Learning Twigs

E-Learning Design Matters (4): Small steps to walk the learning talk

 

 

When it comes to E-Learning, I think one of the most important principles to bear in mind is that the term (or endeavour) needn't have connotations of seismic change, resetting of magnetic poles or the complete re-drawing of continental maps or ocean currents.

 

As with so many other things in life and learning, less can be so much more, and there is no point trying to fix what isn't essentially broken.

 

Let's take two fairly simple examples (true ones, based on recent experience with educational design).

 

Teacher A wants help making his course more flexible, to remove a pre-set schedule to the learning sequence, allow learners to progress at their own pace, get rid of a reliance on the physical textbooks he needs to keep at the school to prevent the learners losing them, and make his administrative life a little easier.

 

What he doesn't want is to lose the atmosphere of his classroom, which is based on practical discussion and examples, a live learning space based on interaction and discussion.

 

This teacher doesn't need access to a Khan-like academy, nor a set of brilliantly designed branching tutorials and 'learning experiences' created using Captivate or Articulate. He doesn't need an amazing VR simulation to get his learners remotely interested in the content or applications, nor access to something like Elluminate or Adobe Connect. He knows how to teach very effectively and has a classroom setting to facilitate that.

 

Teacher A just needs, as his first small steps, access to:

(a) Help learning how to design his practice materials in MS Word so they are clear and professional looking, with boxes for learners to input work

(b) A simple LMS that allows him to organise and deliver these materials

(c) An effective gradebook tool in aforementioned LMS

(d) A classroom with computers and Internet access

 

These changes in place, this teacher's instructional universe changes slightly but significantly. He can still deliver in a personable classroom setting in a way he thinks facilitates the best learning experiences. The E-Learning aspect just ensures that learners can go at their own pace (and, if/when inclined, in their own space), not lose anything, and get grades and feedback more rapidly and saliently.

 

I'm not saying that is the end of this teacher's E-Learning story. It's the start. An effective start.

 

A start he wouldn't have contemplated based on a look at most of what is being written and demonstrated about E-Learning around the web, because most of it is--to him--too glittery and not gold enough.

 

Then there's Teacher B. He wants to simply gather better evidence of what he has been facilitating with his learners in a very lively and discussion-oriented way and make it easier for absent ones to catch up if they didn't happen to be present for certain sessions. Having an applied learning and community projects emphasis, he also doesn't want this evidence to be all 'answers in boxes.' He wants the learners to express themselves, and do so in ways that allow others to listen.

 

The small steps for Teacher A (above) also work very well for Teacher B, with the digital documents being designed more specifically for note-taking during in-class discussions. Pictures of the whiteboard and/or videos of classroom discussions can be gathered and added in an ongoing way so that absent learners can later still--to some degree at least--'experience' a discussion before being prompted to produce something in response to it.

 

But we can also add open assignment upload tools allowing the submission of posters, pictures, videos or verbal recordings - to facilitate more of that multi-modal creativity he seeks to foster in his students.  

 

These might appear to be bigger steps when it comes to E-Learning, but considering the teacher's style, goals and challenges, they aren't big steps away from his existing teaching/learning universe. They just better capture the processes he believes in, in more ways across space and time.

 

And--importantly--when presented and demonstrated to this teacher, they can be shown to be helpful additions to (or adaptations of) what he already does really well.

 

They're not suggesting you need a satellite to have an effective and meaningful conversation with people in the same room.

 

 

;-D

 

 

Interested in (E)Learning Design and want to connect? Find me on LinkedIn 

Related articles

E-Learning and a fresh look at Multiple Choice questions...

E-Learning Design Matters (1): Creating an Experience using Scenery, Sound, Self-Awareness and Scenarios

E-Learning Design Matters (2): Facilitating discovery learning and supporting language/ literacy needs

E-Learning Design Matters (3): Portfolio discovery as a path to more independent learning

Taking your course online? Beware the belittling 'information dump'!

Your eLearning Design Principles compared...

Just how important are well-designed course headers?

 

Above you can see three new headers I just completed for new 2013 courses to be launched on a Moodle platform. After playing around with several different designs, I settled on this one because--for whatever reason--something inside me just suddenly said: "That's it! That's the feel and look we're after for these courses."

 

Looking over them (even now, above this text as I type) in some ways I can't really decide whether I love or loathe this particular design, and that got me thinking about what must seem to many people a rather innocuous issue. How important are good course headers, anyway?

 

And why am I particularly passionate about getting them right, willing to spend any/all hours fiddling and tweaking, discarding and starting them over anew?

 

With E-Learning courses, there is of course a sequence of very important things that have to take place well before the course header design ever factors into the equation. Objectives, mapping, samples and trialling, building in the 'back end' of a course in terms of grading and administration, etc.

 

But for me personally, when you get to that stage when you are going to start actually loading up the materials and tasks into Moodle courses, I have an almost obsessive insistence on not doing anything until those course headers are... just so. I will take as much time as I need to get them right.

 

Perhaps it stems from the experience (a long time ago now) of using Moodle for the first time and applying the basic text editor to create a header title and description, perhaps with some pics thrown in. For want of a more eloquent way of putting it, basically the course page made me get a serious YUCK sensation every time I visited it. It screamed amateur, and no style! And, very importantly, the learners are going to find this thoroughly uninspiring...

 

Or perhaps it's because now, as a learning designer, that sense or feel of a course, starting with immediate first impressions (layout, colours, pictures, textures, titles, wording) really matters a lot more to me. And I want to design and feature course headers that sort of say something to the people who are going to be using that course. Until I can get that right, or very close to right (in my own mind), most other parts of the course development go on hold.

 

The design above (and I'm still not entirely sure I'll go with it yet) represents and attempts to say something.

 

Does it say anything to you?

 

Let's put it to the test: Why do you think I would design course headers in the way I have above? What am I trying to evoke? Who for?

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

Related articles

Moodle Tutorial: Checking grades or activity in group mode

Moodle Tutorial: How to insert a SCORM package (from Articulate) into Moodle and integrate it with the gradebook

Moodle Tutorial: Making and applying nice course header titles/images

Moodle Tutorials: Using Voice Boards and Voice Email tools

Moodle Tutorial: Setting up groups within courses

Your eLearning Design Principles compared...

Taking your course online? Beware the belittling 'information dump'!

Getting interactive in PDF: Using text form fields and embedded audio

Moodle Tutorial: Page design to avoid the 'scroll of death'...

E-Learning and the increasing cost of less education

 

 

When it comes to education and training, to say that e-Learning is all the rage would be to utter one of the understatements of the decade. But there is a bit of an explosion going on at the moment; paradigms and principles are appearing in the field and particular e-Learning roles are becoming increasingly consistent. Job boards are full of exciting new opportunities for people experienced and interested in applying their e-Learning expertise.

 

Whether it's to add to the increasing number of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees offered partly or wholly through the lens of a tablet device or to revolutionize the time and expense associated with training compliance in the training and corporate sectors,  certain patterns are emerging.

 

And, I have to say, not all of these patterns are as progressive or valuable as I think many people in the 'industry' might be trying to tell us they are.

 

Take, for example, the following 'infographic' (I use the term loosely here, because I haven't seen the word 'promographic' used yet):

 

Source: LeanForward.com

 

 

This infographic/promographic is interesting on a variety of levels.

 

First of all, as Edudemic quite rightly points out, the word 'teacher' is very prominently missing in action from this picture.

 

While LeanForward and other e-Learning service providers might be quick to point out that teacher/educator roles are implicit in things like the instructional designer, e-Learning Developer and Quality Assurance sections of the team, basically the teacher (a human being who gets to know the learners and hones and adjusts content and delivery to their learning needs and interests in an ongoing fashion, alongside very important considerations like personalised feedback and motivational interventions) is still -- in terms that matter to me -- very absent from the overall paradigm.

 

What we are essentially looking at in the info/promographic above are criteria for automation, with the whole notion of 'interaction' becoming a series of design-based pathways and button clicks opening a variety of different but wholly pre-loaded layers. There is still some humanity in the educational 'delivery', but it stands at the front and end of the process and is almost wholly removed from direct interaction with learners.

 

Second, to some degree this info/promographic helps to clear up some of the confusion you might be having when it comes to distinguishing between the roles of instructional designer and educational or learning designer. Interestingly, the trend across the job boards at the moment is calls for instructional designers (from corporations and e-learning companies - offering salaries somewhat below what you might expect as a qualified teacher) as opposed to educational or (e)learning designers, or even 'educational technologists' (predominantly advertised by universities and colleges and paying somewhat -- but not too much -- above the rate for a qualified and experienced teacher). 

 

However, where it gets really interesting is the part that relates to cost, in terms of both time and dollars.

 

According to the info/promographic there, effective, interactive e-learning [requires] approximately 200 man hours per instructional hour of enhanced elearning.

 

Quite aside from the fact that these are 'man' hours (which some could argue equate to 0.5 'woman' hours), bear in mind that this figure of 200 hours only includes the average hours for the designated roles on the chart. Senior managers, salespeople, IT servicing, hosting, etc. aren't included in the equation.

 

But let's do the math...

 

If we assume that an e-Learning company charges in the realm of $100 per hour for the design and delivery of its courses (which is about what it would cost to pay the relevant personnel -- even on their less-than-qualified-teacher rates -- and still turn a reasonable profit, it would seem), you're looking at about 2 million dollars for a 100-hour online course.

 

That might sound staggering and unreasonable, but consider companies with 10,000+ employees. To deliver 100 hours of quality F2F training to them all would easily cost more than the figure quoted above. Not to mention how long it would take.

