Week 2 summary
Joshua Underwood
Ida Brandão
Sue Watling
Week 2 has been an exercise in balance. In stretching and being stretched. This is learning but not as we know it. At the end of Week 2 the strange is becoming familiar. The problem is more about me than the MOOC. It’s about how I manage my workload and respond to new experiences. In particular it’s about reaching a point where I’m no longer keeping on top of the essentials. I’m not blaming the MOOC; it just happens to be the activity skewing the balance to a point where some reassessment is required. The MOOC word has embedded at a speed symptomatic of a twitter trend or viral email. Concepts associating worth with monetary value are being challenged by MOOC openness where are experts are seemingly giving away their expertise for free and networks of subject specialisms emerge out of nothingness. ‘Everything solid melts into air’ is reversed. Out of virtual space comes the solidity of connections, working groups, the #oldsmooc hashtag. Far from the self-destruction of modernity, MOOCs are creating realities at a speed and intensity which has to be experienced to be evaluated. No one knows there they’re going and to be part of the journey is exciting.
So I’m still MOOCing…Still hanging on in there…
Knowing some critical reflection on work load balance is required, but this insider experience of the digital revolution is too important to be ignored. I’ve might have only cursorily glanced at Personas, Force Maps andEcology of Resources, missed the Google Hangout and not yet watched the Week Two video but in terms of learning, OLDsMOOC is invaluable. Bring on Week 3… :-)
Sue Watling
Focus on the learner context enhances the process of OLD through revealing motivations as well as potential barriers. Learning and isolation are poor partners and the more the designer can learn about the loneliness of the long distance online learner the better the design can work to counteract this. Context can reveal attention hot spots e.g. ease of access to materials, availability of support, offer guidance on specific design criteria e.g. the variety of activities, collaboration with peers and tutors, interaction with content, formative and diagnostic assessment opportunities etc. Context assists the designer make appropriate choices, in particular providing mechanisms for customising learning to suit individual preference e.g. providing information in alternative formats. All this runs in parallel to theoretical approaches to LD for example constructive alignment (Biggs and Tang, 2011).
Scenarios, Personas and Force Maps are useful approaches to OLD. Context can be presented in textual formats but also displayed through mind mapping or diagrams where a visual approach can offer an effective overview of key issues. Constructing context encourages sharing practice; drawing on own experiences and incorporating those of colleagues to bring key issues together. Doing this online rather than round a table can in itself reveal areas of online learning design which need attention.
For my own practice inclusion is a key concern. Without attention to access, the application of theory to practice becomes diluted. Effective OLD takes into account the diversity of ways people access learning resources and opportunities, this is particularly important where there are no face to face clues or opportunities for discussion. Identifying potential barriers to access and participation are key to retention and success.
In the future I will be looking to building a collection of contrasting scenarios for future reference and experiment with alternative ways of presenting these e.g. diagrammatically.
Biggs, J. and Tang, C. (2011) Teaching for Quality Learning at University. 4th ed. OUP
Join the OLDsMOOC DIY Multimedia Google Group here https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!forum/olds-mooc-diy-multimedia :-)
On Tuesday, 22 January 2013 22:56:31 UTC, Joshua Underwood wrote:
Bob Ridge-Stearn
Hi Ida,
