examples in this short video.
This frequently quoted article links heutagogy with lifelong learning, therefore emphasising the importance of the former in professional development. (Blaschke, L. (2012). Heutagogy and lifelong learning: A review of heutagogical practice and self-determined learning. The International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 13(1), 56-71.)
In this useful and interesting post, the concepts of pedagogy, andragogy and heutagogy are presented in analogy to the concepts of Education 1.0, Education 2.0 and Education 3.0 (which in turn bring to mind the concepts of Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and [the disputed] Web 3.0), with essentialism, constructivism and connectivism as the respective philosophical underpinnings. There are also practical examples of pedagogical, andragogical and heutagogical activities in a mobile environment. Recommended!
Heutagogy has attracted a number of educators who started forming heutagogy communities of practice, for example: http://heutagogycop.wordpress.com/ and https://twitter.com/HeutagogyCoP
There has even been a claim to introduce a related concept of e-heutagogy, although this calls a little for Occam's razor to be applied...
From an educator's perspective, it is useful to reflect on to what extent these three approaches can be and are implemented in actual teaching and learning contexts. This article convincingly argues that despite the drive to implement more constructivist and connectivist approaches in adult education, the limitations of formal assessment and accreditation frameworks often result in a reversal to the teacher-centred, knowledge-hoarding pedagogical approaches. Consequently, the argument goes, teachers are often unable to fully implement either approach. Also, we need to take into consideration the reasons why adult learners decide to join formal educational institutions. As a result, although "the principles of heutagogy are seen as potentially improving or extending the theories of andragogy and pedagogy, the removal of the educator makes the concept of heutagogy impractical in a credentialing institution".
The concept of heutagogy is often expounded by contrasting it with the related concepts of pedagogy and andragogy. The term comes from the Greek words for 'self' and 'leading', which shows the underlying change of focus: from an external focus on 'child' and 'adult' in the two other approaches respetively, to an internal focus on 'self'.
The differences between the three approaches are clearly presented in this useful chart.
The differences in focus suggested by the three terms can be observed at several levels. One of them is the level of control over the learning process (or learner autonomy if looked at from another angle): while pedagogy is most teacher-centred in this regard, andragogy and heutagogy are more learner-centred. However, heutagogy differs from andragogy in that, in the former, the learning design and approach are not linear, and heutagogy is even more learner-directed than the latter. In andragogy, the stress is on getting students to learn, while in heutagogy the stress is on getting students to understand how they learn. In other words, in a heutagogical approach, learners do not only acquire new knowledge or solve a problem, but they also reflect on how they arrived there. Knowing how to learn is seen as one of the fundamental skills of future workplaces. The focus is not so much on the content or outcome as on the process of mastering the content or arriving at the outcome, which is believed to have a bearing on learners' preconceptions, values and attitudes. As a result, with regard to learning approach and cooperation, heutagogy has been usefully conceptualised as "knowledge sharing" as opposed to "knowledge hoarding".
The differences between andragogy and heutagogy are succintly presented, with informative examples in this short video.
This frequently quoted article links heutagogy with lifelong learning, therefore emphasising the importance of the former in professional development. (Blaschke, L. (2012). Heutagogy and lifelong learning: A review of heutagogical practice and self-determined learning. The International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 13(1), 56-71.)
In this useful and interesting post, the concepts of pedagogy, andragogy and heutagogy are presented in analogy to the concepts of Education 1.0, Education 2.0 and Education 3.0 (which in turn bring to mind the concepts of Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and [the disputed] Web 3.0), with essentialism, constructivism and connectivism as the respective philosophical underpinnings. There are also practical examples of pedagogical, andragogical and heutagogical activities in a mobile environment. Recommended!
Heutagogy has attracted a number of educators who started forming heutagogy communities of practice, for example: http://heutagogycop.wordpress.com/ and https://twitter.com/HeutagogyCoP
There has even been a claim to introduce a related concept of e-heutagogy, although this calls a little for Occam's razor to be applied...
