Spanning across stage and backstage, there is a simple teaching and learning model that builds upon the following main beliefs:
Student-centered and active learning walk hand-in-hand, the former being largely dictated by organizational aspects, and the latter by pedagogical aspects
Course organization should emphasize planning and flexibility, providing full information to the students about what they have to do, but letting them as much as possible decide when, how and where to do it
Flipped classroom methods adapt particularly well to active learning models, by calling for the participation of students and exercising the upper layer activities of the Bloom’s taxonomy pyramid
In line with the beliefs listed above, all my backstage components comply with the following rules:
Content shall provide lectures / reading materials for knowledge acquisition and discussions plus laboratory assignments for knowledge application
Knowledge acquisition shall be supported by lectures delivered in the form of short videos (<10 minutes) that are normally used as standalone activities
Knowledge application shall be supported by content designed for collaborative activities, in the form of asynchronous discussions enabling anyone in class to participate whenever it is convenient, and coursework assignments to be carried out by groups of students
All content (presentations / discussions / assignments) should be provided in the form of learning units where the educational content (e.g. a short video) is accompanied by the expected learning outcomes, and optional complementary materials and activities
Learning activities shall be designed so that students can work collaboratively without travelling (video conferencing) or even meeting (asynchronous discussions)
All content shall be anchored in a single website
The first implementation of these rules used a dedicated Google site, which was much easier to adapt than the e-learning platform that was provided by BUC and HBV (predecessors to HSN, which in turn preceded USN). The same organization was adopted for the implementation of the Google sites supporting the subsequent editions of the course until 2017/18, when Canvas — offering a richer environment — became the prefered choice. The Google sites used during the first 4 years are illustrated in appendix #1 for the 2016/17 edition of the DFDS3101 course.
Read next — Backstage: Content