Phoebe: a pedagogical
planner tool
Marion Manton
David Balch
TALL, University of Oxford
Phoebe:
as a proof of concept
• Basic concept: An online planning tool to guide
practitioners working in post-16 and higher education
in designing effective and pedagogically sound
learning activities.
• Instantiation of concept: A tool that propagates
the principles of effective practice to as wide an
audience as possible, by allowing them to develop
new pedagogical approaches while still using the
planning tools with which they are familiar.
• Rationale: We believe that successful innovations in
IT reflect, and build on, the ways in which users
actually work, rather than requiring them to adapt
their practices.
The
design challenge
“Maybe it’s going to be difficult to develop a
single software tool kit that suits everybody’s
preferences for planning learning (paper
based, software or a mixture of both!) and
maybe it could be useful to develop flexible
software tools that support teachers through
the ‘process’ and stages of designing for
learning…” (Teacher in HE)
Design
philosophy
• Principles
– Flexible routes through tool
– Option to use familiar planning tools
– Simple text output
• Rationale
– IMS Learning Design tools in limited use;
output XML
– Phoebe focus on people not systems
The
Phoebe prototype
• Phase 1: proof-of-concept tool
• Open source, built on wiki technology
– Now available for download
• Supports planning for individual learning
sessions
• Functions
– Guidance, advice and examples
– Planning a learning session (not a course)
• 2 modes of engagement with
Phoebe
• Reference only + optional note-taking
(i.e. use ‘own’ tool for planning)
• Creating all or part of a lesson plan
(learning design)
• http://phoebe-app.conted.ox.ac.uk
Tagging
• http://phoebe-app.conted.ox.ac.uk/cgibin/trac.cgi/wiki/PhoebeTagCloud
• Currently tagged against links in
content
• Possibility of user tagged content and
user tagged designs
• Appealing to researchers, but less so
practitioners
Evaluation
conclusions
• Very positive response from practitioners to overall
vision
• Saw applicability in context of initial teacher training
and staff development programmes
• Not sure if it would work as a self-teaching aid for
“lone” practitioners who wish to explore D4L.
• The guidance and examples appear to meet
practitioners’ needs
• In its present form it functions better as a resource
with a note-taking facility than as a usable and
useful tool for creating lesson plans.
• There is considerable interest in the potential of
Phoebe as a customisable community-owned tool.
Future directions
•
•
•
Resources in Phase 2 concentrate on
making Phoebe more usable as a
planning tool
Must be a place to see and work on
Learning design as a whole
…although considerable effort is still
needed to develop the content…
First
ideas for Phase 2
• Very much first pass
• Trying to find an elegant reconciliation
between the content and functionality
• Please let us know what you think…
Phoebe home
A practitioner-focused environment to support design for learning ¶
Phoebe is a prototype online tool designed to encourage teachers in colleges
and universities to explore new approaches and tools in their pedagogy.
Why “design for learning?”
“Design for learning” is an alternative perspective on practices traditionally
referred to as course and lesson planning. It lays emphasis not only on the role
of technology in learning, but also on effectiveness: creating designs for
experiences that are motivating, enjoyable and productive for students and
teaching staff alike.
Phoebe brings together the key components of a learning design, prompts your
thinking, allows you to record ideas and requirements, and makes it easy to
cross-reference components as you design the activities that make up an
individual learning experience, or session.
Start a new design
Edit an existing design
Explore the guidance
Phoebe guidance
Contextual Information: The what, who, when and where of this learning session.
>> Title and author | Course | Timetabling | Staff | Location | Health and Safety
Start or edit a
design
Curriculum Aspects: What is the purpose of this learning session?
>> Aims and objectives | Learning outcomes | Typical misconceptions | Assessment | Prerequisites | Preparation
by students | Teaching resources | Curriculum documentation
The Students: How many? What are their particular characteristics?
>> Numbers | Learning styles | Independence | Differentiation | Linguistic competence | Accessibility | Social skills
| ICT skills | Transferable experience
Your Teaching Approach: What approach(es) are you going to take in this session?
Learning Activities: What are the students going to do?
>> Find out about learning activities and sequences.
>> Design the activities: Preparation by students | Main sequence | Assessment activities | Follow-up activities |
Additional/alternative activities
The E-learning Advantage: Find out how technology can enhance different forms of learning activity.
>> What technology can I use for a particular activity?
>> What can I do with a particular tool?
Contingency Plan: What will you do if things don’t go as expected?
Reflections on the Learning Session: What went well? How did the students react? What do you want to
change?
>> Personal impressions | Outcome for students | Quality of learning design
Links to Resources: A glossary of terms, links to the Phoebe user documentation, a gallery of further examples
and case studies, and a “portal” to a number of e-learning repositories and resource sites that you can search for
yourself.
