Useful stuff from Gráinne Conole

I am reading through "Describing learning activities - Tools and resources to guide practice" by Gráinne Conole. The point is made that the shift is from focus on the content of learning (images, text, media etc. and how it is presented) to the focus on the social approaches involved in learning. I have pulled diferent parents out of the text to create the bulleted, levelled list below. The black text is mine.

Learning Design (as defined in the Introduction to this volume) specifies
the teaching and learning process, along with the conditions under which it occurs
and the activities performed by the teachers and learners in order to achieve the
required learning objectives.

The article also helped me to understand some key terms:

• digital assets – normally a single file (e.g. an image, video or audio clip),
sometimes called a ‘raw media asset’;
• information objects – a structured aggregation of digital assets, designed purely
to present information;
• learning activities – tasks involving interactions with information to attain a
specific learning outcome; - this is where we consider:

1. what the learners should know, or be able to do, after
   completing a learning activity
2. The pedagogy (learning and teaching approaches) - I believe this would influence the type of "mediating artefacts" used, as the tools or resources provided would be considered useful only within the approach being applied
   
3. The tasks undertaken. This specifies the type of task, the (teaching) techniques
   used to support the task, any associated tools and resources, the interaction
   and roles of those involved and the assessments associated with the learning
   activity. The tasks have a range in them too, which I have summarised:

• assimilative tasks - reading, viewing or listening
  

• information handling - gather and classify
  

• adaptive - modelling or simulation software
  

• communicative - such as pair dialogue group-based discussions
  

• productive - something is made

• experiential - practising or investigating
  
  

• learning design – structured sequences of information and activities to promote
learning.

The pedagogy and learning design parts are where I believe I concentrate on the Communities of Practice theory or approach, designing learning opportunities that are shared with others, performed in a real content, have impact on others/self and the learning can build on previous understandings (my nod to constructivism), while also being not too great a leap in ability required (read here 'Vygotsky').
I have inserted the video below as it describes building a community of practice - or interest - and is generic enough to be used by educators.
http://www.stepforward.co.nz
http://www.theoscarclub.org.nz
http://www.keakids.co.nz

My Guidelines

The following is my first cut at choosing some elearning guidelines that would be useful to apply to, or review with, a project I am involved in.

Then I realised I was getting confused between:

1. The organisation I work with, implementing an LMS and developing blended learning strategies for presently operating courses (7000 learners), also creating an NZ first for a new course delivered 75% online, and,
   
2. The non-profit that I am working with 'for love', creating a single new course from the ground up for NZQA approval, developing courses to put on the Moodle install we have, with my understanding of the types of people working in the OSCAR childcare sector.
   

CUT ONE - the key ideas for me are bold, the ones that grabbed my attention. My thoughts are in red after each guideline.
TT13 Does the teacher evaluate the e-learning during the course
to identify its effectiveness and how to improve it?
TT2 Does course assessment relate to intended learning
outcomes and to student learning needs and situations?
TT5 Do students get clearly defined and documented
assessment criteria at the start of each course?
TT15 Are you able to measure and monitor student activity in a
learning management system?
MD1 What systems are in place for monitoring the quality of study material, including its periodic review and or
redevelopment?
MO11 Has the institution collaboratively developed a vision for e-
learning that is aligned with its overall vision for teaching
and learning?
MO20 What systems are in place for ensuring that teaching and
support staff have the knowledge, experience and ability to
match the objectives of the institution? Is there even any recognition of this match and the potentially signiicant returns for the organisation?
SD2 Do students have any choice in terms of what they learn,
the particular resources they will study and / or the learning
activities they will engage in? A self-selected course of study, with learning activities chosen as desired ust be really powerful - how do I do this an not burn out developing 3 different learning opportunities and potential assessment activities for our non-profit?
SD3 Do students gain knowledge relevant to employment and/or
current thinking in their field? Wafle will not be tolerated in the organisation, especially when a core motivation for the elearning development and the LMS deployment is to save 'man-power non'effective' time in class getting spoon fed content. We have to be 'precise'.
ST2 Do the students know at the start of the course what is
expected of them? How many times and in how many ways do we explain this - I guess a good evaluative measure, asking the right questions in the right way will show it. Like the study of different media types

ST5 Have activities been identified that allow individuals and
groups to learn through experience, including opportunities
to demonstrate, reinforce knowledge, develop
understanding and practice skills? Some course may be revision that improves practice, because the person is already doing a good job but is motivated to get another 'nugget of wisdom'. A preenrolment measure that captures this will be important for the non-profit.


My SECOND CUT: I will focus on the non-profit as I have in many ways, more control over the process and the implementation of evaluation.

MD1 What systems are in place for monitoring the quality of study material, including its periodic review and or
redevelopment? I chose this because it covers more than one other question, as it includes scope for assessment criterial up front, support materials, content structure, accessibility etc.


ST5 Have activities been identified that allow individuals and
groups to learn through experience, including opportunities
to demonstrate, reinforce knowledge, develop
understanding and practice skills? I chose this one because I want to use a 'communities of practice' approach to course development, hands on, workplace based learning and this question's answers can be evaluated in this type of course.
http://www.stepforward.co.nz
http://www.theoscarclub.org.nz
http://www.keakids.co.nz

Evaluation

Evaluation importance...

Evaluation is about feedback. Feedback provides valuable information that confirm the path we are on is effective, it can point to areas of improvement and it can highlight redundant activities or products. I define evaluation as feedback for the purpose of changing a practice.

I am familiar with diagnostic, formative and summative assessment, having used both as a teacher and business person.

Quality important in eLearning because:

• student outcome may not improve
• organisational benefits may not be realised
• resources used may have been better spent elsewhere

It is important to acknowledge that quality of a learning process is not something that is delivered to a learner by an e-learning provider but rather constitutes a process of co-production between the learner and the learning-environment. That means that the product/ outcome of an educational process is not exclusively a result of the production process of an educational institution. Quality therefore has to do with empowering and enabling the learner. It has to be defined at the final position of the provision of the learning-services: the learner. http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2004/Online_Master_COPs.html

Here is a slideshare about evaluating using a rubric, imilar measures to Bronwyn's video.

Evaluating Distance Education: Focus on Online Course Evaluation

View more presentations from desertjul.
http://www.stepforward.co.nz
http://www.theoscarclub.org.nz
http://www.keakids.co.nz