+
A holistic approach to design for
learning – a vision for the future
More info, slides and references:
http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/2695
Gráinne Conole, Open University, UK
Annual International CODE Symposium,
Chiba, Japan, 18th February 2010
+ Context
My background:
Irish
PhD Chemistry
Professor of e-learning
Open University, UK:
1st ‘Open University’
More than 200, 000 students
570 courses in 70 subjects
Supported Open Learning:
(Materials+Tutor+Assessment)
7,000 tutors
20 partnerships in 30 countries
Expertise in e-learning
Learning innovation
Learning environment: Moodle+
YouTube channel
iTunes
OpenLearn
SecondLife

Outline
+Context






Recent key reports and research
Convergence of technology and pedagogy?
Paradoxes created by ‘digital’ and educational dilemmas
The gap between the promise and the reality
Daring to think differently
 Designing for learning
 Representing and guiding design
 Discussing and sharing
 Drawing on related research
A framework for intervention
 Research evidence
 Policy direction
 The learner voice
 Academic practice
The landscape of the web 2.0 world…
+ Technologies: changing, evolving…
Abundance of online resources
Ubiquitous, just-in-time, learning
Mobile technologies
IT services decentralised
(Cloud computing)
+ Virtual learning
+ Redefining content
+ The learner voice

Technologically immersed

Learning processes

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Attitudes and approaches


Task orientated, experiential,
cummulative
group orientated, experiential,
able to multi-task, just in time
mindset, comfortable with
multiple representations
Disconnect between student &
institutional approaches

Caution re: net gen claims,
importance of taking account of
student differences

Do seem to be age related changes
taking place and these are strongly
linked to social networking and the
use of a range of new
Netgeneration, Digital Natives.... (Oblinger, Prensky,
etc.), Ecar reports, Kennedy survey, Chris Jones, Mary
Thorpe, JISC LEX projects, Sharpe and Beetham
(forthcoming)
+ Personalised and mobile

Have we crossed a
threshold?

The i-phone as truly
transformative

….but what’s next?

Individualised Personal
Learning Environment

Synchronised information
across devices

Location and context
aware
+ Reflection: e-portfolios
+ New learning spaces

Combining the affordances
of new technologies with
good pedagogy

Taking account of context,
location and time

Blurring of real and virtual
SKG: Learning
Spaces project,
Australia
Tool-user
+ co-evolution
Internet
Radio
1
2 3
What’s the
next stage
of the coevolution?
TV
Phone
We can
now interact
at a distance,
accessing complex
& useful resources
in ways unimaginable
in early eras
+
b c
a
Smart tools
Mobile devices
Inspire by Pea &Wallis, 2008
+ Converging practices
Modern technologies

Web 2.0 practices

Location aware technologies

Adaptation & customisation

Modern pedagogy

From individual to social

Contextualised and situated learning

Personalised learning

Experiential learning

Inquiry learning
Second life/immersive worlds

Google it!

“Expert badges”, World of warcraft

User-generated content

Peer learning

Blogging, peer critiquing

Open Educational Resources

Cloud computing

Reflection

Distributed cognition
+ Paradoxes created by the digital
Expansive
knowledge
domain
Hierarchy & control
less meaningful
Increasingly complex
digital landscape
Death of expertise/
everyone an expert
Multiple
pathways/lost in
cyberspace
Beyond ‘digital
space’/New metaphors
Content distributed,
everything is miscellaneous
Multiple (co-)locations/
loss of content integrity
Collective
intelligence
Social
collective/digital
individualism
Issues re: ownership,
value, business models
Free content & tools,
open APIs and mash ups
+ Educational dilemmas
Expansive
knowledge
domain
Hierarchy & control
less meaningful
Increasingly complex
digital landscape
Content distributed,
everything is miscellaneous
Collective
intelligence
Free content & tools,
open APIs and mash ups
Challenges the
role of the
teacher
Need for new
learner pathways
Widening skills gap
between ‘tech savy’/others
Need to rethink the
design process
Potential for new
forms of learning
Lack of uptake
+ Digital literacies

Jenkins twelve skills for participatory culture
 Play – experimentation/problem solving
 Performance – alternative identities
 Simulation – construct models of real-world
processes
 Appropriation – sample and remix of media
content
 Multitasking – scanning and then focusing on
salient details
 Distributed cognition – interaction to expand
mental capacities
 Collective intelligence - to pool knowledge
with others
 Judgment – evaluation reliability of different
information
 Transmedia navigation – follow the flow of
stories across modalities
 Networking – search for, synthesize and
dissemination information
 Negotiation – travel diverse communities,
multiple perspectives
 Visualisation – different data representations
for ideas, patterns, trends
+ The gap between promise & reality


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Common reactions:

“I haven’t got time”

“My research is more important”

“What’s in it for me?”