From an educator's perspective, it is useful to reflect on to what extent these three approaches can be and are implemented in actual teaching and learning contexts. This article convincingly argues that despite the drive to implement more constructivist and connectivist approaches in adult education, the limitations of formal assessment and accreditation frameworks often result in a reversal to the teacher-centred, knowledge-hoarding pedagogical approaches. Consequently, the argument goes, teachers are often unable to fully implement either approach. Also, we need to take into consideration the reasons why adult learners decide to join formal educational institutions. As a result, although "the principles of heutagogy are seen as potentially improving or extending the theories of andragogy and pedagogy, the removal of the educator makes the concept of heutagogy impractical in a credentialing institution".
Sunday, 11 May 2014
How is learning changing?
This post includes my reflections after listening to Sir Ken Robinson's talk "How to Change Education". In particular, I'll focus on two ideas that I believe will have a growing impact on education, including learning and collaborating online. They're spontaneous learning and collaborative learning. (NB. I'm focusing here on adult education as different principles may apply to children’s education.)
As usual in his talks, Sir Ken notes that much of current alienation of teachers and learners in educational systems is the result of top-down governance where educational authorities issue rules and regulations which the rest of the system is supposed to implement and follow. He advocates a bottom-up approach focused on the teacher-learner relationship, which he believes is the cornerstone of education. As he shows using a theatre analogy, when we strip education of all that has been built around it throughout centuries and go back to the basics, we are left with the teacher-learner relationship, which should be the focus of any reforming efforts.
This bottom-up approach should be based on two concepts: spontaneous learning and collaborative learning. I take spontaneous learning to mean learning that is not forced in any way but emerges as a result of an individual’s intrinsic motivation to acquire new knowledge and skills. Adult learning is a goal-oriented activity: people engage in an activity when they clearly see its purpose and this purpose is linked to how they see themselves at the end of the learning process. It is hardly possible to teach somebody something they don’t want to know or they don’t see the relevance of, which university lecturers are often reminded of when students seem to forget everything they’ve learnt a day after their exam.
As usual in his talks, Sir Ken notes that much of current alienation of teachers and learners in educational systems is the result of top-down governance where educational authorities issue rules and regulations which the rest of the system is supposed to implement and follow. He advocates a bottom-up approach focused on the teacher-learner relationship, which he believes is the cornerstone of education. As he shows using a theatre analogy, when we strip education of all that has been built around it throughout centuries and go back to the basics, we are left with the teacher-learner relationship, which should be the focus of any reforming efforts.
This bottom-up approach should be based on two concepts: spontaneous learning and collaborative learning. I take spontaneous learning to mean learning that is not forced in any way but emerges as a result of an individual’s intrinsic motivation to acquire new knowledge and skills. Adult learning is a goal-oriented activity: people engage in an activity when they clearly see its purpose and this purpose is linked to how they see themselves at the end of the learning process. It is hardly possible to teach somebody something they don’t want to know or they don’t see the relevance of, which university lecturers are often reminded of when students seem to forget everything they’ve learnt a day after their exam.
In
other words, spontaneous learning is about an individual’s active
engagement with the learning content, which is the result of individual
motivation. Therefore it is important to establish what learners’ needs
and motivations are at the start of the learning process, which gives
the teacher the flexibility to (a) dynamically adapt the content to
these needs, (b) develop ways of finding a common ground between
learners’ expressed needs and the content the teacher believes learners
should master before continuing to the next step in their education
process.
Thus
understood, spontaneous learning is linked to flexible teaching methods
and dynamic content delivery, including constructivist approaches
whereby the teacher is no longer a transmitter of knowledge but rather a
facilitator helping learners find their own, personally relevant
learning trajectories in the available body of knowledge. It is also
about encouraging people and helping them find out what motivates them
and why they have decided to participate in a given formal learning
process (e.g. a university course) in the first place. As Sir Ken
usefully reminds us, teaching is an art form: it is not enough for a
teacher to know the discipline, s/he must also know how to excite
people, pick their imagination and get them to want to learn.
