Social connectedness in online and blended-learning communities

Increasing flexibilisation and personalisation of education creates challenges in terms of students’ social connectedness with each other, with the programme and with lecturers. For this reason, a team of researchers and professors from four universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands carried out research into how a sense of community can be created in learning communities. On the basis of a literature review and design-oriented research, we conducted experiments aimed at fostering social connectedness in eight learning communities. These learning communities were in the domains of Nursing, Healthcare and Welfare Teacher Training, Management in Care, Teacher Training, and Nutrition and Dietetics (part-time, full-time and dual programme variants). The above research resulted in this Social connectedness in Online and Blended Learning Communities guide, which consists of two parts. Part one outlines the seven design principles (focused on content, attitude and preconditions) which lecturers can work with in their role as facilitator. The lecturer can apply these design principles to promote social connectedness in online and blended learning communities, including when flexible student paths are involved. These design principles are supported by practical IT tools and working methods and are widely applicable. The design principles involved are: A. Getting to know each other B. Trust and cooperation C. Shared and common goals D. Willingness to participate E. Programme and instruction strategies F. Sharing information and knowledge G. Resources and preconditions. Part 2 consists of a methodological justification and substantiation of the research underpinning the guide as well as a description of the results and ends with a conclusion, discussion and recommendations for further research. The experiments showed that learning communities that were newly established or had changed in composition after some time mainly opted for design principles A. Getting to know each other and B. Trust and cooperation. Learning communities that had been active for a longer period chose mainly C. Shared and common goals. Further longitudinal and other research is needed to determine to what extent the design principles and the role of the facilitators can be applied in other domains (such as technology, economics, etc.)

Bouwstenen voor SLB 2.0: Een toekomstbestendig ontwerp

Een praktisch artikel over het ontwerp van SLB 2.0: bouwstenen voor een nieuwe, toekomstbestendige vorm van studieloopbaanbegeleiding. Door nieuwe onderwijsvormen neemt ook de vraag naar een nieuw ontwerp voor studieloopbaanbe-geleiding (SLB) toe. Dit artikel beschrijft de eerste inzichten voor ‘SLB 2.0’, waarin ontwerpcriteria worden geformuleerd voor een toekomstbestendige en meer geïntegreerde vorm van SLB

Succesfactoren voor een verbeteraanpak gericht op reflectie – een pilotstudie bij drie technische opleidingen van Saxion

Studie naar succesfactoren binnen drie pilot gericht op het verbeteren van reflectie binnen technische hbo opleidingen.  &nbsp

Het coachen van leraren in opleiding

Overgenomen uit Velon, maart 2019 Meer studentgestuurde onderwijsvormen worden in het hbo steeds vaker ingezet, onder meer om leraren in opleiding op een breder vlak vaardigheden aan te leren. Denk aan het belang van vaardigheden zoals kritisch denken, zelfregulatie en reflectie, maar ook het ontwikkelen van een 'persoonlijke professionaliteit ' oftewel professionele identiteit als leraar. Dit alles heeft gevolgen voor lerarenopleiders en hun rol als begeleider van aanstaande leraren: het coachen van leraren in opleiding zal steeds belangrijker worden. Dit hoofdstuk gaat over de achtergrond van deze veranderingen, de contexten waarin het coachen van leraren in opleiding een plek heeft en welke coachingsvaardigheden voor lerarenopleiders van belang zijn

Participatory Design of Persuasive Technology in a Blended Learning Course: a qualitative study

  Whereas blended learning can deliver several benefits to students in highereducation, their achievement depends on how exactly it is designed. A participatory design is recommendable to try to meet the needs of all stakeholders. ThePersuasive System Design-model can be used to motivate students during theonline part of the course. In the design there has to be an optimal blend betweenthe different parts of the course. A participatory design is used to design ablended learning course of autobiographical reflection for second year socialwork students. The blended course was developed in six meetings with aworking group, including all stakeholders (students, teachers, instructional designers,educational experts and professionals). Almost all techniques of the firstthree categories of the PSD-model were used in the design of the blended course.None of the techniques of the fourth category ‘Social Support’ of the PSD-modelwere used, mostly because they touch on the personal process of autobiographicalreflection. It was considered helpful for teachers to have a protocol thatassists them in blending the different parts and this in turn could stimulatestudents to be engaged in the different parts of the blended learning course. Inthis study, we found that the participatory design approach may lead to anengaging blended learning course that encourages the use of persuasive technologywith an optimal focus on content, target group, context and ethical aspectsof the blended course. We suggest adding a new fifth category ‘Blended LearningSupport’. What do you want to do ? New mailCop

Evaluating the value of persuasive technology and the role of teachers in a blended learning course for social work students.

