This note recounts a potted recent history of developments to do with online content and courses and speculates about the future of credentials in respect of the purpose of a university. When learning management systems (LMS) or virtual learning environments (VLEs) were in their infancy around the turn of the century, faculty opposition to their … Continue reading A note on content, courses/curricula, and credentials
Learning design for open online courses – part 1
Further to my previous post, Learning design principles: educational pragmatists, which was an abstraction of our beliefs about teaching, this post is an attempt to set out some practical implications for designing open online courses, following from our key assertion: Change is brought about through critical, experiential, social learning activity in connected communities where people … Continue reading Learning design for open online courses – part 1
A note on badges
On FSLT13 Badges were awarded for completion of each of the four activities. Participants who wanted to collect the FSLT13 badgesl needed to register and enrol on the Moodle – AND needed to sign up for a Mozilla Backpack. Badges do not carry any academic credit but are a fun way to signal engagement with … Continue reading A note on badges
Learning design principles: educational pragmatists
I am trying to write a proper academic paper about the principles we used when developing FSLT12&13. But, as I do I find myself getting bogged down. So in the spirit of Digital scholarship (Weller 2011) I am going to exercise some of the ideas here. We are educational pragmatists. Change is brought about through … Continue reading Learning design principles: educational pragmatists
Many worlds of teaching in higher education
The intro week of #fslt13 has zipped past and things got off to a good start. Will the substance of the course hold up as well as the intro to the process? There is still a lot to do over the next five weeks but it is much better than starting with a raft of … Continue reading Many worlds of teaching in higher education
Revenue management and the price of education
Might a hospitality industry revenue management model work for higher (or post compulsory) education? This is a question that Kate Varini has recently explored with me in a paper (in submission - link to come). We probably need to further examine the similarities and differences between post compulsory education and the hospitality industry. I suspect … Continue reading Revenue management and the price of education
Activity and interaction in #fslt13 open online course
The #fslt team sat down today and thrashed out the mid-level detail of how the four activities that are at the heart of this course will work this time and how badges will be awarded for completion of activities. We had some principles to work with. Learning is dialogic. Everyone has the opportunity for peer … Continue reading Activity and interaction in #fslt13 open online course
MOOCs and teaching: a reply to Stephen Downes
Stephen Downes is unfairly hard on teachers and teaching in this post (The Great Rebranding), or may have fallen into a (rare) category error. Yes, given the way the world is organised the 25:1 or 50:1 ratio of students to teachers can be seen as a luxury that few can afford. Downes says, "Having one … Continue reading MOOCs and teaching: a reply to Stephen Downes
Teaching into the third space
I had a penny-dropped moment observing a series of tutorials in Oxford Brookes University's Interior Architecture group. The language being used by the tutors echoed, for me, the language of activity theory, actor network theory and - most importantly - third space theory. I am probably over-interpreting but until this moment I hadn't realised quite … Continue reading Teaching into the third space
My big question for #ocTEL and #fslt
It has to be fostering collegiality and community; how can collegiality and community - or a sense of community - be developed in open online courses? #ocTEL has a strong institutional, first person plural voice and a buttoned down registration process. Very professional but not warm. "Here are the aims we set." It is We … Continue reading My big question for #ocTEL and #fslt
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