Like the first post, I shall try answering the questions that Mr. Low had provided us – which are: What is Learning Design? Why design learning? How to design learning?

First, What is Learning Design?

Simply put (or rather, what the lecture note says :P), Learning design is a variety of ways of designing learning experiences. Another definition I found in the reading (From “Describing ICT-based learning designs that promote quality learning outcomes”) says to describe a representation of the learning experience to which students are exposed. The keyword here will be ’learning experience’. Having that, I will say that Learning Design is a well-organized set/form of learning experiences. ..Hope that sounds good enough (: I feel that typing down all these definitions are quite redundant, but I’ll stop with this last one found in the same reading: Tasks are part of a learning design, a deliberately planned set of experiences that are intended to help students/learners learn. –This one was the most understandable one for me!

Why design learning?

I always feel that these ‘why’ questions are a bit troublesome to answer, but at the same time quite important. As I wrote in my former post (and Vanessa has agreed with me, thanks!), I feel that asking ‘why’ questions are a good way to learn and maintain the knowledge/information, because it actually makes you think of the fact deeply. I’ll pick up some points from the readings:

“..The value of designing for learning lies in the fact that teachers can use the resulting learning designs to plan the learning experiences that learners need to achieve the planned learning outcomes.”

According to the reading, well-designed workflows can:

1. cater for the needs of individual learners
   
2. provide motivating and stimulating environments to maintain learner interest
   
3. provide the support learners need to work beyond their comfort zones as they develop their skills, knowledge and understanding
   
4. provide scope for students to choose the activities in which they will engage
   
5. can be used over and over again by other teachers and students to achieve other learning outcomes
   

These are the stuff that I picked up from the readings, so there may be things that I missed out..

Anyway, I do think that Learning Design is important.

This is not designing for educational purposes (slightly, it is though), but I was doing the assignment for NM3208 (Designing Content for New Media – quite tough module, double-check the students who took this module before bidding! LOL), which was to re-design the Multimedia Development Laboratory (MDL) website into a new one. What we failed to do, was to think of a design beforehand. One reason for this was because we never done creating a website, but the secondary reason is because we didn’t have a certain design idea. Since we kept putting in new ideas and throwing out the old ones at the same time, we had to keep on checking what was done, and what we need to do next.

I guess this is the same with Learning Design. If it’s not well-designed first, during the teaching process, you’ll recognizing some lacking parts, or redundant stuff. So that’s why need to do Learning Design, I think (:

By the way, I still don’t know the difference between Learning Design and Instructional Design.. Is it just that Instructional Design is a linear process using the ADDIE model, but Learning Design is not? And why does Design Learning ‘Places the onus of learning onto the learner’? (Both of this comes from the lecture notes) Think I need to re-read my stuff, or ask Mr. Low!

Ok, the last question – How to design learning?

This is what we did during the lecture activities (: Learning design compromises task (what learners are required to do, square), resources (things that supports learners to conduct the task, triangle), and support mechanisms (exist from a teacher implementing it, circle). First we choose the objective, then the task, and after that, the we decide what is best for the learners to complete the task, combining the resources and supports.

The activity was quite interesting – thought it could be applied not only to educational stuff, but also in normal life. For example, when you want to plan a menu for the coming tennis match, or when you want to plan for the midterm test. The objective will be to get an A for the midterm, the task will be to completely understand Lecture 1-6, and use the resources and supports (: It also reminded me of advertising and PR – because these require a well-organized plan.

When we design learning, we will need to keep in mind to:

• Analyze the course
  
• Compare and contrast the teaching techniques
  
• Consider the techniques that best suite the course format
  
• Think of the outcomes
  
• It is NOT a linear process
  

Awww I’m so bad at summarizing stuff D: It keeps on going so long! Sigh

Writing this blog makes me realize how much I DON’T remember, so it’s kinda scary.. Guess it’s better than to realize that before exam though ><

I read:

Shafi’s blog

Meemum’s blog

Ridza’s blog

And commented on Ridza’s blog (:

Reading other blogs help me understand the concepts/theories better!

Behaviorism

Behaviorism theory reminded me of the education in Japan (since I’m Japanese). Teachers just pack the students with information, and the students try to remember them. How to calculate faster, how to remember all the important years in world history, the names of certain organs of human body, and so on. Maybe it is the most efficient way to learn, but not really exciting. (By the way, the education system in Japan is changing, so not all classes are like this!)