 

No wonder we are hearing so many win-win stories of big companies (providing more training and meeting more compliance goals in shorter timeframes at much reduced costs) and specialist e-Learning providers (making a very nice margin on the courses they produce for 'clients').

 

Perhaps I ought to tip my hat to e-Learning companies who provide 100-hour online courses to companies, built in say 3-6 months, because to do so would require them (based on the math) to hire something like 20-40 staff to build an effective and enhanced elearning course (based on their unqualified terminology) in that sort of timeframe. 

 

However, to me, as an educator who does many if not most of the roles described above as part of my regular teaching and online educational design duties, the 200/1 ratio is staggering.

 

That equation suggests that, for one hour of quality online learning, I would need a month and a half (of weekly teaching hours) to project manage, design, develop and quality assure what I produce for the learners. For a course with 100 nominal (effective and enhanced) hours delivered online, I would need 150 months to effectively design and deliver it -- or about 12 and a half years.

 

And remember, this is for online coursework that is almost entirely pre-loaded, with interactivity being for the most part between mouse-wielders and a ghost in the (learning design) machine. If I attempted to add in the time it takes to check students' work, respond to it personally, motivate the learners, make suggestions and observations, answer queries, etc., we'd be looking at something close to half a lifetime to get an hour of eLearning done.

 

It doesn't take me that long, thank goodness. And while I'm not trying to suggest my e-Learning programs are perfect or beyond improvement, some things in the picture and arithmetic provided by that info/promographic above just don't add up.

 

Do you think the info/promographic is a fair and accurate insight into effective and enhanced e-Learning?

 

Do you think the depiction shows progress and value in education?

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

E-Learning and a fresh look at Multiple Choice questions...

 

 

 

Multiple choice questions are usually applied as part of the horror of exams, but also increasingly in E-Learning courses in the quest to create automation and reduce the need for interaction with teachers.

 

Sorry... The official line is usually that multiple choice questions in eLearning programs allow learners to get much more rapid feedback. Given this is usually "CORRECT" or "INCORRECT" I would agree that it is rapid, but as feedback it is insipid at best.

 

You won't be surprised to hear, then, that I've never been a particularly big fan of the multiple choice technique, whether it was for assessment or general materials design (and given I wrote 20 coursebooks where multiple choice questions were expected every couple of pages or so, I've been there and experienced the pain as much as learners potentially have...).

 

However, as with anything, it is worth looking at things from new angles, and when new tools come along it's useful to explore new opportunities to facilitate better learning. Via the next generation of rapid authoring eLearning tools, the rather archaic multiple choice technique can actually get quite interesting. If we look at it in a new way. If we put a little more effort into it... 

 

The sample shown below, using Articulate Storyline, demonstrates how we might apply multiple choice as more of a learning experience (rather than an exam), with additional explanations (text and voice) from a teacher:

 

 

 

 

This isn't my most ingenious multiple choice question, I must confess, and it was mostly thrown together to create a workable example for you. However, the first thing you might notice about this is how little this resembles your typical multiple choice question in terms of format and presentation (there's none of this A, B, C or D to start with).

 

Also, the information in the video (courtesy Bioengineering Group) that answers the question occurs at about the 01.40 mark in the YouTube track above, and it is from that point that you can see how the multiple choice question branches out and does something rather different.

 

It doesn't simply indicate right or wrong and move on. It sees each answer option as an opportunity to inform the learner how correct or incorrect their selection is, and why, with both pop up text and teacher voice recording to accompany the selection. The feedback is still rapid and automated, but it's certainly richer and multi-modal.

 

If anything, this process sees multiple choice as a chance to explore and facilitate learning rather than pretend to check understanding as part of a test.  

 

Of course, creating multiple choice questions in this fashion takes more time and thought, because you have to factor in richer, more informative feedback as well. For example, here's what the planning/mapping document for the task above looked like:

 

 

I'll admit there's no rocket science going on here, and this is in fact what good F2F classroom teachers will do in an interactive way when they tackle multiple choice questions with groups of learners. 

 

Lazier, less inclined teachers won't bother with the contextualisation or explanation; they'll just say right or wrong and go on to the next question in the book.

 

Lazier, less inclined eLearning programs will do the same thing.

 

In both cases they are capable of doing and being better.

 

 

;-D

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Using book module pages instead of topic/week blocks

 

 

When you're building your Moodle course, you may find that using the standard topic/week blocks on the main page is not the most ideal way to present and apply your content and learning activities. The topic blocks can be handy, but they can comprise a "scroll of death" (note one way to avoid this here) and tend to present like a database and 'list' things like downloads and quizzes and assignments without many real options to contextualise them or present them in a 'fuller' learning sequence.

 

Another option you might like to consider is avoiding the topic/week blocks altogether and using pages in the Book Module application instead. This allows you to present content and learning activities more creatively and with more contextualisation - not as a simple list of downloads.

 

I've provided overviews and ways to build book module content here, but in this case what I'd like to show you is a way to link directly to your book module pages from your main menu/course header... AND still feature downloadable assignments or quizzes and assignment uploads.

 

First of all, look at the link just provided on how you can access and build a book module. Now you want to build a menu bar on your main page in the header section (again, how to do this is demonstrated here). You want to end up with something along the lines of this:

 

 

 

 

Now, the idea is to link from the different parts of that menu to different individual book module pages. So open up the book module you produced and go to one of the pages you want to link to directly from the main page.

When you have that book module page open, highlight the URL as per the example below and copy/control+c:

 

 

 

Return to your main course page and click to edit your course header with the menu you produced. Highlight the part of the menu you want to link to your book module page and then click on the link button:

 

 

 

 

When the link builder opens, click into the Link URL box and paste/control+v the URL of the book module page. Then click on update. 

 

 

 

After you've put in your link and updated/saved changes, that section of your menu (when clicked) should take you directly to your book module page:

 

 

Okay, so that's all fine and dandy... you've linked from a menu to one or more book module pages. But what about things like the downloads, quizzes and assignment activities? Aren't we going to need to open up topic blocks to feature those?

 

Well, sure, but that doesn't mean the learners have to see/use the actual topic blocks, and it doesn't mean we can't feature those downloads/links/quizzes/assignments right inside the actual book module pages.

 

Essentially, what we want to do is build all the downloads and activities into topic blocks, turn the topic blocks themselves completely invisible so the learners won't see them at all, then link to those downloads and activities from the relevant book module pages.

 

The result will be a simple clean interface with a menu on the main page, no topic/week blocks to speak of (as far as the users are concerned), direct links to nicely formatted book module pages and then downloads, quizzes, assignments integrated into the book module pages.

 

 

Here's what I mean (and how to do it!):

 

 

 

 

Hope that gives you some tips and tricks to consider in setting up a slightly different approach to your Moodle course.

 

Check out more Moodle tutorials on this blog.

 

 

;-D

 

 

Taking your course online? Beware the belittling 'information dump'!

 

 

The rush to capitalise on online learning has been with us for a long time now, but across a number of contexts I am involved in currently it would be fair to say the surge has increased significantly. Educational providers and companies appear to be in an almighty rush to get courses online, capitalise on reaching a wider audience of students, and reduce the costly or inconvenient processes associated with F2F learning.

I've always maintained the position that if you are going to run a course online it should be designed from the ground up to fit and maximise learning opportunities according to the characteristics (sometimes of the enhancing nature, other times limiting) of the online environment itself.

Realistically, however, most institutions and companies already have a plethora of training materials that have been developed for F2F programs, and I can see the sense in drawing on (as much as possible) already existing good-quality content as they build their online courses.

 

Content is King, after all?

Yes, but without a Queen you are only providing half a learning realm. If Content is King, then Communication is Queen. Facilitation or interaction might have been better words for it, but it didn't alliterate quite as well... 

Basically, for courses to come across well to learners, you need both good content and effective communication and interaction with that content.

Let's look at it this way. In your F2F offering, would you go into a classroom, distribute a heap of handouts, turn on your powerpoint (setting it to auto slide), play a couple of videos, and throughout sit in the corner with a bag over your head, until the end of the session when you hand each learner a piece of paper with an assignment to be completed?

The answer to that is "of course not!" but in 'translating' F2F courses to online ones, that is exactly what so many programs are basically doing.

The online rendering of the F2F course becomes an information dump where all the actual materials and resources are put on a site or LMS and learners are presumed to be able to study/learn it with barely any interaction with a real teacher at all. 

 

In the title to this post I call this 'belittling', which may sound a tad harsh or over the top, but here's why:

 - It belittles the overall course and the teachers behind it because all of that excellent presentation, discussion, problem solving, elaboration and contextualisation a good trainer provides in a room with people is almost completely cut out of the equation;

- It belittles the learners when they feel like they are being taught by a series of powerpoints and documents rather than qualified, expert human beings who are sensitive to learners' needs;

- It belittles learners who can't cope with the swamping effect of massive amounts of decontexualised information and yet are asked to absorb and analyse it all for one overarching assignment at the end of the unit or course - many will drop out and leave the experience feeling like failures (or that online learning in general is a failure).

 

I'm seeing a lot of online programs that turn out this way. In addition to what I see teachers and programs doing, I've experienced it myself as a student. Online certificate and Masters degree courses in particular would have to be the worst culprits, and I might even go so far as to say that the hasty, slipshod approach to instructional design in these courses is quickly eroding their overall value.

 

So what can you do about it? How can you avoid the belittling information dump when you attempt to move a F2F course across to online delivery?

In essence, the key thing is to find ways (via both design and relevant tools) to provide those teacher and communication aspects we associate with quality F2F coursework within the online environment.

 

Here are some key applications to consider:

 

1. Scenery

This may sound like a strange or unnecessary consideration to be raising in this sort of discussion, but personally I think it becomes extremely important.