Spontaneous
learning is something we do all the time in informal settings. All
informal learning is spontaneous learning: we actively seek knowledge to
solve problems we’re facing and we do that by identifying new or
utilising existing resources or asking other people who we think are
more knowledgeable on the subject. This takes us to the idea of collaborative learning. Sir Ken mentions the idea
of ‘flipped classrooms’ (here is a good infographic)
where learners teach each other and learn from each other in groups
with the teacher staying in the background and only stepping in where
and when necessary to enhance understanding. As a result, it is
believed, learners feel more in the centre of the learning process,
which is conducive to taking more control of their own learning. Whether
or not flipped classrooms are useful in all circumstances (which they
probably aren’t, as the comments under the above infographic reveal), collaborative learning is about actively involving
learners to teach each other, therefore developing ‘learning
communities’ and helping learners become more independent and confident
lifelong learners.
How
are the two concepts linked to learning and collaborating online? On
one hand, online modes of delivery provide flexibility that can enhance
access to learning for various groups of learners, allowing them to
pursue knowledge they see as most relevant and therefore increasing
their motivation. As exemplified by e.g. the recent success of MOOCs as a
learning concept, such flexible modes of delivery appeal to large
numbers of people and feed on their intrinsic motivation to learn. At
the same time, the teacher’s role as a facilitator becomes extremely
important in online settings in order to sustain learners’ motivation
and encourage them to work collaboratively. Neither spontaneous and
collaborative learning nor online delivery play down the role of the
teacher – quite the contrary, although no longer in the foreground, at
the lectern in the middle of a lecture theatre, the teacher as
facilitator becomes a crucial element of a successful learning process.
Friday, 9 May 2014
Online learner support: some resources
This post includes some of the useful resources I came across when researching the topic of online learner support.
One recurrent advice for effective online learner support is the inclusion of collaboration in the learning design so that students learn to rely on one another and feel a part of a community of practice.
For example, in her article "Rethinking Learner Support: the challenge of collaborative online learning" (p. 114), Mary Thorpe emphasises the importance of group learning and collaboration as part of learner support in online environments:
"The availability of learners to each other and to the tutor asynchronously and well as synchronously has the potential to overturn the emphasis in distance education as an individualised form of learning. The potential to create extensive dialogues and interchange electronically means that online teaching is often prioritising the learning group as a chief resource for learners and the focus for the tutor, rather than the needs of each individual learner, though these too can be accommodated in the pedagogical design supports that."
This webpage provides a list of practical steps that teachers can take to facilitate learning in a culturally and ethnically diverse student body. A number of these steps will also apply to instructional design for online contexts.
This book by J.E. Brindley, C. Walti & O. Zawacki-Richter (eds.) includes a selection of papers on various aspects of online learner support.
This article by Ivan L. Harrell II provides a usefully concise description of learner support in online environments with an extensive reference list.
On the importance of scaffolding in online learning design see this article by Stacey Ludwig-Hardman and Joanna C. Dunlap.
This useful resource by Catherine McLoughlin discusses a possible model for learner support in an online environment.
One recurrent advice for effective online learner support is the inclusion of collaboration in the learning design so that students learn to rely on one another and feel a part of a community of practice.
For example, in her article "Rethinking Learner Support: the challenge of collaborative online learning" (p. 114), Mary Thorpe emphasises the importance of group learning and collaboration as part of learner support in online environments:
"The availability of learners to each other and to the tutor asynchronously and well as synchronously has the potential to overturn the emphasis in distance education as an individualised form of learning. The potential to create extensive dialogues and interchange electronically means that online teaching is often prioritising the learning group as a chief resource for learners and the focus for the tutor, rather than the needs of each individual learner, though these too can be accommodated in the pedagogical design supports that."
This webpage provides a list of practical steps that teachers can take to facilitate learning in a culturally and ethnically diverse student body. A number of these steps will also apply to instructional design for online contexts.
This book by J.E. Brindley, C. Walti & O. Zawacki-Richter (eds.) includes a selection of papers on various aspects of online learner support.
This article by Ivan L. Harrell II provides a usefully concise description of learner support in online environments with an extensive reference list.
On the importance of scaffolding in online learning design see this article by Stacey Ludwig-Hardman and Joanna C. Dunlap.
This useful resource by Catherine McLoughlin discusses a possible model for learner support in an online environment.
Thursday, 8 May 2014
Diversity and learner support
As part of my ongoing education in instructional design and learning technologies, I have been studying learner support as informed by the social and cultural context of learners. Here are some results of my research.
