Under the hood: How an authentic online course was designed, delivered and evaluated. In: Teaching and Learning Forum 2013: Design, develop, evaluate - The core of the learning environment, 7 - 8 February 2013, Murdoch University, Murdoch, W.A. (original) (raw)
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Under the hood: How an authentic online course was designed, delivered and evaluated
A key challenge for university professionals is to identify how to construct more interactive, engaging and student-centred environments that promote 21st century skills and encourage selfdirected learning. Existing research suggests the use of real-life tasks supported by new technologies, together with access to the vast array of open educational resources on the Internet, have the potential to improve the quality of online learning. This paper describes how an authentic online professional development course for higher education practitioners was designed and implemented using a learning management system (LMS) and an open companion website. It also briefly discusses how the initial iteration was evaluated and identifies recommendations for improving future iterations of the course.
Authentic online learning: Aligning learner needs, pedagogy and technology.
Over the past few decades there has been a substantial swing among higher education practitioners towards a more constructivist approach to learning. Nevertheless, it is still evident that many instructivist models are widely used in both classroom and online learning environments. A key challenge for educators is linking learner needs, pedagogy and technology in order to construct more interactive, engaging and student-centred environments that promote 21st century skills and encourage self-directed learning. Existing research suggests that the use of real-life tasks supported by new technologies, together with access to the vast array of open educational resources on the Internet, have the potential to improve the quality of online learning. This article describes how an authentic online professional development course for higher education practitioners was designed and implemented using a learning management system (LMS) and an open companion website. It then discusses how the initial iteration of the course was evaluated and provides recommendations for improving the second iteration. Finally it describes how the second iteration was modified and implemented.
Authentic online learning: Aligning learner needs, pedagogy
2013
Over the past few decades there has been a substantial swing among higher education practitioners towards a more constructivist approach to learning. Nevertheless, it is still evident that many instructivist models are widely used in both classroom and online learning environments. A key challenge for educators is linking learner needs, pedagogy and technology in order to construct more interactive, engaging and student-centred environments that promote 21st century skills and encourage self-directed learning. Existing research suggests that the use of real-life tasks supported by new technologies, together with access to the vast array of open educational resources on the Internet, have the potential to improve the quality of online learning. This article describes how an authentic online professional development course for higher education practitioners was designed and implemented using a learning management system (LMS) and an open companion website. It then discusses how the initial iteration of the course was evaluated and provides recommendations for improving the second iteration. Finally it describes how the second iteration was modified and implemented. Citation: Parker, J., Maor, D. and Herrington, J. (2013) Authentic online learning: Aligning learner needs, pedagogy and technology. Issues in Educational Research, 23 (2). pp. 227-241.
Abstract Over the past few decades there has been a massive swing among educational theorists and practitioners towards a more constructivist approach to learning. However, it is still evident that many instructivist models are widely used in both classroom and online learning environments. This article looks at how online learning is currently being delivered within the higher education sector and identifies the elements of more constructivist approaches that are being employed and how technology is being used to support student learning. It discusses some of the challenges educators face for designing and delivering student-centred learning environments and proposes a framework for investigating more authentic and engaging learning environments.
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[PDF]Achieving meaningful online learning through effective
An online course was studied to investigate how integration of formative assessment enhanced the course design to facilitate learner engagement with meaningful learning experiences within the context of ICT-related professional development for teachers. The study employed case study methodology. Participants included postgraduate students enrolled in an ICT-related online course and the course teacher within a New Zealand university. Based on the findings, integrating ongoing authentic assessment activities within teaching and learning processes engaged the students actively, and provided opportunities for ongoing monitoring and assessment. These in turn, elicited appropriate formative feedback to support and scaffold learning. These formative processes also fostered development of an effective online learning community. The interplay between formative processes and an interactive learning community sustainably fostered learners' engagement with critical learning experiences including active, interactive, contextual, collaborative, reflective, multidimensional perspectives, and self-regulated aspects of meaningful learning, which ultimately supported development of robust and transferable knowledge.