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Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors’ Tutors’ designs and designs and creations in creations in their VLE their VLE areas. areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of Education P e e k i n g O u t b y R i c h a r d L o w k e s h t t p : / / w w w . f l i c k r . c o m / p h o t o s / r i c h a r d l o w k e s /

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Page 1: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Designs for learning with VLEs

Tutors’ designs Tutors’ designs and creations in and creations in their VLE areas.their VLE areas.

Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

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Page 2: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 2

Overview of the next 10 minutes

1. Project background2. Putting a VLE in place3. Articulating designs4. Integrating VLE and non-VLE designs5. Selection and use of different tools6. Conclusions and implications

Page 3: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 3

Blended / f2f10 UK institutions• HE• FE• ACL

Focus on 3 VLEs• Moodle (6)• Blackboard (2)• WebCT (2)

Background: scope and focus

support

The institutions

learning

teaching

VLE

Page 4: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 4

Background: participants

Hill College (Moodle)

Brett

Fred

LucaOlly

PeteZoe

Ozzy

Rachel Lake University (Moodle)

Downs College (Moodle)

Kurt

JedIan

IkeBen

Bart

Laurie

Bay College (Moodle)

Chris

Cliff College (Blackboard)

Ina

Tim

Rick

Lila

KathyKitty

PetraDella

Babak

Uplands University (Blackboard)

Colin

Island College (WebCT)

Luke

Paul

Forest College (Moodle)

Mike

River University (WebCT)

Bill

Valley College (Moodle)

Dave

Learner

Tutor

E-learning lead

E-learning lead & tutor

KEY

Studying with

Interview participants

Page 5: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 5

Findings: learning technology contacts

Putting a VLE in place

Page 6: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 6

An overview of VLE adoption

Deciding on a VLE

Procurement

Replacement

Stages of adoption

FlexibilityControl

CostRisk

PedagogyPeers

UsabilityAwareness

Playtime

Piloting

Formalisation

Status quo

Page 7: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 7

Summary of putting a VLE in place

• Overall, concerns focused on institutional, technical and administrative issues» Classified into two categories» 40 Organisational, 26 Educational

• Grappling with organisational issues diverts attention from designing for learning

• Slightly more than 1/3 were directly to do with designing for learning» Still unclear how organisational issues affect this process

Page 8: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 8

Findings: learning technology contacts

Articulating designs

Page 9: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 9

Whether and how

• All teachers design for learning• Designs are rarely fully articulated on the VLE• Even designs for VLE-based learning is not

represented on the VLE itself» Stuff without rationale

• Course areas are usually inscrutable if viewed in isolation

• Designs can only be observed in the connections between elements of learning and teaching» On a VLE: order, timing, layout, formatting, commentary

flagging of gaps

Page 10: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 10

Findings: learning technology contacts

Integrating VLE and non-VLE designs

Page 11: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 11

Integrating practices within the study

• Some very creative manoeuvring» To keep students participating in all areas

• Design adapted ‘on the fly’» Flexibility was an original selling point of VLEs» … they encourage an open-ended design process

• Tutors talked about running designs, not about designs or the process of designing

• So what is “the” design we should be studying?» A process, not a single artefact

Page 12: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 12

Design blindness

• Technocentricity v. learner centricity divided the tutors» Should new tools suggest new ways to teach? » … or should an expert teacher select the tools needed to

meet learners’ requirements?

• Tutors were unable to think of ways to preserve new practice if the VLE were withdrawn» Changes in practice associated with the tool itself rather

than a new way of doing things» Integration a strength, but pedagogy ‘hidden’ by VLE

Page 13: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 13

Findings: learning technology contacts

Selection and use of

different VLE tools

Page 14: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 14

VLE features used by tutors (2nd questionnaire)

High take-up of•Content presentation

•Forums•Groups•Self-test•Selective release

Distinctively(social)constructivisttools less used

Oz Lu Ina T4 T5 Br R T8 T9 Bar La F BaFile uploadLinkingTutor elements*Learner elements*Chat L-to-LForum L-to-LChat L-to-TForum L-to-TSelf testAssignmentsGroupsSelective release* eg wikis, web pages, glossaries, blogsNamed tutors were also interviewed

Page 15: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 15

Why are some Moodle’s most distinctive tools underused?

• E.g.Wiki, Glossary, Workshop• There is little time available for innovation

» Tutors have little protected time to design, police, scaffold and assess online activities

» Diverting learners’ self-study time into highly interactive online learning has implications

• Institutions are built round traditional learning» No frameworks exist for assessing new forms, » Participation is notoriously low for unassessed activities

• Complexity of the tools can put people off• The tools emphasise process but blended courses

offer ample f2f opportunities to acquire these skills

Page 16: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 16

Conclusions and

implications

Case studies

Page 17: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 17

Overview of design for learning in VLEs

Tutors design but m

ay not make

that design explicit

straight into VLE (a representation)

Content & activities

Relationships

eg sequence,order, explanation

because of context

and maybe

as

eg time, maintenance, complexity, keeping flexible, infrastructure, simply no need

Page 18: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 18

Implications

• Realising creativity on a VLE requires considerable institutional» Flexibility» Support for experiments» Support for networks to share ideas and inspiration

• If it is considered desirable that designs are fully articulated in VLEs (eg for audit or sharing)» Incentivisation required» A maintenance burden must be anticipated

• Eliciting design practice» Access to logs would be helpful – ‘interview-plus’» A more naturalistic approach?

Page 19: Designs for learning with VLEs Tutors designs and creations in their VLE areas. Mira Vogel, Goldsmiths, University of London Martin Oliver, Institute of

Mira Vogel, 24 May 06 19

Acknowledgements & further info

• Helen Beetham, JISC (consultant)• Martin Oliver, IoE (consultant)• Liz Masterman, University of Oxford• Sarah Knight, JISC (kind and patient project

manager)• All the participants.

• The report:» http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/

D4L_VLE_report_final.pdf

• Email Martin or me:» [email protected], [email protected]