Learning Design Voices -

 Learning Design Voices captures the perspecitves of learning designers post-pandemic. The book is open access and edited by South African learning designers/researchers T.Jaffer, S.C. Govender and L. Czerniewicz. 

After an introduction, the book has three sections (provocations).

The first provocation is 'what might learning design become in the post-COVID university? has five chapters. Each cover one of several themes -

1) increased visibility and value of learning designers due to the need to shift to flexible delivery models.

2) open learning design - on the margins

3) learning designer as pedagogical advisor

4) learning how to design learning through mimicry and mentoring

5) indigenous learning practices

The second focuses on compassionate learning design for unsettling times, with six chapters. The chapters focus on issues of equity, access, humanising learning, inclusivity and community.

The final provocation ' the challenge of designing experiences' has 13 chapters. Here, various examples, case studies and reflective studies are presented.

14) adapting ABC learning design

15) Using Laurillard's learning types

16) Rapid development prototype model

17) blended learning

18) elearning tools

19) knowledge-identity nexus

20) learner centred learning

21) authentic learning design

22) developing critique and argument

23) rethinking the textbook

24) digital divide and accessibility to print-based learning

25) ten principles of alternative assessment

26) reimagining authentic online assessments for large classes

27) inclusive online assessment

All in, may relevant chapters to inform the work of learning designers. 

Horizon report 2023 - overview

Not too many surprises in the latest Horizon report for teaching and education. 

As per usual, the report begins with horizon scanning of the various social, technological, economic, environmental and political trends. The effects of the pandemic will be a key influence across the coming years. Hence, the rise and integration of digital technologies into work, education and society, have now become mainstream. 

The key technologies and practices distilled include AI-enabled applications for predictive, personal learning. The increasing sophistication and acceptance of generative AI. The blurring of boundaries between learning modalities. The increase in deployment of hyflex and microcredentials. And the increasing need to support students' sense of belonging and connectedness when learning is distributed, delivery is multi-channel, and multimodal.

Speculation on the scenarios for growth, constraint, collapse and transformation is presented. The report predicts growth of digital technologies for teaching and learning, constrained by the effects of climate change, with possible collapse of traditional long campus-based undergraduate education, and the challenges for the transformation of education to incorporate AI, flexible learning and personalised education.

A series of implication essays then provided to encourage discussion on topics including learning spaces, equity and accessibility, digital connectivity, adult learners, innovation in research and learning, faculty challenges, and under-resourced institutions.

All in, summation of where things are at, in a post-pandemic world wrestling with social, economic and political fall-out from the uncertainties of several years of disruption. Changes in education move at glacial speed but the pandemic showed that it is possible to shift rapidly when required. What is needed now is to work out what of the emergency changes could be retained, how to leverage off the improved capabilities of faculty, and reengage students', now used to several years of disruptions and changed delivery. 

Flipped learning - does it work?

 Edsurge summarises and comments on a meta-analysis of how well flipped learning works. 

The study discovered that there were many versions of 'flipped learning' and in the main, there was little shift in pedagogy. Instead, especially in higher education, students watched a videoed lecture and when in-class sessions occurred, were subjected to another lecture!! Even when 'active learning' was undertaken, the learning outcomes did not eventuate, mainly due lecturers not 'closing the loop' to ensure learners had engaged with and learnt the material.

The article's title, summarises recommendations "Fail, flip, fix and feed' that is, there is a need for 'flipped learning' to allow students to 'test their learning, obtain feedback and learn, before moving on to the next concept.

An important article to read, digest, understand and apply to learning design. 

Hybrid learning aka as mixed mode

 As Aotearoa New Zealand navigates through the very stormy sea of the Covid-19 pandemic, omicron has arrived and cases are increasing rapidly across the last few weeks. My institute has beed planning ahead for the onslaugth with plans for 'mixed mode' learning being initiated this week as student and staff cases are diagnosed.

Hybrid learning is the term often used and Derek Wenmoth has produced a guide for the schools sector. He proposes hybrid learning as the seamless delivery of learning, across both school (f2f) and virtual (online) spaces. The degree of learning in each 'space' varies as to the discipline and circumstances.

At my institute, we use blended/hybrid learning in a similar way, but to avoid confusion, have used the term 'mixed mode' to differentiate the current approach. That is, to support learners who are unable to attend f2f sessions if they have to self-isolate at home for a couple of weeks. It is tricky to balance the needs of f2f learners when a small number of learners are unable to attend physically, but require access to learning. Shifting everyone online is one solution but with a large segment of our programmes, hands-on practice-based learning is difficult to be continually offered online. Therefore, there needs to be a way to bring learners into the training workshop/studio/salon/kitchen, whilst they are stuck at home. 