Implications of learner diversity and inclusion policies for learner support
This short video presents challenges related to cultural diversity in distance learning environment. While set in the US context, it discusses issues directly relevant to the increasingly culturally-diverse student body in the UK and elsewhere.
Research has shown that students "value having their academic and social identities acknowledged and their particular needs addressed" and they "appreciate the teaching that does this" (see this HEA research briefing for more details).
The changing educational landscapes and the inclusion of new technologies, pedagogies and learning scenarios result in the need for incorporating learner support already at the level of instructional design. With increased flexibility of online educational delivery (where materials are often not provided to learners in a ready-made form but rather negotiated dynamically in response to student needs, aspirations and motivations), learner support can usefully be conceptualised as a "triangle" between interactively created course content, tutor and learners.
Understood in this way, the design of learner support should include the following issues:
This article on getting students online and keeping them engaged using synchronous and asynchronous online learning processes and methods can help you to see whether your online teaching practices facilitate student engagement.
Implications of learner diversity and inclusion policies for learner support
This short video presents challenges related to cultural diversity in distance learning environment. While set in the US context, it discusses issues directly relevant to the increasingly culturally-diverse student body in the UK and elsewhere.
Research has shown that students "value having their academic and social identities acknowledged and their particular needs addressed" and they "appreciate the teaching that does this" (see this HEA research briefing for more details).
The changing educational landscapes and the inclusion of new technologies, pedagogies and learning scenarios result in the need for incorporating learner support already at the level of instructional design. With increased flexibility of online educational delivery (where materials are often not provided to learners in a ready-made form but rather negotiated dynamically in response to student needs, aspirations and motivations), learner support can usefully be conceptualised as a "triangle" between interactively created course content, tutor and learners.
Understood in this way, the design of learner support should include the following issues:
- emphasis on the value of cooperative, experiential and problem-based learning, encouragement of such learning;
- more explicit inclusion of learning communities in learner support processes; encouragement to utilise communities of learners more extensively as a support tool that strengthens a learner's sense of belonging, provides a social support network, facilitates acquisition of knowledge and skills through learner to learner contact and helps learners negotiate administrative systems (see this resource, pp. 13 onwards);
- facilitation of group-based work through support from tutor to tackle problems, managing group processes, asking students to work with others they never worked before, building in low-risk encounters so that students get to know each other in structured ways across any boundaries;
- emphasis on the value of diversity e.g. by designing tasks where cross-cultural engagement is necessary to complete the task successfully;
- encouraging learners to reflect on cross-cultural differences, e.g. by designing activities where they need to consider how knowledge, content or professional practices may be alternatively conceived of in different cultures;
- scaffolding built into course/module design;
- stress on implications of flexibility and importance of time management and taking responsibility for own learning- planning that is sensitive to students' other commitments.
This article on getting students online and keeping them engaged using synchronous and asynchronous online learning processes and methods can help you to see whether your online teaching practices facilitate student engagement.
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
CPD in online learning and teaching
Here is another free MOOC in learning design focused on digital tools and creative techniques, starting on 19 May. Worth checking out! Just go to the website, register in their Moodle and wait for the confirmation email to arrive.
Here's how they advertise the course:
MirandaNet is a partner in an EU project called HandsOn ICT with colleagues in Greece, Spain, Slovenia and The Netherlands. We are looking for educators to participate in a free, open and online course (MOOC) that will help you reign your Learning with ICTs and Creativity.
In the context of the HANDSON project (http://handsonict.eu/ ), we are offering a course for teachers in Higher Education, Vocational Education Training and Secondary Schools. It is a 5-weeks MOOC about Designing Learning with the use of digital tools and creativity techniques.
Here's how they advertise the course:
MirandaNet is a partner in an EU project called HandsOn ICT with colleagues in Greece, Spain, Slovenia and The Netherlands. We are looking for educators to participate in a free, open and online course (MOOC) that will help you reign your Learning with ICTs and Creativity.
In the context of the HANDSON project (http://handsonict.eu/ ), we are offering a course for teachers in Higher Education, Vocational Education Training and Secondary Schools. It is a 5-weeks MOOC about Designing Learning with the use of digital tools and creativity techniques.
This MOOC course is based in the use of Learning Design, an innovative methodology
that encourages teachers to support the other course participants in
developing the design or redesign of learning with digital technologies.