When we attend good quality F2F classes, we get to sit in clean, well-appointed classrooms. Hopefully there is comfortable furniture and good classroom layout to create a sense of both space and intimacy. The environment, while comfortingly regular, features variables like the weather outside through windows and the different clothes people wear to class.

The information dump (into template-based LMS) technique is, for many learners, the equivalent of putting learners in a featureless white room without windows, with chairs and tables bolted to the floor in an invariable pattern, and a whiteboard fused to one wall with the same black and white text appearing on it day in and day out.

Online LMS and materials can and should incorporate something in the way of comfortable and variable scenery. We don't want to create a sense of chaos or confusing irregularity, but I think a variety of colours, formats, spatial arrangements and images can make a world of difference. We are not limited by the F2F print-based environment's requirement that materials be limited in page number (and therefore usually crammed) and black and white versus colour, so just reapplying those materials in an online interface is both lacking in imagination and missing an opportunity to liven up the whole experience.   

 

2. Pacing

When you present and interact with material and activities in a classroom, you plan them into sessions and often some sort of schedule. It's important to do the same thing with your material in the online environment, by organising the course into units or study sessions that work through particular objectives.

As a general rule of thumb, with online courses I always try to feature content and activities in units that would take the average learner about 60-90 minutes to complete. This maintains a rough correlation with classroom timing, but also gives learners a feeling of accomplishment as they manage to complete things from one session to the next. When you don't have the womb of a classroom and a teacher, that sense of progress (and 'manageability') can be really crucial.

In addition, professional presenters often feature a menu or overview of what they are going to cover in a session along with the overall goals or objective. This element can also be featured in our online delivery. 

 

3. Teacher presentation

This pretty much vanishes in the information dump online course approach, unless you consider extensive written documents as somehow a reasonable equivalent to having a person talking to you. Personally I think the notion of having a real human being deliver content, activities and feedback is really crucial to almost all learners, and it's worth finding and applying ways to make this happen in the online environment as often as possible.

For synchronous application, using something like Eluminate or Adobe Connect can replicate the live interactive lecture/tutorial experience. For asynchronous (and here we get certain advantages in terms of time/scheduling and opportunities to re-watch and absorb at our own pace), the most useful tool out there is screencasting. You can present your Powerpoints (or any other kind of material), pace them and talk through/around them just as you would in a room with people. Learners get to hear their teacher and see what they are pointing out or demonstrating. It may be a recording, but some 'live' training is pretty similar to a recording (!) and in any case it's still a human being, hopefully one who knows his/her stuff, and it helps to keep the humanity in the course.

 

4. Checking understanding

Okay, not all 'live' teachers/lecturers/trainers do this very well all the time, but good ones do: they pause at appropriate moments in delivery to check learners are understanding or getting the point. They do this in a way that ensures learners are on track and effectively grasping what they are learning, well before any major project or formal assessment kicks in.

This is where so many online courses using the 'information dump + assignment' really fall down (dragging many learners with them). Very few courses offer teachers who can respond promptly to calls for clarification or other questions (I've waited literally weeks to get a response about something that completely held up my progress), and the result is a very uncomfortable feeling of flying blind for what can be extended periods of time.

Other than the very real requirement (in my opinion) that things like forums are utilised and checked/responded to daily by course teachers, eLearning authoring tools out there now like Camtasia Studio, Articulate, Captivate, iSpring (etc.) allow you to build in a variety of quizzes and interactive checking devices at regular points in your content to help teachers and learners check and see if they are actually 'getting it' as each element in the course progresses. They can be formulated in ways that reflect teachers' experience with content elements or problems in live F2F settings, and they can often be automated to provide instant feedback. They can even incorporate those teacher presentation elements I mentioned in (3) above: the prompts can feature screencast or audio recordings of teachers comments to indicate why something is correct or why/how something isn't. 

 

5. Discovering rather than 'receiving' information

In a F2F interactive setting, good teachers will provide opportunities to 'discover' information or theory rather than just presenting it and asking students to 'stick it in their heads'. They will present problems or hypothetical situations which learners then interact with and come up with conclusions for. As the learners are steered toward the best conclusions, they discover and build new knowledge.

The online information dump excludes this opportunity to discover content and reinforces an overwhelmingly transmissive mode of teaching/learning. It doesn't have to be that way.

As with the checking understanding consideration mentioned above, eLearning authoring tools and quiz functions in various LMS offerings can be applied in ways that allow learners to build knowledge rather than simply read and remember it. They can experiment with cause-effect, matching and procedural sequencing activities that result in new and correct tables of information, with (as described above) instant feedback and reasoning from teachers as to the how/why. The learners have built/discovered this themselves, via our careful instructional design, and this leads to better uptake as well as motivation.

 

6. Activity variety

The effective F2F teacher or trainer knows that variety is the spice of life and it is important to 'mix it up' in the classroom in terms of activities and methods. There will be often be games or roleplays, occasionally more light-hearted activities oriented around humour.

By just sticking with the documented course information, an online offering will inevitably become as boring as all hell. We wouldn't do this to classroom-based learners so I don't see why we should do it to them in the online environment either.

Interactive games and roleplays and lighthearted activities can be featured in online coursework. While I recognise that classroom and online are different mediums and we need to be careful not to look like we are filling up an online course with over-frivolous or less-than-strictly-professional ('by the book') activities, more creative and alternative applications are possible and ought to be explored.

Even things as simple as a 'riddle of the day' feature (relevant to the course or occupations involved), a 'Guess who?' challenge, an interactive crossword, or a webquest treasure hunt - they can really help to mix things up in the online learning environment - and they can be just as educational as anything else we happen to be featuring.

 

7. Customisation and Personalisation

Good F2F instructors have a keen sense of audience and are very adept at making course content and activities orient themselves to the specific situations and needs of the learners in the room. Information dump techniques remove this opportunity and result in a 'cold' core of what feels to many learners like decontextualised course content that may or may not end up being relevant to them personally.

If we take that awareness of audience and apply it to our online course, we can predict and cater to a variety of different learner situations, perspectives and learning preferences. We can provide oral as well as written versions of key information; we can create different versions or applications of central theories and apply them to different occupations or settings. There can be regular adjuncts where the learners choose from a variety of settings or situations to apply certain theories or skills and hence make it more relevant to themselves. It means of course that there may need to be several or dozens (or more) of layers underlying the core content, but these layers are provided by the effective F2F trainer in a classroom and there is no reason why they shouldn't be facilitated in the online version of the course as well.

Some people may be quick to point out that more 'regular' courses featuring a core of information often then apply assignments that invite the learners to contextualise and personalise what they have learned. That's true, but it's not enough for me. This adaptability can be built into the course at several stages and not just the assessable assignments; this will help to keep my learners motivated with a sense of relevance and practicality.

Okay, so not all courses applied/offered online can effectively predict the specific audience(s) they will be catering to in advance. At the very least we can provide a variety of options which allow learners to get something reasonably close to their specific profession or situation. At the most, we can apply my next principle... 

 

8. The 'emergent' course

While it's true there are many F2F courses which are as rigid and pre-set as stone, I wouldn't characterise these as being examples of best practice. Teachers and coordinators of good programs will often make changes to sequence and content as they get to know the learners and their specific needs better. They will be flexible while continuing to work towards a set of (often broad but sometimes highly specific) predefined or compulspory learning objectives.

The online version of the course can incorporate this flexibility and adaptability as well. It just means that teachers or managers have the ability (and permission) to adjust the course content and activities while the course is actually 'in play'. Units may be held back, added, cut or adapted as the course progresses. We might even (heaven forbid!) invite the learners to participate in this ongoing editing of the course.

It does mean that, to some extent, every application of the overall online course will end up slightly or majorly different. If we are genuinely catering to the learners involved in each application of the course, I really don't see why this ought to be an issue. It generally isn't in progressive F2F courses.

 

9. Getting social

We meet new classmates in F2F learning settings. We often interact with them in the classroom, but may also choose to develop closer relationships outside the classroom as well.

Information dumping techniques either completely ignore the social/interactive notion of learning or rely on auto-inclusions in LMS like forums. The forum function in online courses is usually vastly under-utilised or else pushed in a way that makes it feel completely contrived and unnecessary. It may also end up too wide or slow or poorly organised for people to see much use in it.

We have more tools and integrations at our disposal these days (beyond the good old forum) and it makes sense to try and make the most of them to facilitate learner socialisation if and when they want to engage in it. For example, a live chat feature would be a good inclusion to each and every course page (with the option of turning it on or off). Each unit could link to a Twitter feed with a specific hashtag, and/or a course Facebook page. The important things to consider with these features are that (1) many of our learners are now very familiar with them, (2) they are easier than ever to set up, and (3) they facilitate more in the way of easy live/chatty interaction compared to the slow or static pace of a forum.

Basically, it's possible to have our learners see who else is 'in the classroom' with them, and for them to lean over and chat about what they're learning at that time, how they're feeling, or whatever they like (hopefully within the bounds of polite interaction). They get this in F2F environments and it makes sense to provide it (for those who want it) in the online environment as well.

 

10. An end to 'evidence of learning = read + write'

Progressive F2F courses have gradually opened up assessment options so that learners can demonstrate their new knowledge or competence in a variety of ways. They may write up an assignment, create and apply something, do a presentation of some sort, or a combination of two or more of these and other options.

The online information dumping technique almost invariably limits the learning process to reading a lot of text and then writing answers to questions (or an extended essay of some sort) to gather evidence of learning for assessment. And, again almost invariably, this written assessment work is created for an audience of 1.1-1.8 (the learner him/herself and whatever portion of the the written work the teacher/assessor actually ends up reading).

