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Here is my learning design:

Context

This e-tivity has been designed to be part of an introductory management course called Moving into Management. This course is aimed at learners entering or recently promoted to management positions for the first time. The course is 12 weeks with an expectation of learners studying for no longer than 10 hours per week. All learning activities and resources will be online and facilitated through Moodle. This particular e-tivity is planned for week 4 of the course. This course is practical in nature, recreating the expected scenarios, challenges and difficulties new managers will face. This elearning course will comprise of a series of e-tivities where elearners are required to engage online sharing their ideas, opinions and experiences. Throughout this course, learners are encouraged to self-reflect creating a realistic self-image – by developing their self-awareness it is anticipated that they will develop their managerial ability.

Description

The effective group decision-making module has been developed into elearning format where learners will actively engage with a set of tasks provided by the etutor through the Moodle platform. This e-tivity will involve the learners being exposed to the barriers commonplace in the decision-making process and the strategies available to overcome these barriers. Learners are required to reflect on the process, highlight the challenges involved and to consider effective strategies.

Although the learning outcome of this e-tivity is to improve the decision-making of groups managed by the learners, they are encouraged to think of decision-making in a personal and workplace setting, and at a group and individual level.

The diagram on page 2 depicts the role of the etutor on the left and the role of the learner on the right. Down the centre of these two is where they interact together. To the right of the learner are optional tasks.

Over the next couple of weeks we're looking at the design process of elearning and in particular designing what Gilly Salmon referred to as E-tivities. This area is probably the area I am most interested in, I gained a lot of feedback and insight in H800 covering this area.

I recently, coincidently, re-visited Salmon's 5 stage model of moderating for TMA03. Something triggered in my mind about my current night course that I teach on, I hoped I would come back to it but didn't expect it to be this week!

A bit of background, I teach a supervisory management course over 11 weeks, one night a week, 3 hours per session. I ask the learners to set up a gmail address and I add them into a Google group. From there I post discussion activities pre and post lecture. I try to use video, audio or ask about their own experience, the criteria I use is short, simple and different [from the class]. Over 3 courses I have achieved varying degrees of failure. I have reflected on this and made some changes but in truth I have not planned this out properly. It fails on 3/5 of Salmon's criteria for all interactive activities.

I have some barriers to overcome, this course is not an elearning or blending learning course, the micro community is an innovation I have developed myself. Therefore learners are unaware of this aspect when they sign up to the course. We average about 10 learners on a course, should this be easier to manage or more difficult? as every learner counts.

I think stage 1 is probably the most important of the 5 stages closely followed by 2 [naturally enough], I feel this is where I'm falling short. I need to spend some time on Access and Value, address technical issues, get them to play around and really sell it. There have been some learners that have taken to it, but without the support of colleagues it lacks purpose.

What I noticed recently though, and it demonstrated some tunnel light, is that an audio piece I uploaded had some technical glitch, everybody commented to me at the next class that it wasn't working - maybe managers make great lurkers!!

Karl

I use Add to List from Google rather then bookmarks or delicious etc. here's some print screens to help

We're doing some research on Web 2.0 tools for educators, not much luck with Mash-ups but RSS feeds is an old friend although I'm not completely  au fait with the technology. iGoogle though does make it quite easy though.

The reflective process involved in part 2 of the TMA has involved assessing our approach to writing this report. It is challenging as having completed an assignment often the last thing we want to do is to think about it!

I have enjoyed and benefited from the theme of reflection that exists on all the OU courses I have completed, I believe my submissions have increased in quality as a result. It has also helped in sharing thoughts with colleagues, and finding tools to aid the reflective process. I think the course may benefit from a post-TMA thread where reflections can be shared.

Having used a mind-mapping approach on this TMA to document some thoughts and help with structuring a short word count, I decided I would pop them up here:

Case study 2 is that of Glasgow University and their use of moodle to encourage active learning in the Classics. I selected this case study as I am interested in how the traditional classroom environment can be enhanced with the forums and support of Moodle. I also mentioned in the introductory forums that I have no background in the Classics but have come across them repeatedly in my reading.

This case study is quite refreshing in the author's honesty. Ian Ruffell clear identifies the objectives as being to encourage learners to take an active and critical role in their learning. This can happen in the classroom but also in a moodle environment where there's plenty of opportunity for discussion and reflection. It is also suggested that a sense of community can be fostered through this intervention, this is interesting as many learners would argue that elements of socialisation are lost in elearning.

Learners were encouraged and rewarded for their on-line presence with assessment marks for their contributions. This was in reaction to less successful courses where contributions were unassessed. I wonder does the assessment element encourage interaction and eventually becomes habitual and enjoyable or do some learners just do it because they have to.

