FLIGHT PATH: A Plan for Learning
My educational design journey began as a corporate trainer of business communication in the Middle East. I was tasked to improve the communication skills of consultants of an accounting firm who were of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. At that time, and without knowing ADDIE, I completed learner needs assessment, set learning outcomes, designed and delivered F2F courses, and supervised design and administration of online skills assessments. There was no opportunity for me to progress my interest in educational design beyond that domain, and I did not stay at the firm.
A year later, in New Zealand, I had the opportunity to design courses for a post-secondary program in Communication and Media Arts. I promoted eLearning and the Moodle LMS and went on to design two 16-week semester courses in Moodle, complete with teaching and learning resources, and assessments. This work was positively received.
I then had the opportunity to design Moodle-based assessments for first line management courses run by the NZ Institute of Management. I still work with NZIM in a freelance ed design capacity, but it has been slow going for the trainers to embrace online assessments, and they still collect paper-based assessments in the mail.
I then was contracted by a national NZ retailer to design some management development courses using their preferred technology of Composica courseware and the Equip LMS. The subject matter was human resource management, legislation and procedures, and team building. I designed problem-based eLearning courses and the firm was very appreciative of this learning pedagogy.
I now work as an educational designer at the Faculty of Education at The University of Auckland, and am using Moodle on a regular basis, as well as many other technologies. My current projects are giving me the opportunity to trial screencasting software and graphics software, as well as to conceptualise and develop improvements to Moodle-based “flexi courses”.
I also work on a private design venture: a community of practice website which requires social network software. I hope to develop a rich, efficient, socially networked community. Some issues have arisen with this project as sourcing programmers in open source forums and ‘doing business’ with some of them has revealed some risks of developing learning environments on open source software. However, I am committed to the community of practice project and to seeing the outcomes once it is launched.
My LMS goal for ETEC 565A is to explore functions of Moodle that I am not so familiar with, which means social interaction in modes other than text (to account for different learning styles and Web 2.0 communication) and to learn about SCORM and software integration. I am curious about Moodle 2.0.
I do not have much experience with social media (facebook learning, mobile learning, blogging, twitter, etc) so I don’t have any set goals in mind here, other than to learn as much as I can through our assignments and conversations.
My multimedia experience is limited to Audacity audio recordings, image design and animation in Fireworks (Adobe), MS Powerpoint, and some limited use of Captivate and Camtasia for movie/flash production. I have only recently begun to use professional graphics software like Photoshop and Illustrator; in the past, I’ve managed solely with Fireworks.
Regards assessment, this is an area that I have experience with in terms of Moodle-based formative and summative assessments. I have designed quizzes and used the assignment box function. I love the responsiveness of Moodle functions for learner feedback, and I value highly the ability to write auto-generated feedback to quiz answers so that learners have immediate feedback, and the options for adaptive and non-adaptive, one attempt only versus multiple attempts in quiz design. The various options for the assignment box are also helpful.
As a backdrop to my current professional and academic endeavours, I am very influenced by the ‘community of inquiry’ model (Garrison et al, 2007) and Anderson’s (2008) theory of online learning interaction. Carr’s (2010) novel has also influenced my understanding of sensory perception, working memory and cognitive load in online learning.
Anderson, T. (2008). Toward a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and Practice of Online Learning, Chapter 2 (pp. 45-74). Available online at:
http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008_Anderson-Online_Learning.pdf
Carr, N. (2010). The Shallows: How the internet is changing the way we think, read and remember. London: Atlantic Books.
Garrison, R., Anderson, T., Archer, W and Rourke, L. (2007). The community of inquiry model. Calgary: University of Calgary.
http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Community_of_inquiry_model