At least the information dump approach is relatively fair: it expects learner output/demonstration of knowledge to be as closed, rigidly formatted, unimaginative and often as essentially one-dimensional as the input materials themselves...

But again, we are missing opportunities here. Learners should be allowed to explore a variety of other assessment modes, including things like building real websites, blogs or Facebook pages; screencasting a presentation they have made; putting together a podcast; building a dyanmic e-portfolio, etc.

 

 

So there are 10 ways I think we can be more creative and productive with our course development and delivery when moving from a F2F classroom environment to more of a fully online one, avoiding a simple 'information dump' based on core print-based materials. 

 

What might be your number 11 (and 12, 13, 14, etc.?) for this sort of list?

 

 

;-D

 

 

Interpreting client requirements: the challenge full of potential for eLearning instructional designers

 

 

It's a common question when it comes to things like key selection criteria statements or actual job interviews: can you demonstrate your ability to interpret and meet client requirements?

 

This is interesting and challenging enough to tackle from any service-oriented profession, but for the instructional designer (and the designer involved with eLearning technologies in particular) it can get really interesting.

 

Based on my experience, "client requirements" for eLearning have almost always started out as really vague requests or directives. This can be in part attributed to a 'print-based' mentality about curriculum and learning resources, and/or a genuine lack of awareness about what eLearning can offer (and when, where, why and how). 

 

It would be fair to say that, if followed or catered to literally, many of these initial requirements would result in very simple learning products that missed many if not most of the educational potential of learning technologies.

 

There is a challenge in this, but also a wealth of opportunities for the astute instructional designer.

 

By way of example, the chart below presents a selection of projects I've worked on for clients, showing what I was initially asked to do/provide and alongside that what actually eventuated in the eLearning product(s): 

 

 

Client	Client’s Initial Requirements	Final Instructional Design
1	“More speaking practice (outside official class time)”	Fully online interface with weekly sample topics, sample responses, online asynchronous recording facility (with in-built tool for practice/rehearsal) with oral (recorded) feedback from teachers
2	“Online TOEFL Practice”	As per (1) above, but supplemented with a range of actual test tasks, a rich selection of screencasts demonstrating strategies and tips for better performance, and a recording interface where all recordings and feedback could be shared across the student cohort for a richer range of examples and models of ‘best practice.’
3	“TOEIC Speaking Practice”	As per (1) and (2) above, but in addition to ‘standard’ TOEIC speaking practice tests, learners provided with targeted contextualised tests that emphasized situations and problems typical of their particular business setting (in this case Heavy Industries)
4	“Academic composition practice”	Fully online system with an added course requirement that learners submit drafts in a shared forum-style space and provide feedback and advice on each other’s essays (in addition to the teacher). Instant messaging and private messaging facilitated in the interface. By the end of the course most learners confessed the sharing/feedback requirement and messaging tools made a big difference to their confidence and ability with composition skills.
5	“Get more of our literacy materials online”	Completely new curriculum devised and applied, which maximised the benefits of an online delivery model: video in addition to reading texts; more topics and input materials (with learner choice); drafting processes and faster feedback; a DIPA(CT) approach applied; new and more informative grading scales.
	“Help teachers produce some videos to help students master CAD – improve 1-1 teacher-student time”	A massive selection of screencasts, well-sequenced, applied with assignment-style worksheets applying the DIPA(CT) model; facilitation of learner independence; much more efficient grading, tracking and feedback system applied.
6	“Design content and templates for writers of skills-based English, to be used in an online system”	Six skills streams identified and catered to via four slots of activity types each; content prototypes developed as actual interactive online material to provide very specific examples for IT staff; templates for writers incorporate screencasts showing exactly how to use each one.

 

 

As you can see, the initial requirements start out quite vague, or else very targeted and limited. I think the real challenge to the instructional designer is that open field that follows the very broad or limited request; to ask the right questions, present the most relevant options, and demonstrate them without (1) losing track of that initial idea or request, and (2) losing the client in what may sound to her/him like a whole heap of edtech mumbo-jumbo.

 

Clients often see eLearning as a way to put a series of books online, or to cut back on teaching hours, or to just be able to say they are actually doing eLearning (because that's what everyone else is trying to do). 

 

Can they, however, see the opportunities for:

 

- More/better engagement?

- More independent and confident learning?

- The provision of more learner choice?

- More specific contextualisation?

- Catering to different learning styles and preferences?

- Richer learning input and more interactive activity types?

- Collaborative and cooperative learning?

- More effective (or different) use of actual classroom time?

- More efficient use of teachers' time (especially for grading and administration)?

- Delivering learning to students using a medium they are comfortable with and (in many cases) may even expect?

- Creating programs that are not limited by geography or time zones?

 

 

This is the potential our clients need to be able to see, but we need to be able to show them without swamping them or 'lecturing' them. Or raising their expectations to unreasonable levels, for that matter. Just as clients may underestimate the opportunities inherent to eLearning, some can fall for the trap of thinking it can solve everything and put a lot more money in their pockets with very little investment, effort or patience.

 

However, generally speaking I think good instructional designers have a lot of potential to exceed clients' initial expectations, whether they are business owners, managers or the students themselves. Those first requirements or questions from a client are often both a call for help and the opening of the opportunity oyster.

 

I think this is what the eLearning specialist and instructional designer needs to aspire to.

To listen carefully, think beyond the narrow tunnel of those initial requests, enjoy the creative process, and know you have a very realistic chance of pleasing people.

Because when it comes to eLearning you know what (usually/often) works, for whom, how, and why.

 

 

;-D

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: How to insert a SCORM package (from Articulate) into Moodle and integrate it with the gradebook

 

 

How do you embed presentation and quiz material made in eLearning authoring tools like Articulate, Wimba, Captivate, iSpring, etc. into Moodle?

How does the SCORM format work?

How can you integrate it all with your Moodle gradebook?

 

Using Articulate Storyline as the example authoring tool, this tutorial shows you how to tackle all of these challenges:

 

 

 

Hope this helps - and don't forget the full menu of Moodle tutorials on the blog here.

 

 

;-D

 

 

Your eLearning Design Principles compared...

 

 

This is an interesting little activity to try out if you are an educator involved in eLearning design.

 

Grab a piece of paper and pen (or a new browser) and jot down what you believe are your top 10 eLearning design principles. These should be the beliefs and goals that drive your eLearning design process and eventual implementation.

 

Got 10?

 

Great. Now watch the video below and note down the 10 eLearning principles presented:

 

 

 

 

This video was made by Kineo, a pretty amazing eLearning solutions provider with a very impressive list of large corporate clients who appear to be more than happy with Kineo's services.

 

So how do Kineo's eLearning Design Principles compare with yours?

 

Anything you and Kineo have in common?

How might you explain the differences? For example, to what extent could context, audience, teachers and budgets play a role?

 

 

I'd be interested to read what you come up with!

 

 

;-D

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Making and applying nice course header titles/images

 

 

Getting a course started in Moodle requires content and design, of course, but it helps to have a nice title/image header right there at the top of the page. This creates a clear professional feel for the course right from the outset.

 

You can create nice course headers in a variety of ways, but using the text editing and image insert tools available in Moodle probably isn't one of the best ways to get a nice looking result. The method demonstrated here involves creating it in MS Word first, generating a JPEG image, and then inserting it into your course header.

 

 

 

 

Check out more Moodle Tutorials from English Raven here.

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

10 Tips for Effective Digital Instructional Design

 

 

Okay, so there are definitely more than 10 things to be considered in instructional design, and not all of them are limited to just the digital mode, but for what it's worth here is what I consider to be a short list of some of the more important things you might like to think about...

 

 

1. Consider the potential of downloadable lesson 'kits' rather than lessons spread across web pages. The Internet and LMSs don't always work as well as they should, but material that can be stored in a hard drive is only at risk in the case of power blackouts.

 

2. Master PDF creation and formatting for accessibility, presentation, control, interactive features and consider the merits of the 'one page' lesson - everything on or linking out from a central screen of tasks, all of which are visible from the one interface.

 

3. Get colourful: you're not paying for print outs or photocopies, and going with plain white space and black text is like sticking a tradtional printed workbook onto the front of a monitor. You can bring life and vibrancy to your digital material in ways you never could when limited to ink marks on slivers of tree.

 

4. Include relevant course details to help with audit situations but also out of basic respect for your learners in letting them know how lesson activities link directly to their course requirements. It's nice to know what you are doing is relevant to your course aims, who made the material, when, and why.

 

5. Think about layout and organisation, use of sections and colouring, alignment. Sloppy or amateurish-looking formatting can create a similar impression of our teaching quality. It needs to look and feel professional, but also needs to be organised for accessibility and quick guidance.

 

6. Nothing beats video for engaging input. But like any other content, there is good/effective video and there is poor video. Use it as much as you can, but take the time to source excellent and appropriate content.

 

7. Think about the tasks you are including, how you are presenting them, and whether the sequence allows learners to engage with them according to their own preferences.

 

8. Apply both consistency and variety in both presentation and task types. Rhythm and routine help to make learners feel safe and comfortable, but there needs to be 'freshness' (and fresh challenges) with each lesson.

 

9. Whenever and however possible, try to faciliate personalisation and specialisation so that lesson material can target or incorporate individual learners' specific interests, occupations, backgrounds, etc.

 

10. Facilitate cumulative skill and knowledge building. A skill in lesson 3 should help the learners do a task in lesson 5, for example. What the learners know based on lesson 4 could help the learners extend their knowledge in lesson 6.

