eLearning@York
SEDA Professional Development Framework
Course Guide
2013 - 2014
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eLearning @ York
SEDA Professional Development Framework
Course Dates
1st course
2nd course
Starting November 2013
Starting February 2014
Face to Face Meeting dates for AY 2013-2014
1st course
2nd course
Tuesday, 5th November & Tuesday, 10th December 2013, 9.30 AM
to 12.30 PM
Wednesday, 26th February & Wednesday, 9th April 2014, 9.30 AM
to 12.30 PM
Course Instructors
Ellen Sims, Educational Developer
esims@yorku.ca, Ext 22138
Yelin Su, Educational Developer
ysu@yorku.ca, Ext 22117
The Teaching Commons
Technology Enhanced Learning Building
4700 Keele Street
Toronto ON
M3J 1P3
NB: All taught sessions will take place in TEL 1014
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Background
This programme is accredited through the Staff and Education Development Association’s
(SEDA) Professional Development Framework (PDF) in the category of Embedding Learning
Technology and is underpinned by the SEDA-PDF values (see
http://www.seda.ac.uk/index.php?p=3_1_10_1_4 for details).
York University has the stated aim of improving the flexibility of provision for undergraduate and
graduate programs (White Paper, 2010). This course has been developed to support faculty
interested in increasing flexibility of delivery through the use of learning technologies,
specifically by using blended or online course delivery.
Introduction
The philosophy of this course is based on experiential learning. Participants combine learning
about pedagogic theory with practical interventions and reflective practice. The design allows for
the development, delivery and evaluation of a change involving some aspect of learning
technology. All will share the learning experience on line and in person through discussions and
group work. The intention of the course design is to enable participants to engage in the
maximum amount of online and blended learning experiences they are likely to want to use with
their own students.
This course takes a hands-on approach. In particular, the learning outcomes of the course are:
by the end of the course, participants should be able to
• Apply sound learning theories and pedagogies to design their online instructions for an
existing or new course
• Explain, elaborate, and reflect on their design decisions
• Develop a prototype for the prospective eLearning course as designed in in the York
Moodle practice environment
• Self-evaluate and peer evaluate the online instructions for potential impacts and future
developments
Participants who are interested in receiving a SEDA certificate are also expected to
• Deliver the designed eLearning project within a year of the start of the course and submit
a written evaluation of the project.
• Present the project at York’s Teaching in Focus (TIF) annual conference.
• Write a short reflective essay (1,000 words maximum) on the process of engaging with
the course including future development plans.
The course is a blended learning course. The coursework is composed of two 3-hour face to
face meetings and seven online modules. Participants who are targeting at SEDA certificate will
also have to pilot and evaluate their project within a year of the start of the course. As such, it
may take a year or longer to complete the course.
All participants are encouraged to attend York University’s annual Teaching in Focus (TIF)
Conference and publish their project in a peer reviewed journal to share learning and best
practice with those involved in the course and the wider community.
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Audience
The course is for Course Directors who teach undergraduates or graduates and wish to explore
the possibilities for increased use of learning technology through the medium of blended or
online learning. As the outcomes are live projects, participants must be in a position to develop,
deliver and evaluate a change in their teaching. Participants are expected to come to the
coursed with either an existing course to revise or a new course to develop for the eLearning
project.
The Learning Approach
This is an experiential learning course in which participants will combine pedagogical theories
with first-hand personal experience, applications, reflections, and evaluations. Participants will
engage in a range of learning activities, including reading articles, listening to presentations,
engaging in group work, contributing to online and in person discussions, and developing
various components of their eLearning project online. The approach to attainment of the
learning outcomes is holistic as it is recognized that participants’ experiences will vary and that
there are opportunities to meet the criteria by offering a range of evidence in context. However,
the course design is based on the assumption that all participants will be actively engaged in the
course activities, discussions, contribute to self and peer reflections, finish hands-on practices
and other assigned assignments within the allocated time frame as instructed. It is expected that
participant will invest on an average of 1-2 hours per week online and follow various deadlines.
Please keep in mind that your individual participation and engagement with the class are not
only crucial to your success in this course, but also greatly impact your peers’ learning as well.
Your online classroom and procedure
Each class week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday (with exceptions of face to face
meeting weeks). You are expected to spend about one hour for the introduction week and an
average of 1-2 hours for each of the following weeks working on your online modules.
Online course rooms
We have two online course rooms. You can log in both course rooms with your Passport York.
One is in the York University Moodle https://moodle.yorku.ca/ . The title of the course room is
“eLearning @ York (November 2013/February 2014)”. You are enrolled in this course room as a
student. This is where you will go to read the course materials and engage with your peers and
instructors.
The other is the York University Moodle practice environment
https://moodlepractice.uit.yorku.ca/moodle/ . This is where you will develop the prototype for
your prospective eLearning project. You are enrolled in this course room as a teacher. This
course room is titled as “eLearning@York Practice Course”.
