Learning designs and the development of study skills: reuse and community perspectives

This paper takes as its starting-point the role of reusable learning designs and of practitioner communities in disseminating effective pedagogic practice. The authors note the findings of previous research indicating a gap between teachers’ stated intention to reuse others’ materials and the practicalities of reuse, and comment on the shortcomings of both Wenger’s communities of practice and Hung and Nichani’s quasi-communities as models of the types of community that might foster the reuse of learning designs. They suggest that another model is needed to address the ‘scaffolding’ of teachers into the practice of sharing. To explore both themes, the authors then present an investigation into the reusability of learning designs. This was set in the context of a regional initiative, within the London Borough of Greenwich, to support students’ development of study skills through blended learning. Questions raised by the findings include the cost-benefits of adaptation versus creation of one’s own learning designs, and the reusability of designs created ‘in the abstract.’ The authors conclude by introducing the CAMEL model of collaboration as a potential means to overcome the discrepancy between the theory and reality of reuse through establishing relationships of trust mediated by both online and faceto-face communication

Learning design Rashomon II: exploring one lesson through multiple tools

International audienceAn increasing number of tools are available to support the learning design process at different levels and from different perspectives. However, this variety can make it difficult for researchers and teachers to assess the tool that is best suited to their objectives and contexts as learning designers. Several of the tools are presented elsewhere in this issue. In this article, the aforementioned tools are used as lenses to view the same learning design narrative - an inquiry-based learning lesson on healthy eating aimed at secondary-school students - from different perspectives, in a manner inspired by the plot structure of Kurosawa's film "Rashomon". In modelling the lesson on five tools, we uncovered similarities and differences in relation to the challenges posed by modelling a particular learning scenario, the ease of implementation of the computer-interpretable products' output by the tools and their different target audiences and pedagogical specialities. This comparative analysis thus illustrates some of the current underlying issues and challenges in the field of Learning Design

Representation, mediation, conversation : integrating sociocultural and cognitive perspectives in the design of a learning technology artefact for reasoning about historical causation

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Learning designs and the development of study skills: reuse and community perspectives

This paper takes as its starting-point the role of reusable learning designs and of practitioner communities in disseminating effective pedagogic practice. The authors note the findings of previous research indicating a gap between teachers’ stated intention to reuse others’ materials and the practicalities of reuse, and comment on the shortcomings of both Wenger’s communities of practice and Hung and Nichani’s quasi-communities as models of the types of community that might foster the reuse of learning designs. They suggest that another model is needed to address the ‘scaffolding’ of teachers into the practice of sharing. To explore both themes, the authors then present an investigation into the reusability of learning designs. This was set in the context of a regional initiative, within the London Borough of Greenwich, to support students’ development of study skills through blended learning. Questions raised by the findings include the cost-benefits of adaptation versus creation of one’s own learning designs, and the reusability of designs created ‘in the abstract.’ The authors conclude by introducing the CAMEL model of collaboration as a potential means to overcome the discrepancy between the theory and reality of reuse through establishing relationships of trust mediated by both online and face-to-face communication

TPD as online collaborative learning for innovation in teaching

This chapter focuses on supporting university teachers in the UK in the more innovative use of digital technologies. Although the use of these technologies is now widespread and increasing, it is not always optimised for effective learning. It is important that teachers' use of technology should be directed towards innovation and improvement in teaching and learning, and should not merely replicate their current practice in a digital medium. The authors therefore make the case for an online collaborative environment to scaffold teachers' engagement with technology-enhanced learning. The chapter outlines the findings of our recent research into a blended approach to TPD, and use these to identify the requirements for an online collaborative environment: tools for learning design, guidance, and access to relevant resources to support teachers in their discovery of new forms of technology-enhanced teaching and learning. Such an environment, they argue, would provide a framework for a "community of innovation" in which teachers participate both as learners and researchers. © 2010, IGI Global

An Evaluation of Generic Tools used in Design for Learning

The Learning Design Tools project ran from May 2005 to February 2006 and had these aims: 1. To provide research-based information on the use of tools in designing for learning in postcompulsory education; specifically, the range of tools used by practitioners and their perspectives on those tools. 2. From a synthesis of the data collected: 2.1 Determine the applicability of the tools used by practitioners; 2.2 Make recommendations to practitioners and policy makers on the effective deployment of tools in learning design; 2.3 Identify the considerations to be made when drawing up requirements for, and developing, future tools to support design for learning; 3. Construct a reusable toolkit of instruments for evaluating tools used in design for learning. To realise these aims, the project adopted the division of design for learning into two discrete, but interrelated phases: learning activity authoring (LAA) and learning activity realisation (LAR) (Conole et al., 2005). We focused on practitioners’ use of generic tools for LAA and, more specifically, for the task of planning an individual learning session. We denote as “generic” those tools that do not provide explicit support for the design of learning materials, in the present case

Computational support for teachers' design thinking : its feasibility and acceptability to practitioners and institutions

A significant area of learning design research has been the development of software applications that guide teachers' thinking as they plan, construct and revise learning events for their students. In this paper, we review conceptualisations of, and approaches to, the activity of pedagogic design and highlight the implications for the provision of computational support for this activity. We then outline different ways in which that support has been implemented in three digital tools: Phoebe, the LAMS Activity Planner and the Learning Designer. We consider the challenges to, and implications of, deploying these tools from the perspectives of three groups of stakeholders: developers, teachers and institutions. Our findings suggest that, while such tools are acceptable in principle, they face a number of technological and socio-cultural challenges to their acceptability from teachers' perspectives and to their deployment within institutional strategies for teaching and learning in a digital age.12 page(s

Capturing teachers' experience of learning design through case studies

This article distinguishes three dimensions to learning design: a technological infrastructure, a conceptual framework for practice that focuses on the creation of structured sequences of learning activities, and a way to represent and share practice through the use of mediating artefacts. Focusing initially on the second of these dimensions, the article reports the key findings from an exploratory study, eLIDA CAMEL. This project examined a hitherto under-researched aspect of learning design: what teachers who are new to the domain perceive to be its value as a framework for practice in the design of both flexible and classroom-based learning. Data collection comprised 13 case studies constructed from participants' self-reports. These suggest that providing students with a structured sequence of learning activities was the major value to teachers. The article additionally discusses the potential of such case studies to function as mediating artefacts for practitioners who are considering experimenting with learning design

Wives of the prime ministers, 1844-1906,

Lady Caroline Lamb.--Lady Peel.--Lady John Russell (Countess Russell)--Lady Palmerston.--Mrs. Disraeli (Countess of Beaconsfield)--Mrs. Gladstone.--Lady Salisbury.--Lady Campbell-Bannerman.--Index.Mode of access: Internet