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 … Continue reading MOOC design and retention impact factors
Category: Technology-Enhanced Learning
Design, implementation and evaluation of learning and teaching approaches with #edtech
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 … Continue reading Success measures in technology-enhanced learning
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 … Continue reading Videos to support learning in MOOCs
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 … Continue reading MOOC design thoughts: individual openness
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 … Continue reading A bad worker blames their tools – does the same apply to learning technology?
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 … Continue reading Student activity for deep learning and engagement – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 6)
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 … Continue reading Motivation through collaboration with ownership, challenge and reflection – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 5b)
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 … Continue reading Creative ways to present work digitally
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 … Continue reading Motivation through collaboration by reducing technical barriers – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 5a)
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 … Continue reading Problem-based learning – Revisiting Case Studies in Motivating the Learner (Part 4)