With the help of a mentor, you will be able to redesign your learning
proposal and face specific challenges through a creative learning design
methodology.
Learning design has proven to be a very powerful tool for
anyone involved in the curriculum design. The course will follow a
structure based on a project design, starting from the identification of
a challenge, exploring the context, providing different and creative
solutions and implementing a specific one to be validated. It is a very
practical and teacher oriented methodology with a lot of potential for the creation of innovative solutions.
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
ocTEL registration is now open
This came in the email today. I have just registered and really looking forward to the experience!
*******************************************************************************************************************
Registration is open for the Open Course in Technology Enhanced Learning (#ocTEL). 28 April 2014 #altc http://go.alt.ac.uk/
ocTEL - Open Course in Technology Enhanced Learning - start date 28th April
The Open Course in Technology Enhanced Learning (ocTEL) is back! Starting on the 28th April 2014 you will be able to participate in this online course designed to help you better understand ways to use Learning Technology for teaching, learning and assessment. The course has undergone a revision and now is shorter (six weeks plus induction week) and we are working on incorporating new features including Open Badges for accreditation. Register now at http://go.alt.ac.uk/octel-r
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
CPD in online teaching and learning
Online teaching and learning is gaining momentum with many educational institutions and commercial organisations gearing towards online provision of educational and training content. This dynamics has been recognised by education providers, which started catering for the needs of educators and training professionals by offering courses in online pedagogies and technologies.
Here are a few of such courses:
- Oxford Brookes University offers a free course in Online teaching via its Moodle platform. Enrolment (non-assessed) is free and the course runs from 10 March to 4 May 2014.
- MIT Media Lab offers a free course in Learning Creative Learning which, while not strictly on online learning, covers creative learning pedagogies and aims at creating a community of educators, designers and researchers. Runs for six weeks starting 18 March 2014.
- ALT offers the ocTEL (Open Course in Technology Enhanced Learning), which aims to help educators understand how to use technology to enhance teaching practice. Information and materials from 2013 edition are available online. It is possible to register interest in next editions on the course.
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Bett 2014
For me, the highlight of the show was not the exhibition itself, but the large number of talks, seminars and workshops offered as part of the event. They provide excellent networking and CPD opportunities for anyone interested in learning technologies, both in the education and business fields. I had a chance of attending a few and found them very informative and inspirational.
This year's highlights and presentations are available online:
The Best of Bett 2014
Seminar Presentations
The Role of Technology in Education
Bett Show YouTube channel
Monday, 13 January 2014
Learning Technologies 2014
Learning Technologies 2014 will take place in London on 29-30 January. One of the biggest exhibitions in the entire L&D sector, it combines a conference and an exhibition with a number of free seminars.It is geared primarily towards L&D sector, however HE professionals can also benefit from the latest insights and ideas. There are sessions on motivation, social learning, specific e-learning technologies and software, use of analytics and many others. The keynote lectures from the conference, which runs in parallel and requires previous registration and payment, will also be broadcast to non-paying exhibition guests.
Sunday, 12 January 2014
ALT conference 2014
The annual conference by the Association for Learning Technology will this year take place in Warwick, UK, 1-3 September 2014. This year's topic is "Riding Giants: How to innovate and educate ahead of the wave". The call for research papers has already been published, and the registration details will follow soon.
As an Associate Member of the ALT, I am definitely planning to go in order to experience the collaborative environment where ideas are being developed and shared among colleagues.
Talks from previous editions of the conference are published on the ALT YouTube channel and definitely worth perusing.
Monday, 25 November 2013
E-learning project management
Recently, I have come across this interesting video about e-learning project management. Although it has been created with e-learning professionals in commercial organisations in mind, it may also be applicable in educational organisations, such as universities.
In the video, the author, Claudia Dornbusch, identifies 7 basic stages in an e-learning project development:
- Planning
- Content gathering and analysis
- Instructional design
- Storyboarding
- Development and production
- Quality assurance
- Integration and delivery
The planning stage involves identifying steps to be taken, responsible parties and due dates, among other things.
During content analysis, we identify the existing content and any content gaps that need to be filled. Then the SME, or subject-matter expert, produces the content required. Typically, in the HE environment, the SME is at the same time the designer and developer, but it can be useful to think about these roles as separate.