New design
Title
edit/delete/help
Author
edit/delete/help
Location
edit/delete/help
…
edit/delete/help
Add new section
Save
New design
Clicked edit
Title
edit/delete/help
Author
edit/delete/help
Location
edit/delete/help
Tags
Save
Design A
Clicked Help Option 1
Title
edit/delete/help
Author
edit/delete/help
Location
edit/delete/help
Tags
Context: Location ¶
“The environment can affect what can be done in a session e.g. availability of breakout rooms, space for group work etc.”
(FE teacher) Possible locations include:
Face-to-face: Class/seminar room, laboratory, lecture theatre, field trip, workplace Online/distance: Audio, video, computer,
simulator Mobile: Anywhere! (e.g. train, stationary car, airport lounge, in the field) If face-to-face meetings are involved
(i.e. in a classroom, lab etc.): ¶
Where is the class to meet for the face-to-face sessions?
Does the room need to be booked?
Do you need any particular technology in that room? (See Resources in the Curriculum section for a list of technologies.)
Does the technology need to be booked (and, if so, how long in advance)?
Do you need to carry out a risk assessment?
If online/distance or mobile learning is involved: ¶
What technology do students need?
Do you need to inform them of these requirements? When? How?
Do you need to make equipment available to students who don’t have their own? What is the procedure for doing this?
Title and author | Course | Timetabling | Staff | Health and Safety | Contents page
Clicked Help Option 2
Context: Location ¶
“The environment can affect what can be done in a session e.g. availability of
breakout rooms, space for group work etc.” (FE teacher) Possible locations include:
Face-to-face: Class/seminar room, laboratory, lecture
trip, workplace
Title theatre, fieldedit/delete/help
Online/distance: Audio, video, computer, simulator Mobile: Anywhere! (e.g. train,
stationary car, airport lounge, in the field) If face-to-face
are involved
Author meetingsedit/delete/help
(i.e. in a classroom, lab etc.): ¶
Where is the class to meet for the face-to-face sessions?
Location
edit/delete/help
Does the room need to be booked?
Do you need any particular technology in that room? (See Resources in the
Curriculum section for a list of technologies.)
Does the technology need to be booked (and, if so, how long in advance)?
Do you need to carry out a risk assessment?
Tags
If online/distance or mobile learning is involved: ¶
Full screen
What technology do students need?
Do you need to inform them of these requirements? When? How?
Do you need to make equipment available to students who don’t have their own?
What is the procedure for doing this?
Title and author | Course | Timetabling | Staff | Health and Safety | Contents page
Development
options
• Continue using Trac for both content and
functionality.
• Continue to use Trac for content, but use
another system for functionality:
– A custom application using HTML, embedding Trac
content via frames, or
– A Firefox plugin.
• Content and functionality in new system(s)
Questions and comments
please
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Contextual Information: The what, who, when and where of this learning session.
CO1
Title and author
CO2
Course
CU4,CU5
CO3
Timetabling
CO4
Staff
CO5
Location
S1,CU6
CO6
Health and Safety
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Curriculum Aspects: What is the purpose of this learning session?
CU1
Aims and objectives
CU2
CU2
Learning outcomes
S5
CU3
Assessment
A3
CU4
Prerequisites
S5
CU5
Preparation by students
A1
CU6
Teaching resources
CO5
CU7
Curriculum documentation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Students: How many? What are their particular characteristics?
S1
Numbers
CO5
S2
Learning styles
S3
Typical misconceptions
S5
S4
Independence
S5
Differentiation
CU2,S3,A2, A5
S6
Linguistic competence
S7
Accessibility
CO4
S8
Social skills
S9
ICT skills
S10
Transferable experience
•
•
•
•
•
•
Learning Activities: What are the students going to do?
A1
Preparation by students
CU2
CU5
A2
Main sequence
CU2
CU6
S5
A3
Assessment activities CU2
CU3
CU6
A4
Follow-up activities
CU2
CU6
S5
A5
Additional/alternative activities
CU2
CU6
•
•
Contingency Plan: What will you do if things don’t go as expected?
CP1
Contingency Plan
A5
•
•
•
•
Reflections on the Learning Session: What went well? How did the students react? What
do you want to change?
R1
Personal impressions
R2
Outcome for students
R3
Quality of learning design
•
The following components form part of the “guidance” system only:
•
•
•
The E-learning Advantage: Find out how technology can enhance different forms of
learning activity.
What technology can I use for a particular activity?
What can I do with a particular tool?
•
Your Teaching Approach: What approach(es) are you going to take in this session?
•
•
Learning Activities: What are the students going to do?
Find out about learning activities and sequences.
•
Links to Resources: A glossary of terms, links to the Phoebe user documentation, a gallery
of further examples and case studies, and a “portal” to a number of e-learning repositories
and resource sites that you can search for yourself.
CU6
A5
S5
S5
S5
CP1