Learning Score out of 10

9 out of 10 

What I learned in this Course

I have learned a great deal in this course.  I was reminded at the start of the importance that theories and pedagogies are to designing effective learning environments.  The mere existence of more than fifty learning and teaching theories proves that no one theory can cover all the facets of teaching.  Through online discussion and sharing of personal teaching experiences, it was apparent that certain learning environments and situations require different theories for effective learning to take place.

The first module was largely theoretically based which gave me the foundation I needed to reflect on my own teaching practice. At the end of Module One it was clear that the teaching that I do needs to be based in good pedagogical design which ensures that there are no inconsistencies between the curriculum I teach, the teaching methods I use, the learning environment I choose, and the assessment procedures I adopt. (Mayes, 2004). I realized that I wanted to do more research into pedagogical content knowledge (Kanuka, 2006)  as I believe that if instructors want to be effective they must incorporate both content and pedagogy into educational design to reflect the uniqueness of the subjects that they teach.

Module Two was situated learning within a community of practice.  I became aware of new technologies that can be incorporated into learning design by actually learning how to use these through experiment and practice. In my last teaching position I was disheartened to find that technology was often simply added onto the activities put together within a topic of study.  Using the lenses of learning theory and pedagogy developed in Module One, I was able to integrate the use of new Web 2.0 tools into effective learning design. I was challenged to create a small wiki of learning web tools in a small online group.  Working asynchronously with others that I did not know was difficult and unfamiliar. I realized later in the course that this provided a good basis for the design project.

Module Three offered practice in putting together learning design tasks that built on a framework of appropriate theories and pedagogies studied, as well as, integrating Web 2.0 technologies into the design.  Biggs (1999) describes the aligned system of instruction as when the students are entrapped in a web of consistency which increases the chances that the learner will engage in beneficial learning activities.  It was at this stage in the course that I realized the benefits of learning within a community of practice. By posting sample learning tasks I was able to gain valuable feedback.  By reflecting on other submissions and providing feedback I was able to critically evaluate the relationship between the instructional design and technology used in relation to learning tasks created.

Learning Outcomes

It is hard to imagine at the end of this course where I actually started my journey.  I have acquired skills and ways of thinking that will enhance the creation of and participation in learning environments in the future.  It has been many years since I participated in a University class.  I welcomed the emphasis on effective searching and reading of relevant information ensuring that proper referencing occurred. 

Today is a different learning experience than it was in the past.  As a learner today I am more active and reflective. It was a steep learning curve to incorporate personal and group management while attempting to put instructional design theory into practice.  The skills developed in being a collaborative participant in a learning environment able to work synchronously and asynchronously have been valuable. Also, just as valuable, is recognizing that the final product of the Design Project included weaknesses and limitations but that the learning that occurred in the actual completing of the project was invaluable.  This has been realized through self, peer and formative feedback.

Much has been written and remarked about the role of teachers changing today. Sims (2006) believes that the roles of teacher, learner and designer are now interchangeable and it is not simply a matter of taking existing strategies and applying them to online networked communities.  I remember at the beginning of this course wondering how this would actually eventuate in my teaching.  Through participation in this course I experienced this changing role of the instructor and student realizing the benefits this has on the learning community.  The scaffolding that the instructor does within the learning environment is essential.  It also became apparent how important good instructional design is to the learning and development process.

Rationale for the selection of Artifacts

I have included ten artifacts representing my journey of learning throughout this course.  It was essential that I included Artifact One – What I Hope to Accomplish as this identified the initial expectations I outlined at the start of this course.  I specifically included artifacts from each of the modules to represent the different types of learning.  I included the Blog as Artifact 10 as it represents thoughts and reflections related to my personal teaching practice and is evidence of my development throughout this course.

Artifact 9 – Learning Theories has been included as it is these theories that I use as a lens for interpreting design of learning environments.  More specific to design development I have included Artifact 3 – Alignment as it is imperative that good learning design incorporates integrated elements of instructional learning. Of particular interest to me in regards to design is assessment and feedback, hence, the inclusion of Artifact 2 – The Role of Assessment and Artifact 7 – Feedback.  

Much of the learning in this course was collaborative and situated within a learning community.  It was for this reason that I included three artifacts that involved learning within a community of practice.  Artifact 4 – Top 10 Tools was a collection that the small group I worked in chose as useful learning tools. I intend on using these in design development.  Podcasting is a teaching method that I believe will become more useful and accessible in the future as learning becomes more mobile.  Artifact 5 describes the challenges and benefits of learning about this tool.  Lastly, I wrote a reflection on the development and completion of the design project as this was the cumulative effort of all that I learned within this course.  It highlights the successes, as well as, the lessons learned.

References 

Biggs, J. (1999). What the Student Does: Teaching for enhanced learning. Higher Education Research & Development, 18(1), 57-75.

Kanuka, H. (2006). Instructional Design and eLearning: A Discussion of Pedagogical Content Knowledge as a Missing Construct. e-Journal of Instructional Science and Technology 9(2),

Mayes, J. T., & de Freitas, S. (2004). Review of e-learning theories, frameworks and models. JISC e-learning Models Desk Study, (1). Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/Stage 2 Learning Models (Version 1).pdf

Sims, R. (2006). Beyond instructional design: Making learning design a reality. Journal of Learning Design, 1(2), 1-7.