 

 

The video tutorial below demonstrates all 10 of these tips or principles in action with actual materials that were recently developed for a course unit on sustainable work practices:

 

 

 

Feel free to agree/disagree or add/subtract to the list!

 

If you're looking for more design tips and demonstrations, you might like to also check out the materials design masterclass series I made for people looking to develop their MS Word and PDF application skills, and/or the extensive list of Moodle tutorials I've put together here on the blog.  

 

Happy designing!

 

;-D

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorials: Using Voice Boards and Voice Email tools

 

 

 

Just in case you weren't already aware of it, there are some pretty nifty tools available in Moodle (via Wimba) that allow you to draw on real voices rather than just text-based activities. Two of these are Voice Boards and Voice Emails.

 

The first tutorial below demonstrates how to set up and use Voice Boards in your Moodle courses:

 

 

 

And for something with more in the way of privacy and 1-1 options, you might like to also check out the Voice Email tool:

 

 

 

 

For more Moodle tutorials from English Raven, check out the entire list here!

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

 

 

Getting interactive in PDF: Using text form fields and embedded audio

PDF is a great way to secure your documents, but -- if you have Adobe Acrobat -- there are also a number of ways you can make your materials more interactive and adaptable in PDF format. In turn, this makes PDF a far more versatile format for learning resources to be uploaded into LMS set ups like Moodle - where they can become stand-alone assignments to be downloaded and completed without needing access to the web.

 

The tutorial below demonstrates how to embed text form fields into your PDF document so that learners can submit answers to questions:

 

 

 

You might also like to look at embedding audio help files into your PDF resource so that learners cna get additional instructions, tips or advice on how to do something:

 

 

 

I've also demonstrated in the past how to do this audio file embedding with materials for younger learners as well (and as part of generating a resource that might be presented for the class on a beam projector, for example):

 

 

 

 

Hope these give you some ideas on how to go those extra yards with your PDF documents to help make them more multi-modal resources with more chances of teaching/learning interaction.

 

 

;-)

 

 

Exploring a DIPA(CT) approach to teaching and learning

 

 

This is an online workshop resource I have put together, both as support/review material for attendees at a recent PD session I did at Gordon TAFE but also for people completely fresh to the notion of DIPA(CT) who might like to utilize the tutorials below for some personal professional development or just exploration of ideas.

 

DIPA(CT) is a personal and rather simple approach to teaching and learning, and while the examples provided here are meant for a vocational education context I daresay that the basic principles are at least reasonably relevant to almost all subjects and teaching/learning contexts.

 

For the sake of convenience, I have broken the workshop into separate parts, in order (though of course you may like to pay more attention to some over others).

 

 

 

PART 1: Introduction and Warm Up

 

 

 

 

PART 2: DIPA(CT) Defined and Explained

 

 

 

 

PART 3: DIPA(CT) in Action - Manufacturing Technology

 

 

 

 

PART 4: DIPA(CT) in Action - Applied Literacy

 

 

 

 

PART 5: DIPA(CT) in Action - Carpentry

 

 

 

 

PART 6: Wrap Up and Final Reflections

 

 

The two references at the end there are to this actual blog post and the extensive step-by-step tutorial I made some time back for screencasting - available here.

 

 

 

Hope DIPA(CT) gave you a few things to think about... thanks for watching (and thinking), if you did! And don't be shy in dropping any feedback or impressions in the comments section below.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Checking grades or activity in group mode

 

 

In a previous post I demonstrated how to set up basic groups within Moodle courses, and mentioned that one of the advantages of this set up was that it becomes easier to check or track grades and activity according to specific groups (for example, individual classes of learners) rather than having to wade through the results of an entire cohort.

 

When you go to check grades or progress, two of the most common routes are via the grader report or user report. Here's how you can check results for designated groups for both of those report settings:

 

 

 

 

Just note that if you're having trouble seeing those group options in the reports (drop down menus), you may need to go back and do a tiny bit of tinkering with your overall course settings:

 

Settings > Edit Settings > Groups > Group Mode > Visible Groups

 

 

Trust me, when you're doing a lot of checking and tracking across a number of different classes, having them set up in groups and accessing the grader or user reports in this way can save you a lot of time.

 

Hope you found this useful, and if you're after more Moodle tutorials the entire bank is here.

 

 

;-)

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Setting up groups within courses

 

 

If you have a course with a lot of users enrolled, you might like to consider setting up groups within the course. You could do this to designate class groupings, levels or other groupings according to your needs.

 

There can be a lot of benefits of having groups within the course; key among them to my thinking are (1) the capacity to monitor and check grades by group rather than entire cohort, (2) allocating specific tasks or content to particular groups (facilitating customisation), and (3) setting up collaborative tasks or projects to be handled in designated groups.

 

Here are the basics involved in sorting your enrolled users into specific groups in Moodle:

 

 

 

In a follow up tutorial I'll be demonstrating how to quickly check grades and activity by group rather than whole cohort, and other practical uses for group settings will be added in due course.

 

You can see all of my Moodle tutorials at the central resource page here.

 

 

;-)

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Basic unit/topic design options

 

 

 

You've entered your Moodle page for the first time, and managed to put a basic header image at the top of the course...

 

Now, what to do with all those blank unit/topic blocks?

 

There are plenty of ways you might go about utilising these topic blocks to organise, sequence and present your course content and activities. It depends a lot on the nature of the course and what is involved, but here are a couple of examples and options that might help you at the initial stage:

 

See this in larger/higher definition here

 

 

These examples are fairly basic for now, so don't be afraid to experiment and play around with how you utilise the unit/topic blocks.

 

Check out my Moodle Tutorials page for other demonstrations on what you can do with unit/topic blocks, like adding content and 'decorating' them to look more appealing on the course page.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorials: Featuring 'offline' activities or assignments in your course and gradebook

 

 

 

I think one of the important things to come to grips with when it comes to Moodle is that it is an LMS -- a Learning Management System, and not (by default) limited to being only a system for online tasks and grades for those tasks.

 

As we all know, not all learning happens (or needs to happen) in front of a computer. But that doesn't mean Moodle can't be your central gathering place for all task work and assessments, irrespective of the context or objectives they involve.

 

You can, for example, use the Moodle LMS as a place to feature introductions and instructions for offline, more hands-on or F2F interactive tasks, as well as incorporate assessment for those tasks in the one central Moodle gradebook.

 

One way to do that simply and conveniently is to set up a section in your gradebook for 'offline' tasks (named however it suits your course -- for example: fitness tasks, class discussions, onsite work tasks, etc.) and utilise the 'offline assignment' tool:

 

See a larger, higher definition version of this video here.

 

 

That's all fine and dandy, but you might like to go a bit further than that...

 

Even though a task happens offline, there are ways we can facilitate reflection and deeper awareness of those tasks here in the Moodle interface (encouraging more integration of LLN, for example), AND provide crucial evidence of those offline, F2F, practical, action-based tasks.

 

To do that, the 'offline assignment' activity tool probably isn't our best option, because (based on the format of that tool) the learners can't contribute any sort of follow up work to the task and we can't attach any files of our own.

 

Using the 'upload a file' assignment activity, we can document and work around offline tasks to include valuable follow up and consolidation for the learners and provide specific evidence of task performance or completion via photographs, audio or video.

Here's one way this can be done in Moodle:

 

See a larger, higher definition version of this video here.

 

 

Basically, using Moodle task and assessment tools, you can still create a sort of 'one stop shop' for all the important documentation and assessment information, but do so in ways that allow you to document and track a huge range of both online and offline tasks.

 

Great for centralised tracking... whether you're a learner, a teacher, a program manager, or an auditor.

 

 

;-)

 

 

See the entire list of English Raven Moodle Tutorials

                         

Reading and Writing for Practical Purposes: The Work Resume

 

 

 

Probably one of THE most practical/applied literacy tasks for late teen students irrespective of which course they happen to be doing: the resume.

 

Here's how we approach it at GTEC for Intermediate level VCAL Literacy (this is the unit walk through for students):

 

 

 

We have some follow up/integrated activities for Oral Communication as well, addressing interview skills.

 

Sharing the ideas; hope they help!

 

;-)

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Creating and using a 'unit walk through' resource

 

 

 

Using Moodle to complete coursework isn't always a walk in the park for a lot of learners, depending on the course content, design and relative online learning experience of your students.

One way to facilitate understanding of where to go, what to do (and how) for your learners is to create a unit walk through resource for each Moodle unit/topic block. You could do this with text and images, but I've found that an audio-visual resource like a screencast gets things across in the most dynamic and effective way.

 

Here is an example unit walk through video I've just finished as part of a new Moodle course:

 

 

 

That's fine, and perhaps that's all the learners will need. We could create a link to this video at the start of the unit it applies to, perhaps supported via a direct email with the same link.

 

However, I've generally found it's better to go a bit further than just showing an instructional video. I feature my unit walk through as an introductory 'assignment' that learners need to complete before engaging with the main unit materials. They need to take notes about the video to help them pay more specific attention to it, and to show me just what each learner has understood about what they need to do in the unit.

This process can help answer a lot of questions or misunderstandings before learners get into their coursework, and it helps me target the students who need more specific or hands on assistance.

 

Here's how I do that in Moodle using the Lesson -> Essay Question function (basically, access to the unit walk through an embedded video and some prompts in 'essay mode' for the learners to take notes or ask questions in response to:

 

 

 

If you're curious about the screencast angle here, I've got an extensive tutorial on how to make screencasts elsewhere on this blog.

 

Good luck with it!

 

;-)

 

 

All of my Moodle tutorials are available in an ongoing bank of resources featured here.