The instructional design stage is the one that matters most for a lecturer designing an online learning event for her students. This is when the goals and objectives are identified and the instructional strategy determined. Instructional strategy is how the content is going to be transformed into an engaging online experience. This is where we need to think about students' motivation and the purpose behind the learning event.
Storyboarding consists in designing the layout for each page of the course. Depending on the type of content we design and the type of environment we are working in, this may already be partly determined by the VLE implemented at a given organisation. At the same time, even with a pre-established VLE layout in place, it is vital to consider the type and amount of information provided on each page or in each section of the learning event.
During development and production the actual online learning event is created.
Quality assurance is an important stage which should not be neglected. A learning event that is well-planned and well-executed increases learners' levels of motivation and engagement.
During the integration and delivery the learning content is integrated with the existing learning environment, for example made available to learners in the VLE.
My experience as an educator within the HE context suggests that in actual practice several of the above stages happen simultaneously, given that many of the roles such as the PM, the SME, the developer etc. are performed by one individual. However, due to their different nature and function in the process, it may prove useful to think about them as separate steps that contribute to creating a stimulating online experience.
Storyboarding consists in designing the layout for each page of the course. Depending on the type of content we design and the type of environment we are working in, this may already be partly determined by the VLE implemented at a given organisation. At the same time, even with a pre-established VLE layout in place, it is vital to consider the type and amount of information provided on each page or in each section of the learning event.
During development and production the actual online learning event is created.
Quality assurance is an important stage which should not be neglected. A learning event that is well-planned and well-executed increases learners' levels of motivation and engagement.
During the integration and delivery the learning content is integrated with the existing learning environment, for example made available to learners in the VLE.
My experience as an educator within the HE context suggests that in actual practice several of the above stages happen simultaneously, given that many of the roles such as the PM, the SME, the developer etc. are performed by one individual. However, due to their different nature and function in the process, it may prove useful to think about them as separate steps that contribute to creating a stimulating online experience.
Sunday, 24 November 2013
Student motivation in blended learning
For example, Ellis, Ginns and Piggott, in their article "E-learning in higher education: some key aspects and their relationships to approaches to study" note that previous scholarship has identified four main factors that may affect student motivation:
- interactivity,
- approaches to e-moderating,
- issues related to course/module design, and
- workload awareness.
In other words, a good blended learning module should be built around interactive activities (which, in turn, should be closely aligned with the aims and learning outcomes of the module) which give students at least some control over their learning. The teacher's role in this context is discussed mainly with regard to feedback and e-moderating in order to help learners reflect on issues under consideration.
The overall course/module design should follow the principles of constructive alignment, and should take into consideration workload requirements placed on students, since research shows that learner motivation and perception of the quality of the e-learning experience are significantly associated with perceptions of appropriate workload (i.e. the amount of online work on top of in-class activities).
The authors present a case study of over 200 undergraduate business students who were required to participate in online activities as part of a module they took. The study showed that students were particularly positive about learning from their peers' contributions. In this sense, online activities (in this case sharing resources and opinions on a discussion board) prove to be well-suited for sharing of alternative perspectives.
Interestingly, students were largely neutral about the impact of the module website design on their experience. At the same time, their responses often revealed concern about the amount of additional workload related to adding e-learning activities to existing face-to-face activities without allowing for the additional time needed to complete them.
The researchers interpret their findings as an evidence of "the importance of careful structuring and design of e-learning activities and resources, especially in relation to the broader student experience" (Ellis et al. 2009: 316). This confirms the importance of careful design of online learning experiences so that the purpose behind using the electronic medium as well as the aims and objectives of the learning event are clear to the learners. This will hopefully result in enhancing their motivation, which should be our main focus in instructional design.
So the take-home point is as follows:
We cannot assume that the mere presence of e-learning activities and materials supporting a face-to-face experience of learning will improve the quality of the experience. How students perceive and use the activities and materials represent one of the keys to unlocking the full value of e-learning in the student learning experience at university.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
The key question in instructional design
What makes learning events successful? To me, the key question in instructional design is WHY. Why should we bother learners with this activity? "Because they need it" is not a sufficient answer from pedagogical point of view.
