ELearning Design

Course code: IFI7140

Facilitator: Terje Väljataga (Tallinn University)

Credit points: 5 ECTS

Register at Wikiversity and add your contact information.

Objectives

The objective of the course is to familiarize students with the domain of e-learning through international group work, which focuses on the design of e-learning course.

Course outline

Through a series of practical hands-on activities and reflective discussions in international study groups, students will gain insight to e-learning concepts, issues, technologies, standards, methods and policies that are introduced with real-life examples and with the support of a distributed learning environment. Special attention will be given to integration issues in learning technology domain, knowledge management and social-constructivist methods of computer-supported collaborative learning and networking. Students will apply self-directed learning principles using conversational learning contracts.

Learning outcomes

Students will:

become familiar with key concepts, competing theories and approaches of designing e-learning,
develop practical skills of setting up, implementing and evaluating the use of distributed services and tools,
design a prototype of an e-learning course, develop or advance competences in self-directing learning projects, cross-cultural collaboration and social networking.

Course tools

A selection of different materials can be found in Delicious

Information about the course (schedule, tasks, material) can be found here, in eLearning course wiki.

Everybody in this course is required to have a personal Weblog. If you want to use a Weblog from previous time, please add 'IFI7140' tag to each of your posts related to this course.

Facilitators' Weblogs: Terje Väljataga

Group projects can be started in Wikiversity wiki or any other alternative tools the group chooses

Course outline

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO E-LEARNING AND COURSE DESIGN

1.03-7.03

Goals: Getting an overview of the course schedule, environment and tasks; assembling a personal learning environment to participate in the course; getting to know about different e-learning trends and their influence on course design principles.

Tasks:

Familiarize yourself with the course schedule, materials, assessment criteria, etc. on the course page in Wikiversity
Create a personal Weblog and write down an introduction about yourself. You might want to use an introduction template: your name, university, your interests, your previous experiences with online learning, which social media tools and services have you used previously (weblog, wiki, social bookmarking tools, chat, etc.), your expectations about the course.
Create a Delicious account and bookmark your Weblog in Delicious with the tag desel. Use the tag desel to mark each bookmark that you want to share with the course participants.

Reading and reflection:

Read the course materials.
Reflect on your learning experiences in your personal Weblog following the reflection template.

1. What are your expectations with this course?

2. Reflect and summarize on course readings in your personal Weblog: What are the trends in e-learning and how do they influence online course design?

3. What was the most important thing that you learned this week? What kind of questions/ideas/experiences this week’s activities raised for you? How is it related with your expectations of the course?

4. Was there something you didn’t quite understand and want to know more about?

5. Describe the tools and resources of your personal learning environment. Were there problems in constructing a personal learning environment?

Material:

What is Learning Sciences

New Web 2.0 spaces for e-learning

Foundations of educational theory for online learning

Toward a theory of online learning

WEEK 2: INTRODUCTION TO PERSONAL LEARNING CONTRACT AND SELF-REFLECTION

8.03-14.03

Goals: Getting to know, how learning contracts and self-reflection can enhance individual learning; initiating one's own learning contracts; getting to know other participants in this course; forming study groups.

Tasks:

Write down your personal learning contract in your personal Weblog according to the learning contract template:

My objectives: Why I wish to learn/do something, what is meaningful for me/for my group as part of the assignment I am responsible of?

What resources will I need: What software tools and resources I am going to use? Resources can be people, different artifacts, materials.

How will I do it: What is my strategy to achieve my objectives? What is the order of my actions? How will I use different resources in my actions?

Evaluation criteria: How do I know that I was successful? Develop measurable criteria to evaluate your activities in respect of your objectives.

Self-reflection: Did I achieve my objectives? Use the criteria what you developed to assess how well did you work. Reflect, what worked and what did not?

Go to the course page in Wikiversity and write down your name, institution, e-mail and personal Weblog address to one of the groups. Contact with the group members. This group continues working together during the whole course.

Reading and reflection:

1. Reflect and summarise on course readings in your personal Weblog: How can a conversational personal contract improve self-directed learning?'

2. What was the most important thing you learned this week? What kind of questions/ideas/experiences this week’s activities raised for you? How is it related with the self-development plan in your personal learning contract?

3. Was there something you didn’t quite understand and want to know more about it?

Material:

What is self-directed learning in Web 2.0 spaces?

WEEK 3: THE ROLE OF GROUPWORK, COMMUNITIES, NETWORKS AND COLLABORATION TOOLS FOR PREPARING AN ONLINE COURSE IN DISTANCE

15.03-21.03

Goals: Assembling the group environment of social media tools and services for regulating group work; reflecting on how collaborative tools can support the distant group in preparing the e-learning course.

Tasks:

Create a collaboration environment for your study group. You can choose whatever tools and services and create accounts if needed. This environment is for regulating your group tasks within your group. It can be changed and completed during the whole groupwork.

