Day 1

Hello there,

Welcome to my critical reflection of Day 1 of EDN4501W, Online Learning Design.

If you didn't already know, I used to work for Oxford University Press in which I consulted on suitable learning materials for universities and business schools.

Most of our solutions were good old print books which are great and stuff (with all due respect) but I really am an advocate for getting with the times in delivering best learning instruction. So, I started dabbling with technology based solutions that were trending, building an interest in teaching with technology and find myself here writing this reflection task on a very average Monday evening. Things do get better though, because today I learned more about how I can better deliver my dream of helping all learners cope with tertiary study in a new innovative way.

Today I learned, the importance of knowing where to start in, how much do we really know about design as a question to ask ourselves when considering design for our context.

In theme 1, the TEDDIE model seem to imply Thinking never ends and that ultimately, learning design exists in the contexts of :

- Process (HE learning level)

-Product

-Profession

-Field

Activity 1 seemed to uncover where am I in terms of how I design for online learning? Where I realised I designed using more erratic methods to inspire creativity, seems to identify myself as the Artist, in which I am interested in learning about and adopting more attributes of the other Archetypes to have a holistic idea of how to be an adaptable creative designer in designing learning solutions and to better understand how to consider different learning contexts between learners in this course. Activity 2 showed me how to find and apply for suitable jobs, looking out for key words and competencies. Difference between designer and developer.

Theme 2 is where I noticed there seemed to be big emphasis on context in which we need to consider things like Context factor descriptions such as learning factors which is about ​who we teach and why we teach them a specific way. I loved the exercises in which starting with initial learning outcomes gave me an understanding of my starting point to my rationale. I struggled a bit with the Personas task in creating a persona in a learning context but I was also too busy on my phone and perhaps missed the instruction (Sorry Shanali!) help identify who our audience is and their experiences and competencies. How will they experience the learning design. Ultimately I left the session more confident in thinking about about the enablements and constraints of the context.

You are welcome to go through my own design learning context in which I used the Lowenthal framework:

Formality: Formal/ credit

Setting: K- 12, Higher education

Curriculum fit: Course within credential or degree; Module embedded in a course or credential; Stand alone module

Synchronous/ Asynchronous: [70% Synchronous/ 30% Asynchronous]

Pacing: Fixed - standard term; Fixed - Accelerated term

% online : [20 % online and 80 % on-site]

Developmental Model: Instructor is designing a course in which web-based or other materials are designed by others are incorporated into his/her own materials

Targeted Learning: Skills and operations

Subject area : Academic Literacy

Media: Multimedia, Primarily audio and video

Teachers and Learners: Instructor Role; Instructor - less engaged/present

Cohort Group: Continuing cohort or established group

Communication: Communication primarily with students

Student collaboration: Ongoing student collaboration on projects and issues that arise

Teacher Preparation: First time teaching online

Student diversity: Heterogeneous [Includes learners from different schools, different back grounds]

Class size: [up to 50]

Why does this learning design matter to me?

As an educational consultant servicing the Higher Education market across Southern Africa with sound educational solutions, in the public and private markets, I have discovered a necessary opportunity to equip the grade 12 learners with the necessary solution to the problem of academic readiness. Anecdotal evidence has shown that there exists a massive demand for academic literacy intervention before learners even get to academic support units at tertiary institutions and this is evident by monitoring the huge dropout rates of students in their first year of study in South Africa, many of which are ill prepared for tertiary study and lack the necessary attitude to take ownership of their learning, and manage their time effectively. I have identified an opportunity to better prepare grade 12 learners to succeed in tertiary study using a learning management system to encourage the responsibility of learning in a conversational way to promote high order thinking.