If we apply the Behaviorism theory to E-learning, it would be videos and films. That is because videos/films do not necessarily require thinking. We can just gaze at the screen and watch the people talking and explaining. The video just keeps on talking whether or not the student in front of them (TV) are listening to the lecture or not.

Cognitivism

Cognitivism theory requires more thinking than Behaviorism. Students must think on their own about the environment that they are placed in, reflect with the situation that you are familiar with, and come up with an answer by themselves. The point here is that learners need to think on their own, and come to a conclusion on their own. I guess this way of learning is the best, because things that you think/consider deeply in yourself last longer in memory than merely memorizing the facts.

Some of the examples can be IVLE. Even if you don’t know how the discussion forum works, you can reflect how you use the bulletin boards or chat rooms online. If you post a question in the discussion forum, sometimes you get an immediate feedback from the teacher. However, sometimes another student answers you first, and then a discussion starts involving the other students. The thread shows how the discussion went on, presenting the communication process.

From lecture 1, I felt that one of the elements can be interactivity (not always though, such as when watching videos).Compared to Behaviorism, Cognitivism seems to have more interaction.

Socioculturalism

Socioculturalism is based on the interaction with people and tools. By using the tools in the environment, the users make up the system, and at the same time learn.

One example of Socioculturalism applied to E-learning is Second Life. I have been using Second Life for three semester in a row (somehow I keep on taking the modules that require the use of Second Life), and now have a little bit of understanding about it. Second Life has structured environment and avatars, and through the use of the tools there, people are able to learn and construct the world.

In Second Life, without the users, the world will not function. It is when the users move around, interact with others, and play around with the objects, then the well-structured and organized environment of Second Life comes into work.

I wonder.. what if something wrong goes with the environment, can the users still learn something?

Personally, I think Cognitivism is the best – or at least best for now. For me, learning is to constantly think ‘Why?’ to yourself, and find out new things. The processing part is the most important part, and if you have this, it makes it easier (and more interesting, actually!) to learn :)

Since Mr. Alfred has provided us some questions, I think I'll try and provide an answer for the questions! :)

1) What is E-learning?

There's a bunch of definitions on E-learning, and the useful ones are on the powerpoint slide, so I shall not write it all down here :P The two definitions that were the most understandable for me were by Allen (2003) and Catherall (2005):

-E-learning is a structured, purposeful use of electronic system or computer in supprot of the learning process (Allen, 2003)

-E-learning is any technology allowing for the delivery of learning resources or communication between tutor and student (Catherall, 2005)

This is because in my perspective, E-learning is "Learning through the use of Information technology". ( This is really me, so it may change after taking this module!)

One of the striking things that Mr. Alfred mentioned in lecture was that human connection is necessary in E-learning. So it means that E-learning is not only about the student using the computer by him/herself, but also involves interaction with other students/teachers! Now, I feel that one of the important elements of E-learning is "Interactivity".

2) What are the perspective of E-learning?

I wasn't really sure about this question.. Is this the same with the concept map we did in lecture? (Although I did the timeline) If so, I think it's best that I talk about the benefits (such as the low cost of E-learning, or the convenience) or the challenges (like the infrastructure and bandwidth). Considering that, some of the perspectives that I found were:

-Dynamic web content: cutomizable, personalizable

-Synchronous communication: Real-time from of communication e.g.) chat

-Asynchronous communication: Exchange carried out over an indefinite time scale

-Communication tools: E-mail, Discussion forums, Real-time chat (E.g. Skype, msn), File exchange, Group tools

-Document mangaement and publishing: Allow non-technical users to upload (add) documents and other resources

I know there's more perspectives, but for now, this is about it!

3) What is the history and future of E-learning?

Catherall and Rosenberg each provides us a different history of E-learning. To me, the differences were:

Catherall:

E-learning starts from the invention of ARPANET

Have a positive view

Rosenberg:

Includes films/TVs as E-learning

Negative impression "Cycle of failure"

As can be seen from the two, the history of E-learning can be different between different people. It was both interesting and understandble to include films as E-learning. Although I can agree with this perspective, if the definition of E-learning includes "human conncetion", this might not be applicable.

As for the future of E-learning, it will definitely grow! Somehow I've been taking modules that involve SecondLife three semesters in a row (NM2219, NM3205, and NM2202), and the prevalence of E-learning can see from this!

Or maybe, it's just because I'm a CNM student :P

This time, it's NM3204: E-learning.

Going to write what I learnt and studied in class :)

Hitomi