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Enabling professional development by letting go of the pedagogical paradigms: considering the role of learning design, data and research in my practice (part 1 – dilemma and direction)
This reflective article is a version of my paper presented at the ALT Conference, 3-5 September 2019, Edinburgh (abstract, annotated slides, video recording), exploring the ideas that have influenced how I view online learning design for open online courses. It draws upon my experience as programme lead for online CPD at the National STEM Learning…
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Learning harder, for longer
Opinion piece. Open online learning has a huge part to play in addressing the skills and education needs of a growing population, a workforce requiring re-skilling and economies shifting as a result of technological developments. It is no surprise then that one of the topics of discussion at the FutureLearn Partners’ Forum, kicked off by…
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Revisiting my position statement
In May 2016 I submitted my application for Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. I did this through the University of York’s professional and academic development ‘YPAD‘ accreditation programme and was successfully awarded FHEA in June 2016. Three years on, now working outside higher education, I am of course ineligible to renew. However, through an…
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Reflections on image hotspot activities for retention and e-training packages
I gratefully received feedback from the learning technology community, via the ALT Members mailing list, on my previous post on the learning that takes place through image hotspot activities. As is typical, broader issues with online learning were touched upon that are worthy of follow up and reflection. What follows draws out further discussion on…
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Learning through image hotspot activities
This article aims to explore the learning that takes place through image hotspot activities. The rationale for this is to assess the learning value of such activities, and considering their often inherent inaccessibility to disabled learners, what equivalent tasks may be provided. An image hotspot task comprises of an image where parts are clickable to…
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Guidance for processing data from FutureLearn
This document outlines the method for data processing learning participation data in the form of .csv files available to course developers and educators running MOOCs on the FutureLearn platform. Guidance for processing learner participation data from the FutureLearn MOOC platform [PDF] This method was used to create the data set for analysing learner engagement as presented…
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GDPR: is this the end of innovation in technology-enhanced learning?
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. The following article reflects my current, personal, understanding, which may change as more guidance becomes available. Working draft. GDPR. These innocuous four letters have spawned many unanswered questions within educational institutions and other organisations. I’m lucky in that I work for an organisation that is ISO 27001 accredited, which…
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Final grades do not prepare for the workplace
Opinion piece, my views may change over time. I have often wondered whether a good grade equates to good employability. I’m currently participating in an online course, with one of the topics addressing recruitment. Often, recruitment is based on attitudes and experience, as much as the qualifications of an individual. Whilst specific knowledge and technical…
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What does it mean to be ‘open’? Reflections on #OER18
If there is one definition of openness that can be agreed on, it is that openness is ill-defined. Each keynote speaker, and likely most conference delegates, came to the conclusion that open educational practice is complex. This, we would hope, is not a surprising assertion, as education itself is complex, influenced by a raft of…
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Conversational thinking for online learning
In this article I propose that conversational thinking is an important skill to develop in online learners, to enable richer social learning experiences that move beyond contribution and consumption. Conversational thinking “Learning through discussion has value because it provides the motivation for each participant to articulate their concepts and ideas, defend them, reconsider them in…
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Don’t be an authority on meta-meta-learning
I’ve seen yet another tweet extolling the benefits of adhering to an educational developer’s perspective of what should happen in a classroom. This concerns me. As a learning technologist, course developer and online coordinator, my knowledge is only as useful as the willingness of subject experts to collaborate with me. If I were to decree…
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Online CPD forum
My role involves course development and course management of CPD delivered online. I’m always interested in learning from others and sharing perspectives, so that the experience of participants can be enhanced through appropriate learning design and use of learning technologies. I’m looking for like-minded folk to come together, share ideas for designs and activities, raise questions…
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MOOC design and retention impact factors
It is widely cited that MOOCs have poor retention rates, anywhere down to 5% of those who start the course may complete it to the end (Allione and Stein, 2016). On any other form of online or distance learning course, those figures would be a sign that the course was ineffective and not meeting the…
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Success measures in technology-enhanced learning
What does success look like for technology-enhanced learning? This was the opening substantive question from the #LTHEchat on 3 May 2017 and as an unofficial follow up, I’m cribbing here from the Twitter community and expanding on some of the ideas that were discussed. TEL or just L? Should success in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) be…
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Videos to support learning in MOOCs
In this article I consider why videos and other multimedia that enable narrative and storytelling are prevalent in the learning design of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). During the last #LTHEchat on hybrid learning spaces, there was a side-discussion on the significance of the internet and how it allows for new types of learning to occur within it…
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MOOC design thoughts: individual openness
As you might imagine, if I’m designing MOOCs I really should be learning on some. So I have! A few months ago, I joined my first MOOC and went through the whole process as a proper learner (that’s right, actually allocating time to do the activities). If you don’t attempt the activities, you don’t actually…
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Beyond the higher education bubble – a new role
Last month I took up a new role as Online CPD Coordinator for STEM Learning Ltd. at the National STEM Learning Centre. For the first time in my career I will be working outside of higher education. There are obvious similarities, in particular the opportunity to work closely with subject experts to create valuable learning…
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A bad worker blames their tools – does the same apply to learning technology?
The old proverb ‘a bad workman blames his tools’ refers to an individual who, in doing something poorly, decides to blame the tool they have used rather than accept their own failings (OED definition). How many times have we (learning technologists) heard grumblings from colleagues and students (and indeed grumbled ourselves) at the inadequacies of…
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Student activity for deep learning and engagement – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 6)
Continuing my series of blog posts exploring ‘Inspiring Students: Case Studies in Motivating the Learner’, this post looks at a case study from Mark W Teale which puts students’ independent study of case examples at the centre of the learning experience. Reconsidering the role of face-to-face teaching The aspect of this case study I wish…
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Motivation through collaboration with ownership, challenge and reflection – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 5b)
I’m continuing my reference to a case study by John R Savery (1999) in ‘Inspiring Students: Case Studies in Motivating the Learner’ (see previous blog post in this series), as there were three aspects to engaging and motivating learners that I wanted to explore further. As part of a suggested approach to lead students to…
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Creative ways to present work digitally
A few weeks ago now I asked the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) community for their suggestions for how students (and lecturers too) could present work digitally in a creative medium. In essence, I wanted to know what approaches had been used to present work beyond simply endless paragraphs of text. I harvested these case…
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Motivation through collaboration by reducing technical barriers – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 5a)
Continuing my look at some of the learning and teaching themes posed over a decade ago in ‘Inspiring Students: Case Studies in Motivating the Learner’, in this post I pick one aspect of a case study presented by John R Savery (1999). My overall point is that educators must be sensitive to the range of digital…
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Problem-based learning – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 4)
Problem-based learning (PBL) shifts the responsibility for learning firmly onto the student. Whilst the educator acts as a facilitator, providing an initial brief, stimulus materials and devising problems to solve, the students must decide what materials to use, what to learn, and how to approach the problem. As Peter Ommundsen describes in the fourth chapter…
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Learning through writing – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 3)
In this revisit of ‘Inspiring Students: Case Studies in Motivating the Learner’, I take the ideas presented by Calvin S. Kalman in a case study exploring collaborative group work and writing-to-learn approaches. As with the other posts in this series, I will try to avoid repeating the detail of the case study but instead look…
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Curiosity of context – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 2)
Continuing my reading of ‘Inspiring Students: Case Studies in Motivating the Learner’, in this post I look at the case study presented by Stephen Fallows and Kemal Ahmet where architecture and design students undertook ‘experiential practicals’. Fallows and Ahmet argued that there can be a challenge to motivate students to engage with scientific concepts in…
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Factors of student motivation – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 1)
In this series of blog posts I take a look back at case studies presented in ‘Inspiring Students: Case Studies in Motivating the Learner’ edited by Stephen Fallows and Kemal Ahmet, published by Kogan Page in 1999 as part of the SEDA series of books. The reason for looking at these case studies is to…
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September 2016 – Work review
Start of term is on the horizon and for support staff the preparation is in full swing to ensure we’re ready to handle the questions and calls when colleagues begin using the services and start teaching again. September always seems to have time available when the diary is reviewed in July and August, but quickly…
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Digital capability in the curriculum: UCISA Spotlight on Digital Capabilities
I recently attended the UCISA Spotlight on Digital Capabilities conference, bringing together academic developers, learning technologists, IT trainers and information literacy specialists together to explore approaches to developing staff digital capabilities. In this post I look at the JISC Digital Capabilities framework and how it applies to learning and teaching. For a full summary of…
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Does provision of lecture capture affect student satisfaction?
I was asked recently whether there was any evidence to show that provision of lecture captures affects student satisfaction. Whilst many journal articles on lecture capture will affirm that use of captures does positively affect satisfaction, I explore here why simply providing captures (i.e. providing the tool) does not automatically lead to student satisfaction. It’s…