Course announcement and Q&A forum
In the eLearning @ York (November 2013/February 2014) course room, you will find a course
announcement area directly at the bottom of this course information area. This is where the
instructor will post updates, reminders, and comments on class matters. All of you are
subscribed to this forum, meaning that you will get an email in your York University email every
time an instructor posts a message. You will also find the Q&A forum where you can post your
questions regarding the course and answer your peers’ questions.
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Course modules
In the eLearning @ York (November 2013/February 2014) course room, course modules are
arranged by topic. All materials for the course can be reviewed at your own pace. You are
expected to read the content and engage in the discussion and other activities as instructed
following the deadlines posted in each module/session.
In the “eLearning@York Practice Course”, each of you are assigned a module (indicated by
your name) to work with to develop your prototype. Please work only in your module. You will be
asked to review your peers’ module to provide insights, feedbacks, and comments.
Class participation
Your active engagement and participation are crucial to both your and your peer’s learning.
Each module/session contains at least one discussion topic. We will have both large group and
small group discussions (please individual modules for instructions). Participants are expected
to engage by responding to the instructor’s questions, commenting and asking questions on
responses of their peers, or summarizing the discussions. It is critical to post quality messages
to ensure that we will have a meaningful discussion to facilitate learning. Please also plan
ahead and do not wait for the last minute to post your messages and comment on your peers’ to
allow time for the discussion.
Although this is not a credit bearing course and we are grading anyone, everyone needs to
contribute and engage to make this a valuable and successful experience. As such, we provide
a rubric to outline our expectation for your class participation, focusing on online discussion.
You can find this rubric both in the appendix of this course guide and online in the eLearning @
York (November 2013/February 2014) course room (in the course information session below the
course announcement area and Q&A forum).
Communication with the instructor
The course instructors will log on to the classroom frequently to monitor and facilitate the
discussion. If you have any questions about the course, you are strongly recommended to post
your questions on the Q&A forum. If you want to contact us on an individual basis, please send
us an email and we will reply within 24 hours (Monday to Friday). Please kindly note that you
are expected to use the email address that you use for Moodle for important messages for this
course. Make sure you check this email at least once a day.
Netiquette
Participants and instructors are expected to treat each other with respect. Without the visual
cues and shared understanding of acceptable behavior in face to face situations, it can be
helpful to agree on basic 'netiquette' (online etiquette) for online parts of the course. Please
refer to this document for a summary of expected online behavior: The Core Rules of Netiquette
from Albion.com (http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html), based on 'Netiquette' by
Virginia Shea. For a very light hearted quiz you might want to visit Betty's Netiquette Quiz
(http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/funStuff/netiquette/netiquette.html).
Accessibility
This course has been designed with the intention of ensuring maximum access for all. If you
require any materials in a different format, for example a written transcript of a video or a verbal
description of an image, please contact the course facilitators.
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Technology support
If you are not familiar with the Moodle platform, guides are available at
https://moodle.yorku.ca/instructors/.
If you have any issues/technical difficulties using Moodle, please contact the appropriate
technology support group listed at https://moodle.yorku.ca/instructors/contact/index.html
Programme Outline***
The detailed schedule is listed in individual modules online our eLearning @ York (November
2013/February 2014) course room at https://moodle.yorku.ca/ .
Face to face session 1:
3 hours
Establish community, introduction to the course
requirements and delivery mode.
Online work phase 1
You will work through 3 online modules in your own time,
including individual and group work. Module one is a short
module focusing on get everyone acquainted and
comfortable with Moodle production and practice
environment. And it will not take you more than one hour to
finish. Module 2 or 3 requires around 1-2 hours per week
(you are given two weeks for each module) to complete but
you may choose to spend more time on aspects of particular
interest to you, your students and your context.
1. Introduction and getting started
2. The design for motivation – set the destination for
your students
3. The design for content – select and structure
contents for your course
Face to face session 2:
3 hours
For this session we will focus on
• addressing any emerged issues/topics in the first
three online module
• design to enable active learning online
• copyright in blended learning
• Accessibility
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Online work phase 2
After the 2nd face to face session, you will work through 4
online modules in your own time. Similar to modules 2 and
3, it is anticipated you will have two weeks to work on each
module and spend 1-2 hours per week. The exception is
module 4. This is a module with multiple sessions. For each
session, you are expected to work 1-2 hours each week for
two weeks.
4. Design and develop your learning objects
5. The design for interaction – build a community of
inquiry online
6. Reflecting and looking forward – evaluation
Development phase (
required for SEDA
certificate applicants)
You will put your design in production. During this time you
can call on your instructors for support as necessary. The
course room will remain available for all participants for one
year. You can also make use of the Moodle course room to
call for the assistance and opinions from your peers.
Delivery and evaluation
(required for SEDA
certificate applicants)
You will deliver and evaluate your project within a year of
the start. You can contact your instructor for support. The
course room will remain available for all participants for one
year. You can also make use of the Moodle course room to
call for the assistance and opinions from your peers.
