Designing for learning:
a collaborative approach
Dr Aziza Ellozy
Director, Center for Learning and Teaching
The American University in Cairo
4th Conference on e-Learning Applications
January 3-4, 2006
Designing for learning
 Rethink Learning and Teaching

What has worked in the past may no longer be
helpful or reliable (more so if teaching is at a
distance)
 Create new partnerships with specialists
and peers

"Teachers can’t do it alone."
Current trends in
teaching and learning*
 Course [and class] time is devoted to
discovery-based learning over traditional
lecture modes
 Teaching emphasis has moved away from
memorizing facts towards finding,
evaluating and using information
 "Research" and "teaching" are perceived as
mutually enhancing rather than antithetical.
* From http://technology.berkeley.edu/critical1.html
Current trends in
teaching and learning*
 New teaching and learning styles incorporate
collaborative work in diverse teams or
groups.
 Course content is publicly accessible and
shared beyond the members of an individual
course
* From http://technology.berkeley.edu/critical1.html
Current trends in
teaching and learning*
 The instructor is perceived as a partner in
a learning community rather than as a sole
entrepreneur.
 Assessment is multilevel and complex
* From http://technology.berkeley.edu/critical1.html
Current trends in
teaching and learning*
 Today's students have grown up with
technology as the air they breathe, are used
to being wired 24x7, are comfortable
multitasking in multimedia, and bring very
different expectations to the classroom as a
result
 Today's employers prize transferable skills
(e.g., problem solving, creativity,
interdisciplinary teamwork) over
encyclopaedic knowledge.
* From http://technology.berkeley.edu/critical1.html
Implications for Content Design
Designing for learning
Pedagogy
Today’s
Learners
LEARNING
Learning
Technologies
New
Learning
Spaces
Designing for learning:
Pedagogy
“Teach less, learn more”
Emphasis on the learning paradigm
A shift in the role of faculty from teachercentered to learner-centered
Faculty are moving from being disciplinary
experts who impart knowledge by lecturing to
becoming designers of learning environments
where they apply the best methods for producing
learning and student success
Designing for learning: Pedagogy
Service
Modified
Lecture
learning
Critical
Thinking
Assessment
Discussion
Pedagogy
Problem
Peer
Instruction
Case
Study
based
learning
Inform.
Just-
literacy
in-time
teaching
ETC.
Designing for learning:
Today’s Learners*
The Net Generation
 Digital
 Connected
 Experiential
 Immediate
 Social
*Copyright Diana G. Oblinger, 2005. Copied by permission of the author.
Designing for learning:
Today’s Learners*
The Net Generation
 Born in or after 1982
 Gravitate toward group activity
 Focused on grades and performance
 Busy with extracurricular activities
 Identify with parents’ values; feel close to
parents
 Respectful of social conventions and
institutions
 Fascination for new technologies
*Copyright Diana G. Oblinger, 2005. Copied by permission of the author.
Designing for learning:
Today’s Learners*
The Net Generation
 Born in or after 1982 ‡
 Gravitate toward group activity ‡
‡ AUC
students
 Focused on grades and performance ‡ ! ! !
 Busy with extracurricular activities ‡
 Identify with parents’ values; feel close to
parents ‡
 Respectful of social conventions and
institutions ‡
 Fascination for new technologies ‡
*Copyright Diana G. Oblinger, 2005. Copied by permission of the author.
!
Generational comparison
Students
Faculty
Multitasking
Single or limited tasks
Pictures, sound, video
Text
Random access
Interactive and
networked
Linear, logical, sequential
Independent
and individual
Engaging
Disciplined
Spontaneous
Deliberate
―adapted from Himes, 2004*
*Cited in www.educause.edu/educatingthenetgen
Implications for Content Design
Implications for content design
 Need to make learning interactive and
experiential
 Need to consider peer-to-peer approaches
 Need to utilize real-world applications
Implications for content design
 Need to emphasize information literacy in
courses
 Need to use both online and face to face
learning
 Need to encourage reflection
 Need to create opportunities for synthesis
Designing for learning:
Pedagogy and the Net Generation
a. Need to make learning
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
interactive and experiential
Need to consider peer-to-peer
approaches
Need to utilize real-world
applications
Need to emphasize
information literacy in
courses
Need to use both online and
face to face learning
Need to encourage reflection
Need to create opportunities
for synthesis
Service
Modified
Lecture
learning
Critical
Thinking
Assessment
Discussion
Pedagogy
Problem
Peer
Instruction
Case
Study
based
learning
Inform.
Justin-time
literacy
teaching
ETC.
Designing for learning:
Learning Technologies
 “encompass information and instructional
technology, as well as telecommunications
tools, applications, and systems that support
learning.”
“EDUCAUSE” definition
Designing for learning:
Learning Technologies
May include the following:













Course Management Systems (WebCT, Blackboard…) ‡ ‡ ‡
Curricular Software ‡
Digital Video ‡
Electronic Portfolios
Electronic Whiteboards ‡
Simulations and Games ‡
Learning Objects ‡
Mobile learning devices (wireless environments) ~
Multimedia Applications ‡
Social Software ~ (blogs, wikis, IM)
Student/Classroom Response Systems (clickers)
Web-based learning resources (MERLOT, Wisc-Online etc.) ‡
Videoconferencing ‡
‡ Used at AUC
Learning technologies
 Allow for innovations in instruction
 Can be very powerful tools for learning
 Should be driven by specific learning
goals
Designing for learning:
New Learning Spaces
 New “learning spaces”
support new types of
teaching and learning.
 The shift in the design
of these learning
spaces is driven by
changes in pedagogy
and technology.
New learning spaces
NC STATE
Before


Face forward is for listening, inaction
Round tables promote collaboration
After
PHYSICS CLASS TRANSFORMED TO INQUIRY-BASED FORMAT.
STUDENTS INTERACT IN SMALL GROUPS
New Learning Spaces*
*From http://www.ncsu.edu/per/SCALEUP/Classrooms.html
New Learning Spaces*
All share certain features:*
tables to facilitate group interactions
(usually round, 6' or 7' in diameter)
white boards around the room and/or for
each group
teacher station near the center of the
room
networked laptop computers
*From http://www.ncsu.edu/per/SCALEUP/Classrooms.html
Designing for learning
Pedagogy
Today’s
Learners
LEARNING
Learning
Technologies
New
Learning
Spaces
Designing for learning
In the face of this changing landscape
in teaching and learning faculty cannot
work in isolation any more
 There is a crucial need for
collaboration between faculty,
technologists and librarians, to produce
meaningful learning experiences.
The AUC Model
Libraries and
Learning Technologies (LLT)
LLT
Dean
Academic
Computing
Services
Center
For
Learning
and
Teaching
Classroom
Technologies
and
Media
Services
Main
Library
Rare
Books and
Special
Collections
Library
Web
Development
THANK YOU
Questions?
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