 

 

An applied literacy curriculum (Part 1)

 

 

 

Our Year 11 Applied Learning students have completed their intensive foundation literacy course in Term 1 (mainly geared around some literacy basics and integrated with tool and workplace safety considerations) and next week many of them will commence the next (Intermediate VCAL) level.

 

Based on a revision of what we did with students last year, and bearing in mind we teach 16-17 year old learners preparing for trades, here's what we have in store for them...

 

 

 

 

The learners read a complex text written by a teacher, talking about a particular skill or attribute he has. The text explores where the skill might have developed from (in childhood experience), how it helps in professional life now, and how it might be developed further for different future applications.

Following a range of comprehension tasks targeting purpose, main ideas, supporting ideas and effectiveness of the text, students then compare this text with one they did themselves last term listing their own skills and attributes (with the comparison being more about how the texts are organised and presented).

Students then write their own 'in the know' texts, talking about a particular skill or attribute of their own.

 

 

 

 

The learners work their way through an assignment that helps them identify all sorts of important information about their given trade and regulations governing apprenticeships. It features everything from trade-specific union details to government regulations and minimum wages for different years of an apprenticeship.

Based on what they find and read, the learners compile a detailed report to present the important information.

 

 

 

 

The learners read an advisory/instructional text from one of the country's most popular recruitment websites explaining what should go into resumes for school leavers. After demonstrating a comprehension of the text, they compare it to an actual resume made for an apprentice electrician and see how and where the resume applies the specific advice from the article.

Of course, from there the learners go ahead and create their own work resume.

 

 

 

 

The learners read two very different texts that both present information about they key (pun intended) tools for locksmithing. They complete comprehension questions and a detailed comparison of the two texts (particularly in terms of which would be more useful for a beginner level locksmith apprentice).

Following that the learners create their own 'tools of the trade' texts, targeting 4-6 of the most important tools they think new apprentices need to know about for their own trades and emulating the more informative of the two texts they read about locksmithing tools.

 

 

 

 

The learners read two different texts explaining how to do or build something. They demonstrate comprehension of both texts and compare them in detail, commenting on their effectiveness.

Based on the text they found to be clearest or most useful, the students then create their own how to texts, based on a process or outcome common to their personal interest or work experience to date.

 

 

 

 

The learners compose work journals based on a period of work placement, integrated with material they already put together for their Work Related Skills modules.

Following this they then look at two fellow students' work journals and complete some comprehension and comparison/effectiveness notes. This, in addition to comprising reading comprehension outcomes, becomes a feedback process for students to adapt and improve their own initial work journal drafts.

 

 

 

 

The learners read an extensive comment made on a forum about the topic of bullying apprentices at work (in this case an older experienced tradesperson reflecting on his own experiences and lambasting some of the comments from younger people on the forum claiming that bullying is just fun and games). They then compare this with a recent report on a news website explaining new laws and punishments for workplace bullying in the wake of the suicide of a young person who was bullied mercilessly at work.

Based on what they have read and explored, the learners are asked to respond to the question: Should workplace bullies be sent to jail? They have the option of completing an argumentative or discursive piece on the topic.

 

 

 

 

Students read a text from a newspaper about the issue of Lewis Hamilton being fined for 'hooning' and having his car impounded while in Melbourne for the Grand Prix a couple of years ago. In the same article, Mark Webber is quoted as saying that his own state (Victoria) has become a 'nanny state'.

This text is explored and compared to two other texts: one about a journalist who lost his own brother at a young age from a road accident (in response to Mark Webber's comment and quoting all sorts of statistics based on Victoria's TAC campaigns), and an obituary article written by our school's own principal following the horrific road accident death of one of our own students (weeks after he obtained his license) a couple of years ago.

Based on these readings, learners are then invited to respond to the question: Do we in fact live in a 'nanny state' in Victoria, when it comes to road rules?

 

 

 

All of this material is facilitated through our Moodle LMS, with both in-class and distance mode options available. And of course, in support of the 'emergent' curriculum, learners are free to replace any or all of these units with ones of their own design -- so long as they can show that they are meeting the VCAL Literacy outcomes at Intermediate level.

 

Later I'll present Part 2 of this applied literacy curriculum business and try to demonstrate how we do things at Year 12 level. Very different!

 

 

;-)

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Formatting background colours for table cells

 

 

This is a bit of a Moodle tutorial 'by request'... As part of a kind comment on the post and tutorial I featured about making navigation menus to avoid the so-called 'scroll of death' in Moodle (available here), Julie asked me how I managed to format background colours for individual table cells as opposed to having the whole table change to one background colour.

 

The solution/process is demonstrated below, Julie!

 

 

 

Hope that helped.

 

[Full menu of Moodle tutorials on this blog here]

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: How to set up a basic unit/topic block and add resources and assignments

 

 

I made this tutorial some time ago and for some reason neglected to upload it here on the blog. It covers some of the important basics for someone new to Moodle in terms of just working with topic/unit blocks to start featuring and organising content and assignments within a given course unit or focus. In many ways this draws together a number of other targeted tutorials I've already made (you'll see the relevant links below), but in this case the whole process of creating a unit is built and presented in one sequence.

 

What you will see here includes:

 

• Making a simple name or title for a unit/topic block
• Adding different learning resources to that particular unit (in this case a video file and a worksheet in MS Word format) -> Also demonstrated here
• Including an assignment upload requirement -> Also shown here
• Demonstration of how students can go about uploading their assignments
• Finding the uploaded assignments students have submitted -> Shown in detail here
• 'Dressing up' the unit/topic block with a picture/icon and some introductory information (this is also featured in a targeted tutorial located here)

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of my Moodle tutorials are now gathered in one place here, so hope you find something useful there!

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorials: Gradebook set up basics

 

Here are a couple of new Moodle tutorials I've just finished putting together for colleagues. They cover some of the basics of setting up and organising gradebook items -- including some of the confusion and mistakes you may need to deal with -- for a Moodle course (Part 1), and then how to upload assignments that can align with your gradebook categories, or create independent grade items not linked to specific uploads or tasks on the course page (Part 2).

 

Part 1:

 

 

 

Part 2:

 

 

 

For more of my Moodle tutorials, check out the posts here.

 

;-)

 

 

VCAL Senior Literacy: Writing for Practical Purposes (Outcome Overview)

 

 

My Year 12 students are moving along to this outcome now in their VCAL Senior Literacy coursework, and I thought I would share the outcome overview video I have prepared for them as part of their Moodle course.

 

 

 

Based on the video, my students need to prepare a detailed report explaining, in a logical and concise way, what writing for practical purposes involves.

 

Sort of like writing about writing for practical purposes, for practical purposes...

 

 

;-)

 

 

The power of genuine integration

 

 

 

One of the great things about being a literacy teacher in a vocational/applied learning program is the regular opportunity to integrate literacy tasks with real world applications, but also to use literacy to reinforce knowledge or awareness about important considerations students really need take on board.

 

The example above shows how we have taken our students' Practical Placement Invoice Book -- a really crucial piece of documentation for our students' workplace experience blocks -- and reinforced students' awareness of it via an applied literacy task.

 

Leesa, our eminently talented ILO (Industry Liaison Officer), made good use of our GTEC team PD sessions last December (on how to make screencasts) to produce this very clear and professional screencast demonstrating how to complete the practical placement invoices and why various sections were really important:

 

 

 

[Note: Personal details in the screencast version of the form are purely fictional examples!]

 

This follows up from in-class demonstrations and instructions and one-on-one checking and follow up, but the aural as well as visual approach is really important in making crucial information accessible to the students in our particular cohort. And yet, there are still many individuals who forget things or don't pay attention when they really should...

 

... which is why a literacy task applying the video and asking students to write an email to a classmate explaining all the ins and outs of the invoice book can be just the ticket to check and make sure every student has really been paying attention.

 

Literacy gets a VCAL Foundation Writing for Practical Purposes outcome task out of it, learners get a real world application, and Leesa gets some reassurance that students are actually watching the video and paying attention to it.

 

Integration on multiple levels, if you asked me.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

My first lesson as a Manufacturing Technology teacher (?)

 

 

 

Well, perhaps that's not strictly true: anyone who knows me much at all knows that I hardly know the first thing about manufacturing technology, much less how to teach it effectively.

 

So how, then, can we account for the spot-on work a group of Year 11 students--newcomers to CAD--produced in the morning class I took in place of Frank, our gifted CAD/MTech teacher?

 

Frank was sick today and Gavin and Robin (our other MTech teachers) were full up with other classes and duties to take care of. I had a break first up and slotted in for Frank. The usual process in this situation is that I--as a Literacy teacher--would deliver an extra Literacy class in place of the scheduled MTech class.

 

Not today. The group in question already had a Literacy lesson scheduled for later in the day. First lesson, as per their schedules, they did MTech. And they did it very well indeed.

 

This very pleasant little miracle came about as a result of careful planning and the production of top-class screencasts targeting specific CAD skills prepared well in advance. The results are extremely exciting in terms of the potential for flexible teaching arrangements, independent learning and blended classroom-based online lessons informing the viability for a course to become more distance-based.

 

Here's how it basically went down...

 

I started the class and asked them to open their MTech course pages in Moodle. I pointed them to an early/beginner unit and asked them to download the worksheet presented there. The worksheet is one of my own design which applies what I call the 'DIPA' instructional model (Discover-Instruct-Practice-Apply), and it began by asking them to predict--based on the assignment/unit title--what they were about to learn or be shown.

 

Here's a student sample response for this section:

 

 

Once the students have made an effort to predict what the lesson is going to be about, they then watch the screencast tutorial (Task B), in this case:

 

 

 

 

Based on this video tutorial, the learners complete Task C, which is a summary of important information, processes, or techniques explained or demonstrated in the tutorial. Somewhat unsurprisingly, this requires most students to re-watch the video, pause at intervals and in some cases replay information in order to catch it effectively.

