Designing Quality Learning for Online and Distance Education

Greig KrullSaide

Open and Distance Education Summit30 July 2013

Agenda

• Current technology trends and challenges• Drivers and constraints of technology integration in education• The quality challenge• Consider appropriate mode(s) of delivery• Factors to consider in elearning design • Discussion

Openness is becoming a value (open content, open data and open resources, along with transparency and easy access to data)

Massively open online courses (MOOCs) are being explored as alternatives and supplements to traditional courses

Workforce demands skills from graduates that are more often acquired from informal learning experiences

Increasing interest in using data for personalising the learning experience and for performance measurement

Role of educators continues to change due to the vast resources that are accessible via the Internet

Education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, hybrid learning, and collaborative models

Key Trends in Higher Education

The NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education Edition

Significant Challenges

The NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education Edition

Staff training still does not include the rise of digital media literacy as a key skill

Emergence of new scholarly forms of authoring, publishing and researching outpace sufficient and scalable modes of assessment

Education’s own processes and practices can limit broader uptake of new technologies

Demand for personalized learning is not adequately supported by current technology or practices

New models of education are bringing unprecedented competition to the traditional models of higher education

Most academics are not using new technologies for learning, teaching and research

Context

1. What are your biggest drivers to integrate technology into your teaching and learning?

2. What are your biggest challenges to integrate technology into your teaching and learning?

Motivators

CC-BY-NC-ND

Constraints

CC-BY-NC-ND

The Challenge…

Poor Quality Learning Design

Dissatisfactory use of

Technology

Decontextualised Information

Dumping of Content

Consider Modes of Delivery

Mode of delivery will impact on the design

Quality Factors

What are some practical things you can do to ensure the quality of the online learning experience?

8 Quality Factors

Learning

EnvironmentLearning Pathway

Teacher Presence

Feedback Activities and Assessments

Information Presentation

Social Presence

Background of Technology

Adapted from Renshaw (2012)

Learning Environment

• Interface should be understandable and consistent• Aim for simplicity of navigation• Consider usage of colours, formats, s p a ti a l

a r r a n g e m e n t s and images

– Various types of support are made clearly available (academic, technical etc)

TIP

Learning Pathway

• Organise into units or sessions that work through a series of objectives

• Provide sense of progression• Appropriate content + learning activities + assessment activities

= students enabled to achieve the specified outcomes • Support the development of critical thinking skills (cognitive

presence)• Be flexible to the needs and situations of the learners• Ability to adjust content and activities as course progresses

Teacher Presence• Role of the teacher in learning is to mediate between the

learner and what is to be learned• Create a learning environment where learners reflect upon

their experiences in order to master more complex academic knowledge

• Introduce yourself• Use synchronous communication such as virtual classrooms• Use asynchronous communication such as screencasting

Anderson (2008)

TIPS

Feedback

• Regular pause in delivery to check understanding • Build-in feedback comments• Ensure prompt daily feedback from facilitators• Make use of quizzes or surveys• Encourage students to evaluate the learning experience

Activities and Assessment• Use variety such as interactive games, role plays, challenges• Purpose of activity clear to enable students to understand what

knowledge, skills and values they are expected to learn or demonstrate

• Provide instructions on how to undertake activities and what resources to use

• Provide guidance on time to spend on activities• Provide timeframe and format of feedback

• Chunk activities e.g. limit activities to 60 – 90 minutesTIP

Information Presentation• Provide opportunities to discover rather than receive

information• Beware information overload• Make use of multimedia elements where appropriate

– Video clips– Podcasts– Simulations– Animations

Social Presence• Facilitate learner

socialisation• Tools: Facebook, Twitter

feeds, chat• Encourage collaborative

learning through forums and blogs

• Provide opportunities for interaction with the facilitator, other students and the content

© 2012 Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies

Background of Technology• Teaching and learning approach should guide the use of

technology and not the other way around• Different tools and technical elements should integrate

seamlessly

• Ensure hyperlinks are all activeTIP

8 Quality Factors

Learning

EnvironmentLearning Pathway

Teacher Presence

Feedback Activities and Assessments

Information Presentation

Social Presence

Background of Technology

Adapted from Renshaw (2012)

SummaryReview your student needs, technology options and your skillsCustomise learning content appropriately

Use sound instructional design principles

Learn from experiences and collaborate with colleagues

Design effective interactions for students with content, fellow students and teachers/tutors during learning

Underlying Principles for Success

Open Education Principals

Adequate Infrastructure

Adaptive to Change

Look to add value

Collaboration

Professional Development

Thank you

greigk@saide.org.za

greigk_za

Greig Krull

Discussion

www.saide.org.zawww.oerafrica.org

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References• Anderson, T (ed) (2008) Theory and Practice of Online Learning 2e, pp.343-365,

Athabasca University, Athabasca.• Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies. (2012) Top 100 Tools for

Learning 2012 http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/ • Isaacs S (ed) (2013) The eLearning Africa Report, ICWE: Germany• Johnson, L, Adams Becker, S, Cummins, M, Estrada, V, Freeman, A and Ludgate, H

(2013) NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

• ECB Check (2013) Quality Improvement for eLearning http://ecbcheck.efquel.org/ • Renshaw, J (2012) Taking your course online? Beware the belittling 'information

dump'! Available: http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/2012/07/taking-your-course-online-beware-the-belittling-information-dump.html

• Saide (2012) Refining the Distance and Face-to-face Continuum. Available: http://www.saide.org.za/design-guide/11-open-learning