Now the country has shifted to 'red phase 3' self-isolation is only required for very close contact. That is people living together in the same household. With this provision, there will be less need for learners to 'self-isolate'. However, cases will rise and affect many more people. Learners with mild symptoms will likely still need to be provided with access to learning, so mixed mode might be with us for a while (sigh). This week will be a watershed time as we see how the case numbers move and what effects these have on learner attendance. We may yet have to shift many programmes to fully online rather than try to rely on mixed mode. 

Asia-Pacific Online and Distance Learning (APODE) presentation - distance education in the new normal

Through my membership with the Flexible Learning Association of NZ (FLANZ), I am able to access the presentations for this week's Asia-Pacific Online and Distance Learning (APODE) 2021. Presentations run all week but I am only able to attend a couple. Hopefully, recorded sessions will be available on the FLANZ website.

Here are notes are from a panel discussion with Dr. Aras Buzkurt and Dr. Ramesh Sharma on 'distance education for a new normal: Implications for a post COVID world. 

Dr. Sharma began with welcome and thanks to the other associations aligned with APODE and for their support. Introduced the role and objectives of APODE. 

Reiterated how the pandemic has spotlighted distance education and the importance of leveraging off this. Introduced Dr. Buzhurt and himself. 

Dr. Sharma began with overview of the pandemic and how it has affected education across the world. Made the connection to the possibilities availed - see The Fourth Education Revolution (Sir Anthony Sheldon) - with the 4th revolution based around AI. 

Sumised there were 3 waves of pandemic pedagogy - f2f to screen - screen - mask to mask education. Provided an example from India whereby the school used loudspeakers to broadcast learning to students living in several apartment blocks as the students did not have internet. Suggested 'it is better to fail originally than not to innovate at all'. Normal is very much based on context. The pandemic provides the impetus to question existing pedagogies. Building to last is now not viable, it should be build to adapt. Need to humanise pandemic pedagogy, especially in countries which have digital equity challenges. Transactional distance can be bridged using a range of methodologies. Affective proximity always important in teaching/learning. An intellectual renaissance required to work through and seek solutions which will work across many contexts.

Reminded the audience to look at Asian Journal of Distance Education.  

Dr. Bozhurt then presented a series of reflections - sometimes it takes a natural diaster to reveal a social disaster (Jim Wallis). Shared the shift of paradigms BC (before covid) and AC (after covid) leading to a new and next normal- with normal being a relational / subject to interpretation term. Responses from education (teaching and learning) are also not predictable or set. Emergency remote education (ERE) summarised as 'not normal' due to the need to respond rapidly. Trying to use substitution approach has not been successful in may cases. However, we could have created a global /online village for all learners! New learning ecosystems - transformations, digital ecosystems and digital 'twins' are now available. For both teachers and students, digital burnout and fatigue have made the experience more difficult. Issues of surveillance, ethics and data privacy have been highlighted. The digital divide began visible and obvious, leading to social divide and inequities in access to education. Called for more opennes and open education. 

Called for the need to support parents as teachers and the building of relationships between families, teachers and school. Including support for the mental anxieties triggered across the pandemic. Pedagogy of care and trauma-informed teaching and learning anchors human-centred pandemic pedagogogy. Support communities need to be financial, emotional and pedagogical. 

Contented that Higher Education especially has had their approaches revealed (not all for the good). Proposed a shift towards a hybrid/blended modality in education with openess, flexibility and different entry points to address inequalities. Now is the time to renew, recalibrate and reposition. People first, content second, technology third (Dennen, 2020). Teaching and learning are primarily about human beings, for human beings and by human beings. Finished with 'what will learners remember from this time' - students will remember not the content, but who cared about their learning'. In the educational kingdom, context is king, content is queen, quality is the crown and care and empathy are the kingdom itself. 

Good summary. 

 

Blended learning - A tool for institutional quality assurance

 From the Commonweath of Learning comes this resource - A guide for implementing a quality assurance institutional review - tool for blended learning'

A timely publication given the wholesale shift to online learning last year and into this year. The guide provides checklists to quantify readiness for elearning and to review/audit blended learning initiatives.

Accompanying resources include a quality assurance rubric for blended learning. 