 

The result is a summary that looks like this:

 

 

So far, so good. 

 

Task D in the worksheet sequence then asks students to apply some critical thinking and propose some conclusions about how and why the information in the tutorial might be important or useful. The example below hasn't been done as well as it might have been, but it's a positive start:

 

 

 

Next comes the 'hands on' stage. In Task E the learners are asked to apply the skills/techniques from the tutorial themselves and create and insert a screenshot to show what they've managed to come up with:

 

 

Excellent... students have managed to use the AutoDesk Inventor software to replicate the shape in the drawing so that it matches the one produced by the teacher in the video tutorial.

 

A few students struggled here and there with the summary of instructions and the actual Inventor work...so how did I--the non-MTech teacher--help them out?

 

I looked over the instructions and directions they'd documented and informed them whether they were useful and logical to me, as someone as new to Inventor as they are. When they were applying Inventor and got stuck, I encouraged them to brainstorm, try things out and assist each other as a group.

 

Everybody got there without too much fuss, and the result was a handy little two-sided assignment sheet which they uploaded for Frank or one of the other MTech teachers to check, grade and respond to in the MTech Moodle course page:

 

 

 

 

Each at their own pace, they all then went on to try out the next worksheet and screencast in the tutorial sequence on Moodle, which built on the one already completed here and extended their skills in some way.

 

What really fascinates and excites me about this is that Gavin was in two places at once during this lesson. He was out in the corridor, getting new students organised and making calendar and schedule adjustments for students whose work placements or trade school arrangements were causing the usual start of week headaches. 

 

He was also in my classroom, teaching my students MTech skills.

 

Likewise, Frank was at home not feeling very well, but MTech work was facilitated and completed for him, uploaded into a repository from where he can view and respond to it later, and he was then the teacher presenting new skills in the very next screencast tutorial.

 

And me?

 

Well I was a facilitator and classroom manager. I wasn't the MTech teacher, but I was a teacher in the MTech classroom.

 

 

I don't for a second want to imply that pre-bottling your curriculum in the form of screencasts can completely replace the specialist teacher here-and-now in the classroom.

 

But gosh it can help, and make potentially chaotic rainy Monday mornings run as smooth as clockwork, irrespective of who happens to be available to host a classroom learning space.

 

I also think this is a foundation and a positive process for developing blended distance programs for applied learning that might actually work.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Finding, grading and responding to uploaded assignments

 

You've set your assignment on the course page as an upload option (for tips and demonstrations on how to do this, click here), students have completed and uploaded them... so what do you do now?

 

This tutorial shows two different ways to get to the submitted assignments and a couple of options for grading and responding to them.

 

 

 

 

(To get a larger and higher resolution version of this screencast, click on the YouTube link at the bottom of the video and select one of the larger viewing modes).

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Exploring VCAL Writing for Self Expression

 

 

 

Of all the great things we experience as teachers, I think trying out new things and stumbling upon new revelations about what works and what doesn't would have to be right up there. In my field (literacy) with my learners ('disengaged' students aged 16-18 preparing for work in the 'hard trades' area), the challenges can be steep and the rewards quite remarkable.

 

Three weeks into a new term in a new year, I've really been enjoying VCAL Senior Literacy. The curriculum I inherited part way through the second term last year (when I commenced) ticked all of the boxes when it comes to overall VCAL cross-curricular integration, but it had been built from a teaching and teaching team perspective with very little input from (or scope for negotiation with) the actual students. The result was a constant struggle for traction on a track the learners found themselves slipping and sliding all over (if not off completely, with the muffled sound of crashing amongst trees in the wilderness), in the end made to happen/work through the painstaking building of rapport and trust with the teacher.

 

Let me just point out that these sorts of programs are not inherently poor. A lot of painstaking work and sincere effort goes into them. They occasionally feature real gems and meet audit requirements admirably. They just don't always work all that well, and sometimes--based on over reliance on and misplaced faith in design and documentation features--it is the learners who get the automatic blame if they don't perform all that well within certain parameters.

 

This year has been very different.

 

The first formal outcome listed for Senior VCAL Literacy is Writing for Self Expression. This can be a hard one to pitch to lads who are disengaged from the broader high school landscape and want to qualify themselves to become tradesmen. Builders don't generally want to 'write about me' and young plumbers and mechanics generally don't want to engage in any sort of storytelling that isn't strictly audio-visual and available on YouTube.

 

Despite those challenges, writing for self expression is actually working this year, and here's how it has gone so far...

 

 

 

1. Starting with and focussing on the outcome

 

In a move that some teachers might find themselves instinctively disagreeing with, this year I have avoided an attempt at subtle 'embedding' or 'naturalisation' of the outcome. I've approached the learners from the same perspective I find myself approaching courses I've recently done or am currently doing -- qualification stuff that doesn't always passionately interest me but has to be done if I am going to get through and advance my prospects.

 

Basically, that means explaining the outcome in formal and logical terms somewhat similar to the way it is presented and documented in the official VCAL curriculum guide. To successfully pass this outcome, you need to do a, b and c (etc.).

 

So we start with a short screencast explaining the outcome...

 

 

 

 

... which is followed up by an interactive quiz in their Moodle coursework page to check what they've understood and how they think the outcome might be applied.

 

So far so good. My learners always respond well to screencast tutorials, and they seem to appreciate having the learning requirements spelled out for them. I'm not hearing (as many) complaints about having to do tasks as part of this outcome, and this is very different from the cacophony of objections I heard last year about having to write a work journal entry or respond to an 'expressive' newspaper article nailed down and pre-embedded in the curriculum.

 

Which brings me to the next consideration...

 

 

 

2. Learner-selected topics for self expression

 

As nice as it can be to have a limited number of ready-to-use writing topics and tasks that address the outcome and help to tick off outcomes in other parts of the overall VCAL curriculum (and as convenient as it can be to look at and grade learners according to consistent topics across the whole cohort), I've done away with this completely and let the learners choose and negotiate their own topics.

 

Of course, this can result in the blank stare and despair of not having a clue what to write about, so what I have done is create an extensive list of thematically grouped writing topics which they can pick and choose from and adapt and negotiate with me. 

 

 

 

As you can see, this goes beyond a simple list of writing topic suggestions. It includes a range of suggestions covering things like titles, audience(s), purpose(s) and text types.

 

It also includes links to my own writing in response to some of these topics. Learners who really need samples to work through and emulate in terms of style and topical focus appreciate this, and I think most all of the learners appreciate the fact that the teacher is willing to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

 

So far, no complaints about not having a topic to write about (or not knowing what to write about in response to a topic), and that's a welcome change.

 

 

 

3. An emphasis on literary devices

 

Before the learners choose and write in response to topics, their Moodle course page includes an interactive tutorial about a small range of literary devices that can help make creative/expressive writing more interesting and effective. These cover, as a base, things like point of view, similes, effective use of adjectives and what I like to call 'expressive action words' (for example, saying a nailgun spat a nail into some wood, or a song roared out of the living room).

 

Extensive examples are given for each literary device, including ones from my own writing attempts (mentioned above) to help showcase them in the context of full length texts. The learners then need to create their own sentences applying each literary device via controlled practice and then an overall review incorporating them all.

 

Some of them have grumbled a bit about this, but most have had fun with it. The building and construction student who turned 'the hammer is old' into the hammer is as old as my grandpa's balls showed how creativity and vivid imagery aren't lost in/on trade students, but also sparked a useful conversation about the notions of audience, purpose and appropriacy...

 

Following first drafts I now ask students to point out the literary devices they've used. Some have had go back to the tutorial again to re-examine the devices and then make them the focus of an improved second draft. Most, however, are already using them quite readily in the first draft and can point them out to me on the page without hesitation.

 

Generally speaking, this emphasis on literary devices has resulted in far more creative and expressive writing right from the start (compared to what I saw last year).

 

 

 

4. Multiple text types and points of view

 

Given the outcome requires two or more complete writing pieces, I've asked the learners to ensure that each one applies a different text type and point of view (as in, writing 'voice' from the first, second or third person).

 

In essence, what the learners see and are expected to choose and plan their different pieces according to is:

 

 

So to meet the outcome, we need at least one of each text type, and one of each point of view.

 

To some degree the identification of text types in topic suggestions (see point 2 above) has helped the learners here, as has the emphasis and controlled practice with points of view (see point 3 above), but this has been a real revelation in terms of getting the learners to widen their writing experience and express themselves in different ways from different angles.

 

As an example, the plumbing student I have who always claims to 'HATE writing stories' found it was a bit of a different prospect to write one from the second person point of view. The challenge of writing the story 'to' a reader ended up capturing his interest and moving him away from his automatic dislike for story writing. 

 

Another student discovered how much more freedom there was in writing an 'expressive' piece from a third person point of view (rather than the first), as well as protection (he could make it not look or feel like a 'this is me' piece). A couple of other students have written some quite fascinating stories based on (or 'inside') songs and video clips, with different points of view resulting in very different effects. 

 

Some are struggling slightly with the two angles to consider, but the result has been a lot of questions and requests for confirmation in response to attempts to angle a piece of writing this way or that way -- not automatic or outright negativity.

 

I see more width and depth developing in these kids' writing (as well as overall critical thinking and empathy) based on different text types and points of view, and it makes my spirit soar. 

 

 

 

5. Published pieces of writing in an e-Portfolio

 

Last year completed writing work was printed and stuffed away into a folder. This year it gets published on the Internet in an e-Portfolio platform provided by Mahara, which allows them to integrate their writing with images and video clips.