Symposium (required for
SEDA certificate
applicants)
You are encouraged to share your learning with colleagues
at York’s Teaching in Focus (TIF) annual conference or
another agreed professional context. You will present the
findings from development and evaluation of your own
course and listen to those of your peers. The wider York
community will be invited to attend. The next TIF conference
will be held on May 22nd, 2014.
***Programme outlines are subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.
Course Materials
All course materials are either held on the Moodle course site or distributed as hard copies
during the face to face meetings.
Assessment
This course is designed to provide supports and guidance for course directors in using
eLearning in their courses. The focus is on formative feedback and peer support during the
course and one year after the course. The successful completion of the course is determined
based on participants’ active engagement and contribution to the class activities, the
accomplishment of the required assignments, and the production of the prototype.
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On the other hand, the course has been accredited by SEDA (Staff and Educational
Development Association). In order to meet their requirements and to gain a SEDA certificate it
is necessary to complete the course assessment. The assessment for SEDA certificate
comprises the following:
1. A written evaluation of the eLearning project (2, 000 words maximum).
2. Presentation at York’s Teaching in Focus (TIF) annual conference (next event
is in May 22, 2014).
3. A short reflective essay (1,000 words maximum) on the process of engaging
with the course including future development plans.
SEDA Values
Participants will demonstrate a commitment to the SEDA values:
1.
An understanding of how people learn
2.
Scholarship, professionalism and ethical practice
3.
Working in, and developing, learning communities
4.
Continued reflection on professional practice in the context of research supervision
5.
The development of both people and of educational processes and systems
Core Outcomes
They will have:
1. Identified their own professional goals, directions and priorities
2. Planned for their initial and/or continuing professional development
3. Undertaken appropriate development activities
4. Reviewed their development and their practice, and the relations between them.
Specific Outcomes
Additionally participants will have:
1. Conducted a review of literature and/or practice of an aspect of learning technology with an
understanding of the underlying educational processes
2. Analysed the opportunities and constraints of using this learning technology
3. Developed or selected or designed an application for the learning technology and plan its
integration into a learning situation
4. Implemented the planned design
5. Evaluated the impacts of the implementation and recommended possible future or wider
developments
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Program Mapping against the SEDA Professional Development Framework
Outcomes
Identify own professional
development goals,
directions or priorities
How they are met
Self-reflections throughout the course
Plan for the initial and/or
continuing professional
development
Undertake appropriate
development activities
Reflection in final assessment piece
Review their development
and their practice, and the
relations between them
Conduct a review of literature
and/or practice of an aspect
of learning technology with
an understanding of the
underlying educational
processes
Reflective account
Analyse the opportunities
and constraints of using this
learning technology
Completion of the relevant elements of
the course
Evidence
Self-reflections
during the
course and the
reflective essay
Reflective essay
Completion of
the face-to-face
meetings and
online modules
Reflection essay
Reflective essay
Participants complete a written
Written
evaluation based on a literature review of evaluation
the chose aspect and the needs of their
course or their students;
Participants are encouraged to publish
on their eLearning project to a peer
reviewed journal
Following the innovation participants
review the experience and present their
findings at the course symposium;
Written
evaluation
TIF presentation
Develop or select or design
an application for the
learning technology and plan
its integration into a learning
situation
Participants are encouraged to publish
on their eLearning project to a peer
reviewed journal
Participants develop, select or design an
application for the learning technology
and plan its integration into a learning
situation
Project prototype
Written
evaluation
TIF presentation
Implement the planned
design
Participants implement the planned
design
Written
evaluation
TIF presentation
Evaluate the impacts of the
implementation and
recommend possible future
or wider developments
Participants evaluate the impacts of the
Written
implementation and recommend possible evaluation
future or wider developments
TIF presentation
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SEDA Values
An understanding of how
people learn
Online discussion and reflections will
reflect participants’ understanding of how
people learning.
Online
reflections
Project prototype
Scholarship, professionalism
and ethical practice
Working in and developing
learning communities
Working effectively with
diversity and promoting
inclusivity
Continuing reflection on
professional practice
Developing people and
processes
The design and development of the
prototype demonstrate the
understanding of how people learn.
The assessment requires adherence to
accepted standards of scholarship,
professionalism and ethical practice
Participants build a learning community
online during the course, all will
contribute to the TIF conference
The project prototype will include
considerations regarding diversity and
inclusivity
The reflective piece requires participants
to reflect on the intervention and their
continuing professional practice
The intervention is designed to facilitate
learning by students, it may also lead to
development for peers
Project prototype
Written
evaluation
TIF presentation
Online activities
Attendance at
TIF conference
Reflective essay
Project prototype
Reflective essay
TIF conference
TIF conference
Reflective essay
Resources
All resources including suggested reading can be found on the course Moodle site.
References
White Paper Building a more engaged university: Strategic Directions for York University 2010
to 2020, April 2010. Available at:
http://vpacademic.yorku.ca/whitepaper/docs/White_Paper_Overview_April_15.pdf
(accessed February 2012)
Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching: Foundations and strategies for student success.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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