eLearning for eScience
the challenges of learning online
in fast moving subjects
Dr Tristram Wyatt
Director of Distance and Online Learning
Department for Continuing Education
University of Oxford
www.online.ox.ac.uk
Outline
• Different models of online learning for part-time
students – Oxford’s experience
• Process for economical production of high quality
online learning materials
• Other strategies for production of more high quality
but ephemeral material
Content does not make a course
For example
• MIT
MIT Opencourseware
http://ocw.mit.edu/
=> The real strength of the web is
collaboration, community, and
contact
• makes the current wave of elearning
potentially different and more powerful
than previous (NUMEROUS) computing
for teaching initiatives
Communication is the key
• Constructivist dogma – but seems
vindicated in practice. Communication is
socially rewarding
• Countering the loneliness of the long
distance student (or researcher)
Online learning at Oxford
for part-time students
including CPD
Online learning at Oxford
• For full-time on-campus students
• For part-time students
Dept for Continuing Education
• Long history to 19th C
• Currently 15,000 students enrol each year
(only 500 of these are online – aim for 1250
online for 04/05)
1st Oxford Summer Meeting
1888
Oxford’s online UG computing
diploma – Continuing Education
CPD Immunology
• 12 week online course for graduate
scientists in industry
• Internet delivered, online tutor support
(asynchronous)
The basics of nanotechnology
Authors: Prof Dobson et al.
Production: TALL.
Launch: 1 Nov 2004
www.begbroke.ox.ac.uk/nanotech
TALL’s services for other universities
• e.g. TALL is providing the online learning
consultancy and production for
– York University + World Universities Network
‘Masters in Public Administration’ (and TALL will
host and support the course)
– Kings College University of London MSc ‘War in
the Modern World’
Developing online learning for
part-time students
Dept. for Continuing Education’s
Technology-Assisted Lifelong
Learning Production & Research
unit (TALL) www.tall.ox.ac.uk
Current Oxford part-time online
course models
– Higher investment (higher development cost)
Higher student number model (e.g. Open University)
– Lower investment (lower development cost)
Lower student number model
Rapidly changing subjects
Specialised subjects with small markets / low
recruitment per year
Comparing the models 1
High invest model
Low invest model
Costs per course
High
Low
TALL involvement
High
Low
Author costs
High
Lower [?]
Number of students
High
Low
Cost of delivery per
student
Low
Medium
Online tutors
Less specialised
More specialized (= the
authors)
Tutor numbers
available
Many
Few?
Comparing the models 2
High invest model
Low invest model
Scalability to large
numbers
Yes (if no residential)
Limited
Study skills needed by
students
All abilities, potentially
Well established [?]
Delivery time
Medium to long
Immediate to short
Flexibility to change
materials
Low
High
Risk
High
Low
Payback period
Longer
Short
Potential payback
High
Low
elearning for eScience
• Relatively stable topics – e.g. ?principles of
grid computing (at different levels) - worth
developing online courses – longer life
Instructions for middleware – online courses –
shorter life but many users
Advanced courses – short life, few users – a
different kind of online?
Access grid?
TALL Process
Course Design for longer lasting
topics/topics for many users
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Course Design Philosophy
• Learner driven not technology driven
• Community
• Central role for faculty in the design and
development process
• Draw from a portfolio of design options (multiple
media)
• Traditional resources (books), multimedia, interactive courseware
and communications technology etc…
• Integration of technology, content and standards
• Assessment
• Evaluation
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
The Process
Specification
Evaluation
Control
Production
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
Design
TALL Process
Specification
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Understand Your Audience
• Who will be learning?
•
•
•
•
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Lifelong
Professional development
• How will they learn? Understand the restrictions
• At home
• On the move
• In the office
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Understand the subject
• Use faculty
• Key concepts/key questions
• Use pre-existing resources
• Developed by faculty
• Developed by third parties
– Consider copyright
• Document the process
• High level of granularity
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Consider the Technology
• To VLE or not to VLE?
• Most built to support face to face teaching
• XML
• Multiple media
• About to test Moodle (open source, designed
for distance learners)
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Design
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Pedagogical Model
• Design a model to complement the audience
and the material
• Student centred
• Problem based?
• NB: course specification crossover
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Community
• Research and experience show that
community significantly reduces dropout
• Build community into the courseware
• Start with introductions (and games?)
• Easy access to discussion
• Group project work
• Understand the restrictions as well as the
advantages of online learning
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Assessment
• How will the students be assessed?
• Use the technology
• Group work
• Assessment tools
• Institution policy
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Technology
• XML schema
• Metadata and standards
• Learning objects
• Not necessarily determined by their media type
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
How XML Works for Us
IMS Package
XML
Content
HTML
XSLT
Processor
XSL
Stylesheet
IMS
Metadata
IMS
Manifest
Key
XSL = eXtensible Stylesheet Language
IMS = Technical distributed learning standard
IMS metadata = description of the content
IMS manifest = description of how the content relates to other content
TALL Process
Production
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Working With Authors
• Put your author at the centre of the process
• Use the technology to your advantage
• Automation of XML processing
• Author guide
• How to write for the web
• How to use the templates
• Quality control
• Control your developers
• Manage expectations
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
TALL Process
Evaluation
• Should consider 10% of budget
• Evaluate content, technology and pedagogical
model
• Build evaluation into the courseware
• Use the evaluation
• To improve courseware
• As a tool for institutional change
www.tall.ox.ac.uk
Lower investment model
MSt Intl. Human Rights Law
• Part-time over 2 years
• Most materials delivered in print form
• Asynchronous discussion, email
bulletin board
• Faculty and students (16) worldwide
• Using Oxford libraries remotely
• Two 6 week summer schools in Oxford
What about fast moving
subjects?
• Capturing lectures (voice, powerpoint/pdfs,
annotations, handwritten) - ?Camtasia, Tegrity
• Make available for students – e.g Impatica
• Use once or twice then discard
• Rely on discussion model?
• Reduce editorial and postproduction to a
minimum
Oxford U Software engineering
programme
Dir Dr Jim Davies
Sharing resources
• Peer reviewed:
• e.g. MERLOT (Multimedia Educational
Resource for Learning and Online
Teaching) www.merlot.org
• Finding resources is hardest part
• Making them changeable – ?creative
commons
do get in contact:
tristram.wyatt@online.ox.ac.uk
tel +44 1865 2 86 962
www.online.ox.ac.uk
www.tall.ox.ac.uk