Reading and reflection:

1. Reflect and summarize on course readings in your personal Weblog: Which principles of groupwork, communities of practice and collaborative learning should a distributed group consider, when planning the design of an e-learning course?'

2. What was the most important thing you learned this week? What kind of questions/ideas/experiences this week’s activities raised for you? How is it related with the self-development plan in your personal learning contract?

3. Was there something you didn’t quite understand and want to know more about it?

4. What is your evaluation of this week's groupwork? (What went well and what did not? How did groupwork influence fulfilling your personal learning contract?)

5. Describe what has changed in your personal learning environment and in group environment?

Material:

Developing team skills and accomplishing team projects online

How to build a group environment from social tools?

WEEK 4: COURSE DESIGN PRINCIPLES - LEARNING FROM GOOD AND BAD EXAMPLES

22.03-28.04

Goals: getting to know of the main components of course design using theoretical materials, as well as, learning from practical course examples, finding a common ground through team reflections on what are good online courses like.

Tasks:

Find at least one good and one bad example case of course design and reflect your opinions of these courses in your personal Weblog. Visit the blogs of your groupmates, read their reflections of course designs and add your opinions as comments about these courses.
As a group define what are the criteria for a good online course and reflect it in your group space (whatever you choose this to be), but make this group space visible to other groups by posting a link to your personal Weblogs.

Reading and reflection

1. Reflect and summarize on course readings in your personal Weblog: Explain, what are the components of course design!

2. What was the most important thing you learned this week? What kind of questions/ideas/experiences this week’s activities raised for you? How is it related with the self-development plan in your personal learning contract?

3. Was there something you didn’t quite understand and want to know more about it?

4. What is your evaluation of this week's groupwork? (What went well and what did not? How did groupwork influence fulfilling your personal learning contract?)

5. Describe what has changed in your personal learning environment and in group environment?

Material:

File:5FirstPrinciples.PDF

File:The use of Traditional ISD for eLearning.pdf

Course prototype examples from last year:

Example 1: [1]

Example 2: [2]

Example 3: [3]

Example 4: [4]

Example 5: [5]

Example 6: [6]

Example 7: [7]

WEEK 5: SELF-DIRECTED WORK

29.03-4.04 EASTER WEEK BREAK

Goals: Revising personal learning contracts.

Tasks:

Revise your personal learning contract if needed, considering what you have learned so far and what is going differently from your initial plans. Please start a new blog post for revision and keep the first version of the contract. Refer to the first version.

WEEK 6: PREPARING OUR OWN COURSE PRINCIPLES AND SETTING UP A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

5.04-11.04

Goals: Preparing the first insight to the planned course, reflecting on the goals and objectives, design principles and process (roster) of the course; deciding how to share responsibilities on preparing the course as a group; investigating what is the best learning environment setting for the course and assembling this learning environment.

You can use a Weblog, Google.docs, Zoho, wiki or other possibilities for preparing the joint course draft.

Tasks:

In work group write down the goals and objectives, design principles and process (roster) of your course. For reflection activities use personal Weblogs. The course roster could be prepared in the group wiki or you can choose other shared tool to develop it.
Group members monitor and comment each others' reflections to come on common ground what is the best learning environment for their course. Individual blogs and mashup tools are used to monitor each other's ideas.
As a group, set up a learning environment for your course

Reading and reflection:

1. Reflect and summarize on course readings in your personal Weblog: Explain, which type of learning environment is best suitable for your e-learning course?

2. What was the most important thing you learned this week? What kind of questions/ideas/experiences this week’s activities raised for you? How is it related with the self-development plan in your personal learning contract?

3. Was there something you didn’t quite understand and want to know more about it?

4. What is your evaluation of this week's groupwork? (What went well and what did not? How did groupwork influence fulfilling your personal learning contract?)

5. Describe what has changed in your personal learning environment and in group environment?

Material:

Learning metaphors and learning design principles

Instructional design models

WEEK 7: PEER-REVIEW OF COURSE MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT IN GROUPS, COMPILING THE COURSE

12.04-18.04

Goals: Learning from the peers - group-mates review each other's prepared materials, and give feedback on how to be more effective on personal tasks, and how to improve the quality of their work. Compiling the course.

Tasks:

Individually review groupmates' prepared material for your course.
Improve your prepared material based on peer-review.
As a group compile the course timeline, add the prepared content, assignments and assessments to your learning environment.

Reading and reflection:

1. What was the most important thing you learned this week? What kind of questions/ideas/experiences this week’s activities raised for you? How is it related with the self-development plan in your personal learning contract?

2. Was there something you didn’t quite understand and want to know more about it?

3. What is your evaluation of this week's groupwork? (What went well and what did not? How did groupwork influence fulfilling your personal learning contract?)

4. Describe what has changed in your personal learning environment and in group environment?

SPRING BREAK (WEEK 8)

19.04-23.04 Spring holiday break

WEEK 9: FORMATIVE EVALUATION PLANS AND PEER-EVALUATION OF THE COURSE

26.04-2.05

Goals: As a group develop a formative evaluation plan of your e-learning course prototypes, present it to the external networks and other groups for getting peer-evaluations. Using the peer-evaluation data, make a critical analysis what needs to be improved and implement these improvements on course designs.

