Technology Enhanced Learning at Southampton

A short overview of TEL intended for a short PCAP workshop

Design patterns for promoting peer interaction in discussion forums in MOOCs

Design patterns are a way of sharing evidence-based solutions to educational design problems. The design patterns presented in this paper were produced through a series of workshops, which aimed to identify Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) design principles from workshop participants’ experiences of designing, teaching and learning on these courses. MOOCs present a challenge for the existing pedagogy of online learning, particularly as it relates to promoting peer interaction and discussion. MOOC cohort sizes, participation patterns and diversity of learners mean that discussions can remain superficial, become difficult to navigate, or never develop beyond isolated posts. In addition, MOOC platforms may not provide sufficient tools to support moderation. This paper draws on four case studies of designing and teaching on a range of MOOCs presenting seven design narratives relating to the experience in these MOOCs. Evidence presented in the narratives is abstracted in the form of three design patterns created through a collaborative process using techniques similar to those used in collective autoethnography. The patterns: “Special Interest Discussions”, “Celebrity Touch” and “Look and Engage”, draw together shared lessons and present possible solutions to the problem of creating, managing and facilitating meaningful discussion in MOOCs through the careful use of staged learning activities and facilitation strategies.

Learning in organizations : complexities and diversities

Learning in Organizations focuses on the issues of diversity in the context of organizational learning. It examines those diversities present in organizations among learners and contexts both within and between organizations. In order for learning to be effective and efficient these diversities must be acknowledged and addressed in the learning design process.

Strategies for accommodating individuals` styles and preferences in flexible learning programmes

There has been a considerable growth in the use of flexible methods of delivery for workplace learning and development. However, in designing programmes of flexible learning there is often the assumption that learners will exhibit uniformity in the ways in which they process and organise information (cognitive style), in their predispositions towards particular learning formats and media (instructional preferences) and the conscious actions they employ to deal with the demands of specific learning situations (learning strategies). In adopting such a stance one runs the risk of ignoring important aspects of individual differences in styles, preferences and strategies. Our purpose in this paper will be to: (i) consider some aspects of individual difference that are pertinent to the delivery of flexible learning in the workplace; (ii) identify some of the challenges that extant differences in styles and preferences between individuals may raise for instructional designers and learning facilitators; (iii) suggest ways in which models of flexible learning design and delivery may acknowledge and accommodate individual differences in styles and preferences through the use of an appropriate range of instructional design, learning and support strategies.

E-learning development in higher education : maximising efficiency : maintaining quality

Many tertiary institutions in Australia provide support to develop online teaching and learning resources, an environment characterised by demands from students for quality face-to-face and distance education, staff concern over workloads, institutional budgeting constraints and an imperative to use management systems. There also remains a legitimate focus on using online learning to facilitate new learning strategies within a complex social setting. This paper presents an extended instructional design model in which the development cycle for online teaching and learning materials uses a scaffolding strategy in order to cater for learner-centred activities and to maximise scarce developer and academic resources. The model also integrates accepted phases of the instructional development process to provide guidelines for the disposition of staff and to more accurately reflect the creation of resources as learning design rather than instructional design.

What's the difference and where is the evidence? Investigating student teachers learning about literacy in a school based vs university based experience

This paper is in response to increasing national and international interest in the role of university teacher education programs in preparing pre-service  teachers in the area of early years literacy. The most effective manner to  facilitate this learning in teacher education is however not known and much debate exists about the merits of university-based versus school-based  approaches. It is within this context that the authors of this paper conducted a study that investigated student teachers learning about literacy through two different approaches both with distinctive design features. The first approach offered student teachers a school based experience, adopting a two hour micro-teaching model in a preparatory classroom; the other, a mainstream university based approach where students attended a tutorial for two hours. These two approaches were then compared for factors that student teachers articulated through a written survey. In analysing the data, two main findings emerged; firstly from the student teachers’ perspective, choice of approach resulted in improved learning and secondly, from the researchers’ perspective that student teachers placed in the school based approach emerged with a deeper understanding of the complexity of literacy teaching in general.

On-campus students' learning in asynchronous environments

Asynchronous online discussions have the potential to improve learning in universities. This thesis reports an investigation into the ways in which undergraduates learned in online discussions when they were included within their face-to-face courses. Taking a student perspective, four case studies describe and explain the approaches to learning that were used by business undergraduates in online discussions, and examine the influence of the computer-mediated conferencing (CMC) medium and curriculum design on student learning. The investigation took a qualitative approach where case studies were developed from multiple data sources. In each of the cases, a description of the setting of the online discussions introduced the learning environment. Further details of student learning behaviours in the online discussions were provided by an analysis of the systems data and a content analysis of the online discussion transcripts. In depth interpretation of interview data added student perspectives on the impact of CMC characteristics, the curriculum or learning design and the relationship between the online discussions and face-to-face classes. A comparative cross case analysis of the findings of the four cases identified and discussed general themes and broad principles arising from the cases. The campus-based students acknowledged that online discussions helped them to learn and their message postings evidenced deep approaches to learning. The students recognised the value for learning of the text based nature of the CMC environment but peer interaction was more difficult to achieve. Asynchronicity created time flexibility and time for reflection but it also presented time management problems for many undergraduates. Assessment was the most influential aspect of the curriculum design. The cases also identified the importance of a dialogical activity and the absence of the teacher from the online discussions was not problematic. The research identified new perspectives on the relationship between online discussions and face-to-face classes. Students regarded these two media as complementary rather than oppositional and affirmed the importance of pedagogic connections between them. A teaching and learning framework for online discussions was developed from these perspectives. The significance of this study lies in improved knowledge of student learning processes in online discussions in blended learning environments. The cases indicated the potential value of the CMC environment for constructivist philosophies and affirm the significant role of curriculum design with new technologies. Findings relating to the complementary nature of online and face to face discussions provided a platform for building a teaching and learning framework for blended environments which can be used to inform and improve pedagogical design, teacher expertise and student learning outcomes in asynchronous online discussions.

The development of teaching skills to support active learning in university science (ALIUS)

This paper describes an Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded project for which Learning Design is encompassed in the broadest sense. ALIUS (Active Learning In University Science) takes the design of learning back to the learning experiences created for students. ALIUS is not about designing a particular activity, or subject, or course, but rather the development of a method, or process, by which we have re-designed the way in which learning occurs in large university classrooms world wide.

Knowledge-building : designing for learning using social and participatory media

This report presents the results of a classroom action research that looked at how one teacher redesigned her curriculum while integrating social media, Web 2.0 and face-toface teaching in an Australian public high school. It explores the qualities that social and participatory media bring to the classroom while focussing on students as active and valued participants in the learning process. Building knowledge using the uniqueness of social media enabled students to become active and valued resources for both the teacher and their peers. Designing for learning is a key challenge facing education today; this case offers ideas for learning designers and contributes to a research base that can support educators from all sectors.

Developing online construction technology resources in tectonic design education

We outline issues of importance in relation to tectonic design within the architectural profession and the relationship to architectural education in Australia. Twelve years of research and curriculum development at Deakin University is discussed, involving the creation of online resources and case studies, digitally-integrated projects relating to building construction and design studio education. The ethos behind the Construction Primer of engaging students as ‘amateur researchers’ in a way that ensures ‘that student research work is worth more than course assessment’ forms the pedagogical foundation of much of this work. A model of Socially Networked Construction Technology education has been developed that integrates social networks and the Internet to engage students in tectonic design within and outside the classroom through authentic curricula. Through the use of Virtual Galleries, Blogs, YouTube and social networks, a culture of peer learning and sharing has been developed. Through shared knowledge facilitated through social networks, great potential lies for expanding the synergies between higher order learning and online resource development for design decision support.

Aligning students and staff perspectives in an engineering design curriculum

This paper focuses on the alignment of students and staff perspectives in an engineering design curriculum. Deakin University recognised the importance of student learning with engagement in design-centred education. Staff across the university are committed to ensure that students are engaged at a fairly deep learning level. Engaging students is an important aspect of learning and teaching process because it enhances the student to be self directed active learners. To measure the student engagement and staff experiences in learning and teaching process, Deakin engineering has used design based learning as one of its engineering learning principle. This study examines students perceptions of DBL in their curriculum through a paper based survey given to a cohort of senior year undergraduate engineering students. The research also illustrates the staff perceptions of DBL in engineering curriculum by conducting face-to-face interviews with them. From the analysed results, this research shows that the students and staff have an adequate experience of learning and teaching engineering through design based learning approach in an engineering design curriculum.

Social media as a learning environment : how, why, where and when people learn

This paper reports on an 18-month high school action research study and how this could be used to inform course designers and educators in other sectors of education. The high school study focused on the integration of social media into the face-to-face classroom. It used action research in a Victorian public high school in a total of 13 of the author’s classes. Data collection was in three phases over an eighteen month period. This involved the teacher creating one online social network and sharing this dynamic environment with up to seven classes in a semester. Blogs, groups, chats, discussion forums, Web 2.0 tools and a wide range of student-generated content were shared online, within a class and between classes. Students were encouraged to interact and to share their thoughts and ideas about planning as well as using their out-of-school skills and knowledge. Each topic, within each class, was one action research cycle. A number of the findings from this high school study were integrated into post-secondary education subjects at Deakin University. In an era of social media, this high school study has provided insight into how, why, where and when students learn, and by blending many of the findings into Deakin University courses, this study offers a new way of approaching teaching and learning in the broader notion of tertiary education and training.

Redesigning learning through social media, Web 2.0 and F2F teaching : an action research study

The focus of this research was to explore how social and participatory media could be used to enhance the face-to-face teaching and learning process. Action research was used to design learning that valued the students’ own experiences and to encourage students to create, connect and form a partnership in the learning process: hence supporting students' strengths and abilities. To monitor and participate in the use of social media required an increase in the teacher's work time. As a partial counter-balance, it was found that the teacher/researcher successfully reduced her time spent on correction by implementing peer and self-assessment and by making more effective use of classroom observations. This led to a valuable triangulation of assessment data. Reviewing many of the screen clips collected in this study, one can see the diversity of roles and activities in which the students were engaged, and their development over time through the action research cycle. Combining Web 2.0, face-to-face teaching and social media, where students made online friends and used pseudonyms, provided students with more choices and flexibility when working, communicating and learning. This research may help curriculum developers interweave new technologies, new literacies and multimodal learning methods into day-to-day learning programs. The developed methods of learning and designs should also be transferable to other educational learning environments.