So, for a successful online learning experience:
So, for a successful online learning experience:
- Decide that you want the learners to achieve. Imagine an ideal learner who has just completed the activity. Verbalise the difference between the start and the end point in his/her learning journey. Start with the end in mind.
- Let the purpose define the technology not the technology guide the purpose. Never start with "oh, there's this new fab technology, and now students will be videorecording their reflective commentaries and sharing with others, how exciting is that!". Well, it is not. Not in the slightest. If you can achieve something using another, more basic technology, do it. Don't go for the glitter just because it is new or fashionable: think what it is about the specific technology that makes it at least useful if not indispensable for the purpose of the experience.
- Do not expect spontaneous participation. There needs to be an objective and direct, immediate significance. Both need to be clearly visible for the participants. As I wrote in another post, where there is no immediate relevance, there is no motivation to undertake the task. Forcefully creating participation is not effective either.
- This means that apart from contributing to an overall purpose of extending knowledge, developing skills and/or deepening understanding, the experience needs to be interesting and worthwhile in itself, meaning that participants need to see both how it will change them at the end before they even start participating, and they how relevant this change is to their overall learning process. In other words, think big, but do not lose sight of smaller personal successes and rewards.
- Communicate the purpose of the experience to participants and provide clear indicators of success: tell participants explicitly how the experience will change them. Telling people why they need to do things is at least as important as, if not more important than, telling them what they need to do.
- And finally, make it personal: participants need to see not just that the experience is beneficial but how it is beneficial for them as individuals on a learning journey.
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
What motivates online students
Existing literature on learning technologies mentions a number of strategies that can increase learner motivation. What most of them have in common is that, on conceptual level, they often boil down to transferring the strategies that have been found to be efficient in conventional classrooms into online learning scenarios.
For example, research shows that such effective strategies typically involve:
- creating a supportive but at the same time challenging learning environment,
- providing choice and flexibility,
- establishing short-term goals,
- offering immediate feedback,
- stimulating student curiosity,
- creating personal and concrete content that students can relate to,
- using relevant, authentic and goal-driven learning tasks as well as
- creating opportunities for interaction, collaboration and personal growth.
In other words, what online educators need to do when designing online learning components is to put themselves in their intended students' shoes and verify to what extent the event being designed can be described as (1) relevant and purposeful (2) stimulating and challenging.
Relevance refers here to the necessity that learners see the purpose of the specific event, that they develop the feeling that without the event their learning process would be significantly impoverished. Therefore it is not enough to create a discussion forum in our VLE-based modules and cross our fingers that learners will start and participate in conversations. Without a clear purpose, learners will see the requirement to post on a forum as yet another burden on their time, which causes frustration and lack of interest. However, if learners become aware of a knowledge gap between them and their peers and that their peers may help them extend their own knowledge or help solve specific problems, there appears an authentic need to communicate and exchange ideas, based on curiosity and genuine interest.
This is further linked to the idea of challenge and stimulation underlying learning design. Learners need to see that something about their knowledge and/or skills changes as a result of participating in the event, that through participation they slowly but surely move upwards. Therefore the event should be neither too easy (and, as educators, we sometimes tend to underestimate our students since it is often the weakest that protest most loudly against more challenging content), nor too difficult: Vygotsky's zone of proximal development quite obviously jumps to mind.
It may therefore be a useful exercise to analyse our existing online learning components, whether in blended learning or fully distance learning modes, and write down, on a piece of paper, where the relevance of and the stimulation in our learning activity come from. We must remember here that the more 'immediate' this relevance is, the more motivating the event will be for our learners. So, if our notes only include generalities and banalities like 'extending knowledge' or 'practising skills', without reference to any immediate benefits for learners, there is a strong case for rethinking the whole usefulness and design of the activity.
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
What does it take to become an instructional designer?
What does it take to become an instructional designer? This is what other people have to say.
The Vignetted Training blog provides an interesting compilation of job descriptions in the area of e-learning instructional design, from a Project Champion and Leader via Creative Writers and Programme Designers to various more technical and programming-oriented roles. Experiencing e-Learning has got at least six articles on the topic, all of them worth perusing.