 

First person narrative fiction...

 

 

Third person expressive/narrative based on music clip (featured alongside) 

 

 

I've written about these e-Portfolio developments elsewhere and it's a bit of an ongoing project I have going this year. Let's just say these notions of using technology and the cloud, applying multiple forms of media and actually 'publishing' finished writing are having a majorly positive impact on most of my students. 

 

 

 

So all up, VCAL Senior Literacy and Writing for Self Expression have progressed wonderfully for us so far this year.

 

More to live and learn in this process, of course, but I suspect a lot more to enjoy as well.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Using image icons to 'dress up' unit/topic block presentation

 

 

Another quick tutorial here for relative newcomers to Moodle design: this one demonstrates how to use a nice image icon and introductory spiel for your unit/topic blocks.

 

 

 

 

More for the appearance and aesthetics side of things, but generally speaking I think attractive presentation should always be a priority in online course work.

 

For more Moodle tutorials, check out the Moodle category on this blog...

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Using the book module

 

If you're building course work through the Moodle LMS, one method of gathering content you might like to explore is the book module.

 

I've found this a very useful way of presenting a sequence of content in Moodle, with easy navigation via a sidebar menu (removing a lot of the potential clutter that can appear in regular course pages) and the possibility of linking to specific pages in the book from various quizzes or assignments.

 

The book module is not a place for interactive elements (like quizzes or essay submissions, for example), but is a great way to gather together the content-rich elements of your course unit or units and keep it from cluttering up your topic blocks or becoming scattered via various individual files or pages.

 

Having built book modules into a couple of my courses, I created a series of three screencasts for a colleague looking to find a better way to gather together the video tutorial content he has been making for his own course.

 

 

1. How (and why) to set up the 'book module' in Moodle

 

 

 

2. Adding content/chapters to a book module

 

 

 

3. Linking to specific parts of the book module from other areas/resources

 

 

 

 

Hope those put the book module into some sort of perspective and provide some solid tips on how to implement it.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorials: Creating downloadable work files and basic assignment upload tasks

 

I'm helping the team of teachers I work with to build their own courses in Moodle and gathering screencast tutorials as I go...

 

Here are some tutorials for teachers at the 'starter' end of things, covering some basics concerning the building of downloadable work files (in a variety of different formats) and creating an assignment upload option.

 

In essence, this allows you to feature content or work files (for reading, viewing or writing) which the learners download and complete. They can then upload it for the teacher to view and grade via the upload option.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've generally found that this is a good starting layer for teachers who want to allocate and collect task work on Moodle. There are other (more advanced) options, of course, but these skills are pretty easy to master and facilitate teachers getting a course happening without too much of a steep learning curve or big investment of their time (and hair pulling).

 

Another (major) advantage with the file download/assignment upload approach is that learners can save work files to their computer and not necessarily need an Internet connection or continuous access to Moodle in order to do their work.

 

Trust me... after a week that included major Internet access and operating system problems, I can assure you that this can be REALLY handy!

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Page design to avoid the 'scroll of death'...

 

Just made these screencast tutorials for the team I'm working with as eLearning coordinator and thought I would pass them along here on the blog for those in my PLN who are starting out with Moodle and want some tips and tricks...

 

The idea here is to create a simple menu at the top of your Moodle course page that allows your learners to click and have only the relevant unit or cluster appear on the page. Essentially, this removes the 'scroll of death' issue if you find your learners are having to wade down through dozens of units to find something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you've found a better way to do/present this, please, by all means let me know (and even better: screencast how/why to do it!).

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodling along quite nicely... But why?

 

Entry/menu page for VCAL Foundation Literacy Course ready to go...

 

 

A little over a week from now, I'll be back in the classroom and doing my best to keep on my feet on a pitching deck full of new Year 11 VCAL students.

 

In addition to my Literacy teaching role, in 2012 I've taken on our Skills Centre eLearning Coordinator role at about the same time the organisation I work for (The Gordon Institute of TAFE) begins a pretty massive transition from Blackboard to Moodle for its LMS.

 

Hence from mid-December last year, on top of preparing for my own courses, I've needed to come to grips with this Moodle thing in a pretty big way, and fast, so that I can help facilitate eLearning for approximately 10 other teachers as well.

 

It's certainly been a rapid and steep learning curve, but a very satisfying one as well. What I thought might take myself and the teaching team anywhere from 6-12 months to come to grips with has actually become something we're well on top of before the first term even begins.

 

And that led me to thinking a little more... about what facilitates effective adoption of learning technologies. Here are some reflections at this point in time.

 

 

1. 'Faffing about' with edtech is SO important

 

Moodle, like a lot of other platforms and tools out there, doesn't exactly come easily -- particularly when you are looking to put together something that works well administratively from the 'back/teacher end' but is also practical and attractive from the 'front/student end.' It takes a lot of time to figure things out.

 

At a rough estimate I would say since the start of December last year I've put in about 100-200 hours of solid, occasionally hair-pulling work wrestling the Moodle Beast to the ground and subduing it to the point that it does what I want it to do. Getting the gradebook to work with our particular outcomes, using a specialised scale I built and embedded, took up an entire weekend alone. I'm also big on professional design and layout at the other end of the beast, so the hours have certainly slipped away on that front as well as I try and re-try all sorts of different applications and combinations.

 

This is the all-important 'faffing about' that you just can't avoid if you really want to understand a tech system and what it can do (and how it may misbehave). There's no gratuitous flick of a switch, nothing served up on a platter. You've got to be willing to put in the hard yards at the beginning, do a lot of playing about and experimenting, and even deliberately see how much you can 'break' stuff.

 

But to effectively faff about with edtech, you need a couple of other facilitative factors as well, and the most obvious of those is time.

 

 

2. Edtech development requires sufficient time

 

Prior to this position with this organisation, all of the other edtech tools and courses I've developed happened in contexts where time was either (1) just not available (think 50 week work years in places like North East Asia), and/or (2) not paid for (the organisation I worked for prior to this one in Australia wanted to pay me $21 per teaching hour, with a couple of hours for prep each week thrown in and no paid annual leave). Basically, I developed online courses and tools for institutes in my own time and out of my own pocket.

 

Here (at GTEC at The Gordon) things are very different. I've had close to 6 weeks of paid non-instruction time to get my head around and grapple with learning materials and Moodle. Splitting that period in half was close to three weeks of paid annual leave where I actually did go on holidays and not think about work. My colleagues are on the same basic wicket.

 

Time to recharge the batteries and time to really faff about with the edtech, without having to forfeit regular income. What a peculiar notion that feels like, after what I've experienced in the 10-12 years prior to that (but hey: I'm certainly not complaining!). 

 

But consider also the results. In less than two months we have full courses ready to go on Moodle. Everyone on the teaching team has learned how to create screencasts, and a couple are now already starting to take ownership of the Moodle pages I set up for them.

 

 

GTEC's Manufacturing Technology course homepage on Moodle, already handed over to teacher Frank Priveti, who has commenced an absolutely brilliant series of screencasts on how to access and use the Autodesk Inventor (CAD) tool...

 

Our eLearning output and capacity has increased exponentially from one year to the next.

 

Why? Because the organisation and Skills Centre concerned were willing to invest one of the most absolutely crucial ingredients. Time. And time at the right time (if you get my drift).

 

But that idea of one person building and teaching and handing over to other teachers reminds me of the third essential thing that has struck me on this front...

 

 

3. Edtech development requires a person on the scene as part of the team

 

In a team of 10 teachers, we now have one teacher who is also the eLearning Coordinator, with one full day per week to develop and build up our edtech (a bit of a combination of building stuff for teachers and helping them to then go ahead and build it on their own). That person is also a member of the teaching team, doing  for four days a week what everyone else has to regularly do: cope with the pressures and demands of a challenging teaching role.

 

This is far different from having, say, one teacher walk across to the other side of the campus once a week or fortnight for an hour or two to get specialised assistance with edtech development. And it is worlds away from going to the occasional half or full day 'edtech professional development' day, followed up by frustrated messages left on voicemail pleading for help on how to just open a new lesson activity (for those teachers who actually get motivated or brave enough to try on some edtech clothes as a result of the once-off seminar). 

 

Teaching teams braving the complicated waters of edtech uptake need someone in the same office or just down the corridor, someone they know and who knows what they do and how and why. In some ways, I might even go so far as to say that until the edtech initiative gets a regular and accessible (known, trusted, empathetic) human face, it's always going to suffer from a relative tyranny of distance.

 

However, this is not to say that the expert in the distant office doesn't have a crucial role to play...

 

 

4. Edtech requires effective leadership and administration

 

To put it simply, one of the reasons we are forging ahead so quickly and well with our edtech development is that we have good support from 'higher up the food chain' (in a manner of speaking). Even as I work to help the teachers on my team, there are copiously competent people in various layers above me in the organisation that I have ready access to if and when I need it. They get back to me the same morning or the same day. They respond well to problems. They get things fixed or improved. They seem to have the attitude that they have as much to learn from us as we do from them. They remind us that what we are doing is valuable and great.

 

The larger the teaching/learning organisation, the more crucial this sort of support and access becomes (mainly because organisations necessarily apply rules that can sometimes result in boxes it becomes hard to do your particular dance routine inside). Luckily for me and my team, we have that support in spades.

 

 

So yes, I guess thanks to the faffing about factor, sufficient time to faff about, the team-embedded (or team-emergent?) eLearning person and effective assistance and leadership from higher up (or further across?), we are indeed Moodling along quite nicely indeed.

 

And 2012, from an eLearning perspective, is looking like turning out (to use local parlance) to be an absolute crackerjack.

 

 

 

;-)