The author believes that there "was a marked increase in their [learners] capapcity for critical discussion through different media". For me, this is a substantial comment as it achieves what I have always wanted to achieve, an increase in active or participative learning due to a strategic innovation with technology.

Finally, this case study compares the activity and community of learners with a previous run blended learning course. Interestingly there are actions that can be taken to combine the positives from both courses.

K

Well I'm back to the OU and simultaneously back to blogging. see post 7 May 2009 for similar comeback! I really enjoyed my blogging experience previously particularly when others read and referred to my blog. An ego thing I believe!

The reflective nature of blogging and how it captures a snapshot of your thoughts are the most tangible rewards for me. Many of my learners look for avenues for reflection whilst on and after the management course I run. I have yet though to convert them into active bloggers.

There is no doubting the workload one associates with regular blogging, one has to create a new habit of blogging. I particularly find the pressure of reading regular blogs quite challenging as I'm trying to emulate these professional bloggers, [on my management blog]. I'm also trying to impart some management insight - maybe it's too much - you decide here.

Although my colleagues and Tutor will be reading this blog (hopefully) it feels ironically less pressured. Maybe you guys can tell me why.

Week 1 was all about our thoughts and ideas about Innovation, this was right up my street and only time held me back from dominating the forums with concepts & ideas. I did manage to post some questions about invention vs innovation, there was some discussion over the value-added nature of innovation which links with my thoughts from H800. I think the value added approach is an excellent criteria for using technology int he classroom and prevents from being techie just for the sake of it. I also commented on the collaborative nature of many technical advances that can aid learner interaction. I would still love to prove though that I can engage some learners more effectively on-line then I can in classroom [maybe due to their learning style] Alas I have yet to achieve this goal.

I'm a bit behind on week 2 although being a case study method advocate I'm looking forward to getting stuck in!

K

Hi All

Under a bit of time pressure at moment. My current activity on my work-related etutor course is draining the study time I would normally devote to OU. I recently described myself as a learning opportunist, in that given a few hours either side of a nappy change or a book reading (not the Waterstones variety) I get on the net to blog, tweet, post, weave, search etc. Sounds exciting, and truth is I am benefitting enormously from it all and enjoying to - according to my partner this means I am a nerd. Unfortunately, it's probably true...I don't get out too much, I am obsessive about minor details, I enjoy learning and just don't have the tech-ability the average nerd would have! Anyhow, I must focus on sharing my enjoyment around my demands and ensure that someone benefits from it all apart from me.

See mindmap below for simplified /generalised view of my learning.  Although it maybe more like: http://explodingdog.com/january1/youthinktoomuch.html

I have often used my blog as a method of unleashing some frustration that I have been unable to release in our on-line environment. But today, Father's day, it's all positive. Hannah-Rose joined the Duff clan 2 weeks ago at 5.30am on Friday the 5th of June - she is just perfect!

So yes I am using the few hours of me-time allotted to me annually on Father's day to catch up on my OU, please note Dave!

In week 18 we were asked to read Weller's paper on the on-line learning environment and how learning organisations incorporate change. Firstly, I enjoyed reading the paper and I think it's one I'll be re-reading and drawing on in the future.

Secondly, a few notes: I like Weller's approach and it sync's well with a belief I have formulated of the course of my study where I have come to conclude that elearning is not learning online! It may be part of learning as a whole but it is not the same process just in the OLE, it represents different ways of learning and therefore different challenges. A key example of this is that practitioners cannot simply go on-line and replicate the success they had in the classroom.

Weller claims when new tech is available we often replace existing activities with the same activity just incorporating the new tech, and it takes awhile before we really see the potential of the new tech (radio on TV). For me this is what Technology Enhanced Learning is all about. Are we just going to tweet instead of txt? or write on somebody's wall instead of emailing? In the classroom we have to understand the potential, engage it in the learning design rather then just getting learners to blog as a straight replacement for writing.

The concept of the Long Tail appealed to me as I was familiar with it from its business mgt origins, I think it's a great analogy to describe how we will learn and develop in the future. Personally I can't see myself locking into a taught degree in business where I have to learn marketing, finance, HR as well as the mgt module I enrolled for. The long tail could be thought of as consumer/learner driven but practitioners can drive this change and org's engage with it. My Business Mgt course has been streamlined from 26 weeks to 10, where we cover just mgt.

Weller's argument of higher education trying to enculturate learners hit a nerve too, accessibility is an objective of all educational org's yet most are guilty of enculturation.

This is not to say that the answer is barnstorming into facebook to enage with the "yoof" culture, as I pointed to before in TMA2. If this is learner led then we need to listen to the learner voice is block 2 ended on.

Cheeryo Karl

Richardson (2005)

I felt I was actively being encouraged to criticise this piece by the notes and details in the activity.  Believe me we in H800 don’t need any hints when it comes to critiquing, (Les!).  Anyhow, to give us 2 pages of criticisms called discussion was not required.  I feel now I was not my usual disinterested self and I was looking for issues.

On a positive note I enjoyed the differentiation between teachers looking at teaching and learners looking at learning – never thought about it in this separated way.  It would be a good idea to document this kind of feedback from one course and then comparatively analyse it.

I was also interested to note how learners’ perception of their learning environment affects their approach to learning – in my own Public Sector environment I can see how this happens as learners are often surprised by what is required/expected. Also our learning culture would be of breaking down barriers to learning, encouraging participation and developing KSAs for the workplace.  This leads to facilitation where reflectively I believe I have been taking the work out of learning for my learners, the current economic environment has given me the opportunity and impetuous to change this. The much shorter course I am now running makes more demands and I have maintained a culture of challenge and expectation which I have been rewarded for with lots of learner engagement.

Coming back to Richardson; suggesting the quality of a course, the demands of the course and the quality of teaching affects learner approach is a little more obvious, although I don’t think addressing issues of learners' approach is as simple as rectifying these 3 elements.

So if their perception affects their approach then so too does their conception of learning, this is pretty straightforward for me, what you believe about learning will inevitably affect how you approach learning, QED.  I’m not altogether sure about Säjlö’s (1979) 5 learning conceptions, there seems to be a lot of supporting work on this, I’d like to make an appeal to bloggers to comment on this, it just doesn’t sit nicely with me. 

I would of liked bit more reference to learning environment I believe many of us approach learning differently even within the same course depending on the module, activities, learning objective, assessment etc.

I’ll just end on a note that I found Richardson’s analysis of teaching to be too black and white, you’re either teacher-centred or learner-centred.  You’re either Grange Hill or Dead Poets Society...

Karl

Well it seems everything is happening at the moment, but I'm proud to say I am up-to-date having just posted my core activity for Unit 9.

The forums are quiet at the moment so I'm guessing most our focussing on their ECA, for me though I felt I had to get up to speed first before I can throw myself into it. I have read the instructions several times and the next step is to plan my approach, for some perverse reason I'm quite looking forward to getting stuck into it!

I feel I am just getting a handle on this course, the activites, the online environment, the facilites [wiki, blog, forums etc] study times and now the course is near it's end.  Well at least this change in my behaviour and performance is a clear indication of some of the learning objectives I have achieved.

I have also dipped into the ECA forum, but find the questionning and suggesting is somewhat confusing the matter for me. I will come back to them though.

In the new year I got the good news of my result from TMA02 where I got 67%. As mentioned previously I struggled to base this assignment on activites in my work environment i.e. elearning, in which I am not involved. So I am happy with my mark. I got similar feedback on my academic style. I feel I write well and use approriate referencing, but it seems my arguments superseed my referencing, and I need to make the link between argument and reference clearer.

Onwards and upwards from here!

Hi All

I hope everybody had a nice holiday period.  Today is the first day I've turned my attention towards OU after having a busy period leading up to Christmas. I'm looking forward to this activity in Unit 8 as its very practical.

I have felt the need to get  blogging for awhile, especially during TMA02 as I feel the need to express the challenges being faced.

The major challenge for me was the unique e-learning setting in which I operate, I work in a traditional training environment where small enroads [sp?] into e & blended learning have been made. There is though a major push in this area coming on stream in 09, I used this as the focus of my assignment - in reality 10,000 words would still have not covered it. This new initiative is being run accross many units in my organisation accross the whole country, unfortunately I am only knowledgeable about my own unit in my own location.

The result maybe that the topic is over-simplified on behalf of the reader - I still think I introduced some major challenges that will be faced by my org. and the f-back from management has been of some considerable interest in my thoughts.

So that's a real result for me and has also alerted them to my interest in this project.

My current conundrum is that there are areas of the course I have missed or not fully contributed due to requirements of work or TMAs. Do I go back to these or focus on keeping up to speed on next Units? The answer will probably lie somewhere in the centre i.e. if I find myself with time I'll have a list of to do's ready for my attention.

Unit8 beckons, I love the practical stuff on this course as it has an immediate impact on my learners - I have already introduced wiki's googledoc's to the course.

Hope all well

K