What seems important is the ability to combine effectively the knowledge of adult learning methodologies and familiarity with available learning technologies to create learning environments that actually facilitate learning, assessment and feedback. This is the reason why instructional design requires training and experience: it is not about introducing the latest e-learning tech fads but rather about carefully designing learning events to match learning objectives and learner needs and characteristics.
Ideal features of web/e-learning instructional designers are discussed in this article on The eLearning Coach blog (an expanded version is available here). In this context, it is very interesting to note that people working in instructional design come from a variety of professional backgrounds and very often do not have a degree in the field.
I tend to agree that while a degree may be of considerable help since it would normally provide strong background in cognitive science, teaching/learning methodologies and use of related technologies, what an instructional designer needs to have in the first place is a passion for learning. She needs to be motivated to make use of available resources to stay abreast of various new developments in the field and constantly develop her knowledge and skills.
The full list of traits and competencies of an e-learning instructional designer, as posted on The eLearning Coach, is as follows:
The successful instructional designer should:
So, how many boxes are we prepared to tick?
The Vignetted Training blog provides an interesting compilation of job descriptions in the area of e-learning instructional design, from a Project Champion and Leader via Creative Writers and Programme Designers to various more technical and programming-oriented roles. Experiencing e-Learning has got at least six articles on the topic, all of them worth perusing.
What seems important is the ability to combine effectively the knowledge of adult learning methodologies and familiarity with available learning technologies to create learning environments that actually facilitate learning, assessment and feedback. This is the reason why instructional design requires training and experience: it is not about introducing the latest e-learning tech fads but rather about carefully designing learning events to match learning objectives and learner needs and characteristics.
Ideal features of web/e-learning instructional designers are discussed in this article on The eLearning Coach blog (an expanded version is available here). In this context, it is very interesting to note that people working in instructional design come from a variety of professional backgrounds and very often do not have a degree in the field.
I tend to agree that while a degree may be of considerable help since it would normally provide strong background in cognitive science, teaching/learning methodologies and use of related technologies, what an instructional designer needs to have in the first place is a passion for learning. She needs to be motivated to make use of available resources to stay abreast of various new developments in the field and constantly develop her knowledge and skills.
The full list of traits and competencies of an e-learning instructional designer, as posted on The eLearning Coach, is as follows:
The successful instructional designer should:
- Conceptually and intuitively understand how people learn.
- Know how to connect with an audience on an emotional level.
- Be capable of imagining oneself as the learner/audience member.
- Be obsessed with learning everything.
- Brainstorm creative treatments and innovative instructional strategies.
- Visualize instructional graphics, the user interface, interactions and the finished product.
- Write effective copy, instructional text, audio scripts and video scripts.
- Meld minds with Subject Matter Experts and team members.
- Know the capabilities of eLearning development tools and software.
- Understand related fields—usability and experience design, information design, communications and new technologies.
So, how many boxes are we prepared to tick?
Friday, 28 December 2012
Let's get organised
And then I came across this website on 30 Recommended Apps for Online Students. Apart from some obvious picks like Dropbox (how was life possible before Dropbox??), Google, Wikipedia and Dictionary.com, and equally obvious though perhaps less known ones like Wolfram Alpha, there was one that seemed to tick all the boxes.
Evernote. Does everything what it says on the tin. You simply download and install the app on all your devices and all content you put in there syncs beautifully across all of them. You can also share your content with others - great for collaborative learning and projects.
Evernote also allows you to organise your content in folders, called 'notebooks', to which you add files, called 'notes'. The notes can be anything from a typed note (something like a Notepad file) through images and audio/video files to websites or 'cuttings' of them. The 'cutting' functionality is absolutely fantastic: it requires installing an add-on, called 'Web Clipper', in all your browsers, and you can copy not just links (like in the normal bookmarking feature) but entire webpages or, even better, specific articles or highlighted parts of them. In this case, you do not have to worry about the page disappearing from the internet: its content is securely saved in your Evernote notepad.
I am still playing around with the app, but so far I am very satisfied with the free product. There is an option of upgrading to a premium version, but I cannot see the value of it at the moment.
I can see many uses of software like Evernote for learners. It can prove great for research purposes, and the sync function is indispensable for today's learners who use various devices and study in various locations.
More info on the app can be found here.
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