Tasks:

As a group create a formative evaluation plan for your whole course.
Present course prototype with formative evaluation plan to external networks and other groups.
Compose and collect peer-evaluation of the course.

Reading and reflection:

1. Reflect and summarize on course readings in your personal Weblog: How to formatively evaluate e-learning course designs?

2. What was the most important thing you learned this week? What kind of questions/ideas/experiences this week’s activities raised for you? How is it related with the self-development plan in your personal learning contract?

3. Was there something you didn’t quite understand and want to know more about it?

4. What is your evaluation of this week's groupwork? (What went well and what did not? How did groupwork influence fulfilling your personal learning contract?)

5. Describe what has changed in your personal learning environment and in group environment?

Material:

Creating an online university course: a formative evaluation process

WEEK 10: FINAL COURSE PRESENTATION, EVALUATING INDIVIDUAL AND GROUPWORK

3.05-9.05

Goals: Evaluating finalised course prototypes; revising personal learning contracts; self-assessing and peer-assessing individual students on their achievements.

Tasks:

Revise your contract and evaluate your activities during the course. This is part of your grade!
Give assessment to your group-mates' work. You can leave it as comments under their final contract. This is part of the grade too!

Reading and reflection:

1. Students reflect on their final learning experiences in personal learning contracts: How well could i fulfill my goals?

2. What was the most important thing you learned this week? What kind of questions/ideas/experiences this week’s activities raised for you? How is it related with the self-development plan in your personal learning contract?

3. Was there something you didn’t quite understand and want to know more about it?

4. What is your evaluation of this week's groupwork? (What went well and what did not? How did groupwork influence fulfilling your personal learning contract?)

5. Describe what has changed in your personal learning environment and in group environment?

Graded assessment

Facilitators are going to give you a final grade based on the following assessment scheme:

25 % of the grade is given by the facilitator for individual reading and reflecting activities in personal weblogs. To get the assessment, students must reflect upon the home-reading questions and personal experience questions.

25 % of the grade is given by the peers for a student's individual progress (according to the evaluation criteria developed by the student in his/her personal learning contract).

25 % of the grade is given by a student himself/herself for his/her individual learning (according to the evaluation criteria developed by the student in his/her personal learning contract).

Facilitator's assessment, peer-assessment and self-assessment is given based on the following criteria:

A - outstanding performance with only minor errors (90-100%)

B - above the average standard but with some errors (80-90%)

C - generally good work with a number of notable errors (70-80%)

D - fair but with significant shortcomings (60-70%)

E - passable performance, meeting the minimum criteria (50-60%)

F - considerable work required before the grade can be awarded (less than 50%)

25 % of the grade is given by the facilitator on group product (prototypes of e-learning courses). Facilitators are going to take into account the following criteria and points (every following statement gets from 0 to 4 points):

Absent (0)

Poor (1)

Average (2)

Good (3)

Excellent (4)

1. Course objectives are outlined and measurable (observable)

2. Learning material is necessary and sufficient for supporting course objectives

3. Quality of learning materials (material is appropriate for the target audience)

4. Clarity of learning materials

5. Authenticity of learning materials

6. Using different media and the media is appropriate for the material presentation

7. Course design is interactive that allows learners to engage in some type of activity

8. Assignments support course objectives

9. Course environment supports execution of the assignments

10. Intuitiveness of using the learning environment

11. Monitoring and feedback options are presented

12. A learner can customise the learning environment

13. Evaluation criteria support course objectives

14. Evaluation criteria are clear and measurable from the course assignments

15. Objectives, content and assessment are aligned (parts of the course add up a complete picture)

Points will be counted and the grade will be given for the designed e-learning course prototype according to this scheme:

A (54-60 points) Excellent - outstanding performance with only minor errors (90%-100%)

B (58-53 points) Very good - above the average standard but with some errors (80%-90%)

C (42-47 points) Good - generally good work with a number of notable errors (70%-80%)

D (36-41 points) Satisfactory - fair but with significant shortcomings (60%-70%)

E (30-35 points) Sufficient – passable performance, meeting the minimum criteria (50%-60%)

F (less than 38 points) Fail - considerable work required before the credit can be awarded (less than 50%)

An example of the process of getting a final grade.

1. individual reading and reflecting activities assessed by a group facilitator

For example half of the reading and reflecting activities are done (50-60%), thus the grade would be E

2. a student's individual progress assessed by a peer-student

For example a peer student thinks that a student has reached his goals written down in his learning contract, thus the grade would be A

3. self-assessment

For example a student thinks that he didn't manage to fulfill all the goals in a way he had planned and gives him a grade C (70-80%)

4. group product evaluated by a group facilitator

For example total points for the group product will be 57 points, which means a grade B

Thus E+A+C+B=C Final grade for a student in this course would be C