Educational technology research and development journal - good contemporary articles

Doing a catch up on reading in preparation for putting together a short book on the topic of 'practice-based learning via distance learning' or similar title - perhaps 'digitally enabling 'learning by doing' in vocational education and training' or 'technology-enhanced learning: Supporting learning by doing'.

One journal I am able to access via the Ara institutional databases is 'Educational technology research and development' published by Springer. There is a 1 year wait for access to articles which I can live with :)

The focus of the journal - as the only scholarly journal in the elearning/educaitonal techology field focusing on R & D, makes the articles pertinent, given one of the chapters in the proposed book will be on 'how technology enhance learning' may support the future of work/future of learning for practice-based, experential type learning.

The journal is into it's 68th volume!! so rather a lot to catch up on but I am concentrating on articles published in the last decade as educationaly technology type R & D, does have a 'use by date'.

There is a US of A slant in the articles, given the editors and most on the editorial board are also from the US of A, and the journal's affliation is to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. See this link for useful resources (higher education) to cope with Covid-19 challenges.

A useful resource for all who work in the technology-enhanced learning area.

Educational technology - textbook - free download during pandemic lockdown

The book 'Educational technology - a primer for the 21st century', published in 2019 by Springer, and authored by Ronghuai Huang, J. Michael Spector, Junfeng Yang, is available for free download during the pandemic lockdown period.

It is a handy reference guide and textbook for learning instructional designers and academic developers. The main pedagogical theories and approaches are covered with brief overviews. As the book is structured as a textbook, each chapter begins with main topics, the learning objectives and suggested learning activities. Therefore, the book can be usefully applied for self-study as well as supporting courses in instructional design, teacher education and technology-enhanced learning. The subject matter is generalised to all sectors/levels of education.

The first three chapters provide a good background introduction to the subject and covers the main pedagogical theories - behavourism, cognitism and constructivism along with a chapter on the importance of connecting learning objectives to learning activities and assessments (i.e. constructive alignment).

Part 2 with 4 chapters on -perspectives of education - is recommended reading. The perspectives are the system, educational technology, user and learning experiences. Roughly tracing the trajectory of using technology to support education.

Then Part 3 with 5 chapters, cover the 'how to' aspects of implementing and integrating technology to support teaching and learning. A chapter on learning spaces is included.

The last chapter looks into emerging issues. A bit dated already by covers the technologies of learning analytics, wearable devices etc. ethics, security and privacy and emerging issues.

Overall, the book is useful as a text book. It is not a scholarly work on educational technologies as such but more of a guide and 'how to' which is useful for practitioners interested in understanding the underlying theories to support their teaching or learning design. 

Hyflex - hybrid-flexible learning - elearning for the covid-19 age?

NZ has now moved to Level 2 whereby small groups (up to 10 people) are able to congregate. At the moment, Ara's courses will still be offered mainly through distance. However, if covid-19 case numbers remain low and community transmission a lessened threat, there will be a staged return to face to face (f2f) teaching.

Our challenge, as learning designers and educational developers at Ara is to maximise the gains from moving in to distance learning, achieved through much hard work, and the transfer back into the 'tried and true' of f2f  vocational education.

I encountered hyflex - hybrid-flexible learning - some years ago. It is a relatively new model developed as a sub-set of blended learning. At that time, I thought the effort to put into developing and offering both a f2f and a distance learning course, concurrently, with the same cohort of students, to be too big a challenge. However, the events of the last few months, has caused the hyflex model to be a consideration.

The advantage of hyflex for learners are many. It allows for students' mired in a complex work/learning/job availability scenario, to perhaps begin a course f2f, move to distance when they take up a job offer and perhaps move back to f2f should the job not work out. Similarly, for insitutions, enrolments are retained despite the challenges of a fluid job market whereby students may have to accept work if and when available, given the coming economic recession wrought by the pandemic.

The hyflex model is now being considered by many institutions as one way to support their students, to maintain fiscal viability and to ensure positive outcomes. However, there is a need to ensure the way in which courses are 'converted' to hyflex is planned. In particular, how courses have synergistic connections between the f2f and the distance learning delivery aspects. F2f classes may be videoed for distance learners. Resources prepared for distance learners may be useful as 'flipped learning' resources for f2f learners. Therefore, it is important to map out, learning outcomes and learning activities and identify which resources are may usefully deployed in each delivery mode or would be 'shared' between the two modes.

All making for another lot of work going forward. Hyflex will require resourcing to ensure it is effective but provides a degree of resiliency for institutions. Going forward, should the need be to move between f2f and distances delivery as the covid-19 situation evolves, then having two 'versions' of a course - distance and f2f - may be the norm.