Best Practice in Designing Effective
e-Courseware for Deployment
with an LMS
Partnership for Higher Education in Africa:
Education Technology Initiative
www.oerafrica.org/technology
This is a debate and not a lecture so
you need to share your ideas of
what constitutes ‘Best Practice’
Product: A best practice check list
Who is here?
• Have you experienced a course
run on an LMS?
• Have you designed a course for
deployment through an LMS
• Have you experienced a course
(either electronic or not) that
you felt created an effective
learning environment?
Yes to any of
these means you
qualify to
contribute
New to using LMS ---------------------------------------------- Experienced LMS User
Consider this Moodle Example
• Lecturer divides his Moodle course
into sections (Topics or Temporal)
• Each section has a series of links to
various digitised lecture notes. e.g.
lecture 1.doc
• Occasionally if the lecturer is aware
of a prescribed reading being
available in digital format then he
uploads this or links to it if it is on
the Internet.
• The contact details (Room number
and/or phone number ) of a tutor or
the lecturer are made available.
Obviously not ideal.
So what then would
we advise to create an
effective learning
environment that
exploits the power of
the LMS?
Best Practice Check List
• Technology should be used to support not
replace good teaching. If you understand good
teaching then you can use an LMS effectively
• Need to define what methodology we will use to
support learning – only then can we effectively
and appropriately use the new technological
tools
• Technology is like the new “chalk” – a tool to
facilitate basic practice. It does not replace
serious planning and proper design: good
content, learning outcomes devised, clear
objectives, etc. Technology should be used if /
where necessary.
Inputs we
generated
during our
discussion:
1
PEDAGOGY
ISSUES
Best Practice Check List
• Training of lecturers in use of Moodle and how to
link good pedagogy to the available tools
• Templates can be designed to support good
teaching for those unfamiliar with the technology
or with good pedagogy
• “Soft observation” by colleagues can support
better use of available tools and encourage good
pedagogy
• We need to recognise that the use of an LMS is
not a one-man show. It involves a team.
• Content management expertise can support
subject matter experts in use of the most
appropriate tools
2
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Best Practice Check List
3
• A balance between staff research and teaching
responsibilities.
• In some instances, face to face teaching is ranked
higher than eLearning – this could be addressed by
new (gov’t / institutional policy)
• Persuasion and Policy: lecturers must perceive
value in using new technologies if they are to
adopt.
• Technology deployment: We need to start from
where we are and be realistic about adoption rates.
• There needs to be a linkage between use of
interactive tools / uploading of courses, to
institutional recognition / reward systems
POLICY
Best Practice Check List
4
• Continuous sensitization / awareness
building:
– lecturers need to believe that use of an
LMS is actually valuable – and sometimes
very exciting!
– Lecturers need to believe that their
students will be better equipped as a
result of the investment
SENSITIZATION
Best Practice Check List
5
• Print based learning? In areas where
connectivity is not ubiquitous, there are other
creative uses for technology.
• Linking with others (e.g. private sector) to
overcome challenges of funding and provide
opportunities for students.
OTHER
These slides were created as an
emergency ‘Plan B’ if the group
was not forthcoming with
ideas. They identify a
completely different set of
ideas drawn from an
instructional design
perspective. They are also
worth reflecting on.
Plan B
A Checklist
Plan
... map
thoroughly
Instructional
Design
Use ID
elements to
improve user
performance
Quality
Assurance
Quality
provides
credibility
Check to see
if course
performs as
envisaged
Monitor
Plan / Map
Plan
Assessment
Strategy
Select Moodle
Quiz:
Essay, Short
Answer, MC, etc
Context:
Audience and
Access
Course
Outcomes /
Objectives
Content /
Curriculum
Predominant
Methodology
e.g. Social
Constructivism
Select Moodle
Tools:
E-docs, web
pages etc
Select Moodle
Tools:
Forum, Chat,
blogs etc
Instructional Design
Structure:
Moodle’s
Topic vs
temporal
Diversity
Issues e.g.
gender
Instructional
Design
Activities
Select
Moodle Tools:
Forum, Chat,
blogs,
quizzes,
readings etc
Illustrative
Devices
Make
Contextual:
Case studies,
Real world
examples
Timing /
Pacing
Devices
Student
Support
Devices:
Help
Quality Assurance
Nominate a
Team
Insert into
Workflow
Determine
Criteria
Quality
Assurance
Monitoring & Evaluation
Student
performance
against course
Outcomes /
Objectives
Revise and
improve
courseware
Staff
Teaching
experience
User
experience
Monitor
Thanks
Nadeosa QA Example
Materials are developed and reviewed in terms of the following criteria:
• There are clearly laid out aims and learning outcomes, and an explicit indication of
study time (notional study hours per section of the material) which allow learners
to adopt sensible study plans.
• The content and teaching approach support learners in achieving the learning
outcomes.
• Learner-friendly introductions, linking and summarizing passages motivate the
learners and provide coherence to the materials.
• The content of the course is accurate, up-to-date, relevant to aims and outcomes,
free of discrimination, and reflects awareness of the multilingual and multicultural
reality of South African society.
• The language level of the materials is appropriate for the target learners and the
materials assist learners with the particular difficulties that learning-through
reading and learning at a distance require.
• Care is taken to understand the contexts in which learners live and work, as well as
their prior knowledge and experience. This knowledge is used in the design of the
materials.
Back
Content Expert:
Content Pack
Programmer:
Objects
Workflow Example
1
Moodle Course
Construction
5
2
Q & A:
Peer Review
Content Edit
Language Edit
3
4
Production:
Lesson
6
7
Student:
Deployed
Materials
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