“Where is my reward?”

“I don’t have the skills to do this”

“I don’t believe in this, it won’t work”
Array of
technologies
Not fully
exploited
Common resistance strategies:

I’ll say yes (and do nothing)

Undermine the initiative

Undermine the person involved

Do it badly
Free resources
Classic mistakes:

Emphasis on the technologies, not the people and processes

Funding for technology developments but not use and support
Little reuse
+ Daring to think differently
 Can
we develop new technology-enabled
approaches to support ‘core’ learning and
teaching?
 Finding (resources, information, tools, expertise)
 Creating and adapting (resources)
 Designing/aggregating (learning activities or
pathways)
 Communicating (peer-peer, learner-teacher)
 Reflection (assessment, professional
development)
+ Designing for Learning
Representing pedagogy
OULDI
Open University Learning
Design Initiative
Empirical
evidence
base
Guiding design
Sharing ideas
Andrew Brasher, Paul Clark, Gráinne Conole Simon Cross, Juliette Culver, Rebecca Galley & Paul Mundin
+OULDI….
Events:
Tools:
Visualisation & guidance
Design methods:
schema & patterns
Cloudworks:
sharing & discussing
+ Visualisation
To
support effective
design
Identifying
key
requirements at
different levels
Integrating
design
advice and support
at key points in the
process
+ CompendiumLD
 Tool
for visualising
designs
 Based

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


on:
Roles – student, tutor, etc.
Tasks – read, discuss, etc.
Tools and resources
Outputs
Advantages
 Makes design explicit
 Maps out design
 Sharable with others
 Good at activity level
+ Course map &
Pedagogy profile
 Course



map
Gives an ‘at a glance’ view
Based on 5 mains aspects of a
course
Can differentiate ‘real’ & digital

Pedagogy profile
 Maps to types of activities the
students do
 Can look at different timeframes

Advantages
 Profiles pedagogical overview
 Can compare with other courses
+ Course map
Course Map View:
Course title
Information and
experience
“Contents and activities”: Course
materials, prior experience,
learner-generated content, e.g.
reading, DVDs, podcasts, labwork
Thinking and reflection
“Meta-cognition”: Internalisation
and reflection, e.g. in-text
questions, blog, e-portfolio
Guidance and Support
“Learning pathway”: Course
structure and timetable
e.g. course calendar, study guide,
tutorials
Communication and
Interaction
“Dialogue”: Social dimensions of
the course, interaction between
learners and tutors, e.g.
course forum, email
Evidence and
demonstration
“Assessment”: Diagnostic,
formative or summative, e.g.
multiple choice questions, TMAs,
ECAs
Course summary
Level, credits, duration, key features
Key works
Description words indicating pedagogical
approach, special features
+ Pedagogy
profile

Map of student tasks to
time periods (weeks,
semesters, etc)

Six types of student
tasks + assessment

Each cell indicates the
amount of time spent
in that period on each
type of task

Widget provides
graphical view
24
+
Collaboration
Key
part of informal
process
Sharing
best practice
Ideas, support
advice
Enhancing
professional
knowledge
Cloudworks
and
+
+ Key concepts

Clouds:


Cloudscapes:


collections of clouds
Activity streams:


core objects in Cloudworks
dynamic filters of new activity
Follow and be followed:

Personal activity stream and
peer recognition
+
Toolbox
 Bringing
together tools, resources and
frameworks developed over a number of years
across projects
 Mapped
to ‘touch-points’ and gaps identified
 Supporting
 Trialled
advice and guidance
across a range of teaching and learning
environments
LD Toolbox
+ Training
and support
 Activities
graded:
introductory, intermediate
and advanced
4
interventions offered
(Independent, community
peer support, tailored
events, side-by-side
mentoring)
 Co-creative
approach to
ensure relevance and
uptake
+
+ A framework for intervention
Policy
Institutional & national funding
Embedding in strategy
Aligning to technology trends
Actual use in practice
What’s in it for me?
Research &
development
Changing user behaviour
Drivers and challenges
Teacher
practice
The learner’s Evidence of impact
experience
+
A holistic approach to design for
learning – a vision for the future
More info, slides and references:
http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/2695
Gráinne Conole, Open University, UK
Annual International CODE Symposium,
Ciba, Japan, 18th February 2010
+ Flickr images

Treasure island 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tontoncopt/2075310775/

Web 2.0 city
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4everyoung/313308360/

Grand challenges
http://www.kamaelia.org/GrandChallengesCover.png

Flexible Open Space InQbate CETL in Creativity University of
Sussex http://www.flickr.com/photos/jiscinfonet/403331689/

Secondlife image http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramona538/ / CC
BY 2.0