While I have not taught online, I have taken a number of courses online, including a recent completion of one MOOC. I’ve started a number of MOOC courses, but only completed one. I now fall into the 15% group of MOOC completers!
Since the early 2000’s, I have put together hundreds of online courses. For the most part, I was just putting content online. Even with my experience putting courses online, actually taking online courses was what really helped me to understand course design from a learner-centred perspective. Anderson defines the “task of the online course designer …is to choose, adapt, and perfect, through feedback, assessment, and reflection, educational activities that maximize the affordances of the Web”(2008a). This is much, much more than merely publishing content. Throughout the MET program I am learning to understand and appreciate the role of a course designer to a much greater depth.
So the lens I can explore the attributes of learning in terms of being learner-, knowledge-, assessment- and community-centred is from both a student and an online course designer perspective.
Learner-centred
Anderson considers “efforts to gain an understanding of students’ prerequisite knowledge” , the learning environment’s sensitivity to cultural attributes, such as language and particular forms of expression that the learner uses to interpret and build knowledge as aspects of being learner or learning-centred. I found that as a course designer, or instructor it is easy to assume what the learner knows or needs in order to learn. It was not until I took online courses did I see that those “assumptions” built into the course did not necessarily help learners. This helped me to look at the courses I work on from the perspective of the student. Sometimes a course writer many have a tendency to write in a way that confuses new learners who are not yet comfortable with the “jargon” or technical language. Something simple like a word used to label a link may be misleading, and create small obstacles for learners. This is where the student feedback is important to consider. I think a course which is well designed should be easy to follow and access. I try to make the language clear and concise, use visual cues where appropriate, and set-up navigation so it requires minimal effort by the users. I try to make the LMS “fade into the background”, so learners are not overwhelmed by the technology or have to spend time to learn to use the LMS. They should be able to dive into the course.
Knowledge-centred
Anderson refers to the web as “providing a near limit-less means for them to grow their knowledge”, which can easily become overwhelming (2008a). In many of the online courses I have taken, I have noticed that the courses are designed so that the learner gains knowledge incrementally. They are often designed so that the knowledge about a topic is not too much and too soon. The instructor/course designers have “chunked” and organized the information into pre-screened accessible pieces of information, and opportunities to reflect on learning experiences. In particular, I have enjoyed courses which include information in video format, or a case study approach.
Assessment-centred
Assessments I have enjoyed as a student have involved the creation of something where I get a opportunity to apply or demonstrate what I have learned. I have noticed that overall in the MET program, being entirely online, manages to have many different and enjoyable types of assessments. I would even say that the online courses provide variety of assessments compared to the face-to-face courses I have taken. This may be due the affordances of Web 2.0 as Anderson discusses.
Community-centred
Of all the “centreds”, this is my favourite. In my opinion, it’s also the hardest one to implement successfully. Anderson states that “the community-centred lens allows us to include the critical social component of learning in our online learning designs”. Anderson refers to this mostly in the online community context. In adult education, community-centredness is more easily achievable, as students are often working in the fields they are studying. For example, fire-fighter students can connect with their own communities, by working on projects that require them to go out and take photos of buildings in their communities, and study the floor plans and create evacuation plans. They then share the results with their local fire chief as well as with the online class. This sharing of information enriches the knowledge of the other online students, who may be located in another city or province and creates a sense of community online.
Works Cited
Anderson, T. (2008a). Towards a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf
Anderson, T. (2008b). Teaching in an online learning context. In Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and practice of online learning. Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/14_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf