Phoebe: A Pedagogic Planner to Promote Innovative Practice in

Design for Learning 

Marion MantonTALL, University of Oxford

Overview• Pedagogic planning tools

– What do we do when we plan?– The design challenge– Phoebe: design rationale and quick tour

• Future developments– Phase 2 prototypes– Issues

Technology as a driver for (re-)planning

• “E-learning is often talked about as a ‘trojan mouse,’ which teachers let into their practice without realizing that it will require them to rethink not just how they use particular hardware or software, but all of what they do.” (Sharpe & Oliver, 2007, p. 49)

• “It fundamentally made me think about what I actually do in the class. … The VLE really made me think about ‘how am I going to project what it is that I give to a lesson when I’m face to face on this screen?’ … Usually I don’t have to plan my lessons, I just go in and do it … What it brought me back to was the actual lesson plan, you know, like when you first started off … it was like that all over again.” (School teacher)

Tools to mediate the design process

• “I use pen and paper to collect ideas, Post-its to sort main headings. I like to lecture from a hand-written outline.”

• “1. Pen and paper — broad conceptual overview, key learning activities mapped as a storyboard/concept map. 2. Formalise this map in Word or PowerPoint. 3. Detailed matrix of [learning outcomes], activities and assessment in Excel for detailed analysis etc.”

• “For me it is generally a case of getting the basic structure down and some notes into a word-processor, which I then usually replicate as a structure in the VLE. My classes tend to be based around PowerPoint slides with break-out activities so I mainly use PPT and scribble in the notes facility. For out of class online activities I generally ‘sequence’ (i.e. list!) Web sites or activities in the VLE and then construct some prose around these to give the students some direction (e.g. step 1 go to this site, step 2 post up your comments etc.).”

The range of approaches

• “The starting point would be the assessment criteria/expected learning outcomes. This would be balanced by the students’ needs and level of learning. I would also take into account the type of students […] The environment can affect what can be done in a session e.g. availability of breakout rooms, space for group work etc. Time of day can be important. […] Available resources would also be considered.”

• “I often go out for a run to clear my head to let the creative juices start to flow. […] depending on what course it is (some are looser than others), I usually start by thinking about the knowledge or skills learners need, whilst keeping a strong eye on the assessment. This then develops into aims and outcomes. I liken the process to painting a picture… you don’t start at one particular point but move from one part to another. Each development affects the other parts.”

Drafts and completed plans

The design challenge

“Maybe it’s going to be difficult to develop a single software tool kit that suits everybody’s preferences for planning learning (paper based, software or a mixture of both!) and maybe it could be useful to develop flexible software tools that support teachers through the ‘process’ and stages of designing for learning…” (Teacher in HE)

Phoebe design philosophy

• Principles– Propagate effective practice to a wide

audience – Allow option to use familiar planning tools

• Rationale– Learning Design tools and LAMS in limited

use; output XML– Successful IT projects build on the way

users work, don’t force them to adapt

The Phoebe prototype • Phase 1: proof-of-concept tool• Open source, built on wiki technology• Supports planning for individual learning

sessions made up of learning activities• Functions

– Reference tool: guidance, advice and examples– Planning a learning session

• http://phoebe-app.conted.ox.ac.uk

Phoebe: Evaluation of Phase1 prototype

• Very positive response from practitioners to overall vision

• Saw applicability in context of initial teacher training and staff development programmes

• Not sure if it would work as a self-teaching aid for “lone” practitioners who wish to explore D4L.

• The guidance and examples appear to meet practitioners’ needs

• In its present form it functions better as a resource with a note-taking facility than as a usable and useful tool for creating lesson plans

• There is considerable interest in the potential of Phoebe as a customisable community-owned tool

Future directions: Phoebe phase2

• Make Phoebe more usable as a planning tool:– Tool needs a place to see and work on a learning

design as a whole– Considerable effort is still needed to develop the

content

• Test Phoebe in teacher-training and staff-development contexts

• Explore Phoebe as a community-owned tool– Ensure relevance to users through customisation– A way to tackle long-term sustainability

• http://phoebe-app2.conted.ox.ac.uk/design_show.php

Issues going forward

• Formal versus informal– Total control to the individual or

institutional management?

• Managing the content in the future– Centrally managed version?– Institutional versions?– Wikipedia style?

Does Phoebe work?

• Evaluations in the Autumn• Volunteers welcome

Thank you

• Phoebe project wiki– http://phoebe-project.conted.ox.ac.uk

• Phoebe Phase 1 prototype– http://phoebe-app.conted.ox.ac.uk

• Contact me– marion.manton@conted.ox.ac.uk