Hello Hello!
Sorry for this outdated post…
here’s my reflection for Lecture 3 and the readings.
I thought the lecture was pretty concise, covering 4 main points (3W,1H). I just summarize them.
Basically they are…
WHAT is Learning Design?
We can tell from the two words that it meant designing learning experiences, which involves a sequence of activities and interactions. It is an alternative to Instructional Design (ID: which I’ll touch on below) and is implement with the use of ICT. Thereby creating a platform for learning process to take place through interactions. 3 important elements have to be present when designing a learning experience:
▲ Resources: which is a source of supply, support or aid to the learners, one that they can rely on to drawn help from. (e.g. e-books, websites)
❍ Support
❑ Tasks: a piece of work assigned to the learner (e.g. to learn how to bake a cheesecake.)
The kind of task assigned, the flow of activities to emulate prescribed instructional strategies for different kinds of learning content is vital when designing a learning experience. Learning is not a linear process, but rather it works in an iterative circle. It requires refinement overtime.
WHY design learning?
With the emerging nature of learning, the pace it revolutionize and changes, there is an increased need to improve/revise learning design to better suit the present context. At the same time it is an improvement over ID. Due to the few shortcomings of ID such as its rigidity, inflexibility and time lag, learning design is developed. However, it does not replace ID entirely but instead, incorporated several elements of ID to make it more viable. Most importantly, design learning places the onus of learning onto the learner, allowing them to learn independently instead of just spoon-feeding.
How to design learning?
- Review the current course structure.
- Analyze the course.
- Comparison of teaching techniques.
- Compare course formats.
- Specify final course format.
- Not a linear process.
- Outlining the overall learning activity and associated learning outcomes.
- Listing potential mini activities.
- Outline contextual details in terms of resource and constraints.
- Map mini-activities to potential tools and resources.
WHAT is effective design?
Basically the new method of e-learning concentrates on articulating, developing, sequencing and iterating learning activities and tasks to help learners achieve desired learning outcomes. Hence, as “educators”, we should have the flexibility to alter learning activities and tasks to achieve the best possible learning effect. We need to realize that there is no 100% flawless and perfect learning design but we can optimize one’s learning experience by modifying and adapting to the related context. After all, we need to consider the different learning context, abilities of learners etc before fine-tuning our learning design.
In additional..
That we as educators, need to cater to learners’ needs. We should provide motivating and stimulating environments to maintain learner’s interest, and allowing them to work beyond their comfort zones→ develop skills knowledge and understanding. At the same time, giving learners the liberty of choosing the types of tasks they wish to engage in. As mentioned above, for effectiveness to be maximized, we need to be flexible. Having said that, flexibility in making the learners feel empowered and attachment over their learning experiences. Only when the learners are utilized with sound learning designs, can they create meaningful learning experiences and deliver greater beneficial outcomes.
There is a need to strike a balance when design learning. Moderation is the word. It’s like cooking; adding to much salt makes the dish salty; too much consideration to nutrition, makes it boring and unappetizing. Same thing, if we are too concerned over the resources/tools used, we’ll end up getting too carried away and neglect the other important aspects. Hence it is definitely important to strike an equilibrium.
From the readings, we understand the 4 main types of designs.
(1) Rule-based
- Learners are expected a apply a set of standard procedures to achieve an outcome.
- E.g. math algorithm problems where learners are expected to “abide by the rules”, follow a standard formula in order to achieve the end result.
(2) Incident-based
- The interaction between the learner and events.
- Similar to a consequential thought process.
- Learners participate in activities that require them to reflect and think about their actions/next step with regard to an event.
- E.g. many times during exams, to test our understanding and knowledge, we are given real life scenarios to apply the concepts that we are taught in during curriculum time.
(3) Strategy-based
- Using strategic planning by providing learners with sample tasks, answers, examples etc.
(4) Role-based
- Through the assumption of roles applied to real-life settings (role-playing), learners acquire skills and understanding.
- E.g. in the previous modules I took before, such as NM2219, we were supposed to assume the role of a PR practitioner and were given a scenario where we are supposed to act upon based on our understanding to public relations and crisis management. Through this, indirectly we are learning the skills/knowledge.
Yup. That’s pretty much what’s from the lecture and readings. Though pretty comprehensible, I still have my doubts. In one of the readings, the author mentioned, constructivists and cognitivists, where the former pedagogical focus is task-oriented, is oriented to designs and discovery and learn by building on their own mental structures when interacting with an environment, whereas, the latter’s pedagogical focus is on processing, and transmission of information through communication, explanation etc.
They seemed so familiar! Pretty confused by these 2 concepts actually. But all in all, this topic about the design methods, types and all is comprehensible. I’m sure it will help me design learning better in future ((:
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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