In this study, a blended learning course, designed using a participatory design approach and Persuasive Technology (PT), was evaluated by students and teachers. The use of a participatory design and PT may help facilitate a blended learning course that motivates students and supports teachers in this relatively new field. Method: Students received the blended course as part of their regular curriculum. Subsequently, interviews with students (N = 10) and teachers (N = 3), as well as a survey among students (N = 35) were held to evaluate the blended course. Results: Most of the PT which was implemented motivated the students to participate in the online course. The techniques suggestions, similarity, reduction, self-monitoring and tunneling seemed to specifically motivate students. According to the students, their teachers sufficiently integrated the online course with the Face to Face Classes. Teachers stated that they stimulated intrinsic motivation, supported students to complete their tasks and facilitated the blended learning process (integrating the different elements of a blended learning course). Discussion/Conclusion: The use of PT motivated students. Teachers played a crucial role in merging different aspects of the blended learning course. Future challenges would be the implementation of social support online. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02615479.2020.171593

Ontwikkeling van een online leeromgeving ‘kritisch reflecteren’ ten behoeve van het kritisch reflecteren van stagiaires middels een dialogisch feedbackproces tussen stagiaires, stagebegeleiders en doc

Kritisch reflecteren is een van de belangrijkste competenties die professionals dienen te bezitten (Geenen, 2017; SER, 2015). Reflecteren ondersteunt niet alleen de groei van de professional maar ook de ontwikkeling van de beroepsgroep en de professie (Engelbertink, 2021; Geenen, 2017; Meijers & Mittendorff, 2017). Om studenten optimaal te kunnen ondersteunen in hun leerproces tot kritisch reflecterende professional is een dialogisch feedbackproces met meerdere feedbackmomenten een hulpmiddel. De mogelijkheden voor zo’n dialogisch feedbackproces kan worden vergroot middels een online leeromgeving (Ajjawi & Boud, 2018; Yang & Carless, 2013). In dit artikel wordt ingegaan op de ontwikkeling en uitvoering van een online leeromgeving die het kritisch reflectieproces van stagiaires in een dialogisch feedbackproces vorm geeft met hun begeleiders van zowel hun opleiding (zoals supervisors, studieloopbaanbegeleiders en andere docenten) als buiten hun opleiding (zoals stagebegeleiders). Ervaringen van 3e jaar social work stagiaires met dit online dialogisch feedbackproces ter versterking van hun reflectievaardigheden zijn onderzocht via een experimentele setting in twee condities (experimentele groep versus controle groep)

Evaluating the value of persuasive technology and the role of teachers in a blended learning course for social work students

Introduction: In this study, a blended learning course, designed using a participatory design approach and Persuasive Technology (PT), was evaluated by students and teachers. The use of a participatory design and PT may help facilitate a blended learning course that motivates students and supports teachers in this relatively new field. Method: Students received the blended course as part of their regular curriculum. Subsequently, interviews with students (N = 10) and teachers (N = 3), as well as a survey among students (N = 35) were held to evaluate the blended course. Results: Most of the PT which was implemented motivated the students to participate in the online course. The techniques suggestions, similarity, reduction, self-monitoring and tunneling seemed to specifically motivate students. According to the students, their teachers sufficiently integrated the online course with the Face to Face Classes. Teachers stated that they stimulated intrinsic motivation, supported students to complete their tasks and facilitated the blended learning process (integrating the different elements of a blended learning course). Discussion/Conclusion: The use of PT motivated students. Teachers played a crucial role in merging different aspects of the blended learning course. Future challenges would be the implementation of social support online

Participatory design of persuasive technology in a blended learning course: A qualitative study

Whereas blended learning can deliver several benefits to students in higher education, their achievement depends on how exactly it is designed. A participatory design is recommendable to try to meet the needs of all stakeholders. The Persuasive System Design-model can be used to motivate students during the online part of the course. In the design there has to be an optimal blend between the different parts of the course. A participatory design is used to design a blended learning course of autobiographical reflection for second year social work students. The blended course was developed in six meetings with a working group, including all stakeholders (students, teachers, instructional designers, educational experts and professionals). Almost all techniques of the first three categories of the PSD-model were used in the design of the blended course. None of the techniques of the fourth category ‘Social Support’ of the PSD-model were used, mostly because they touch on the personal process of autobiographical reflection. It was considered helpful for teachers to have a protocol that assists them in blending the different parts and this in turn could stimulate students to be engaged in the different parts of the blended learning course. In this study, we found that the participatory design approach may lead to an engaging blended learning course that encourages the use of persuasive technology with an optimal focus on content, target group, context and ethical aspects of the blended course. We suggest adding a new fifth category ‘Blended Learning Support’