Conversion Course: Ed Tech conference short paper 2015

The challenge was exactly the sort of model exercise that a Learning Designer might use for a Teaching and Learning training session; take a workshop based course and recreate it as a blended model with online emphasis. The 5 ECTs module, Pedagogical Practice, is part of a level 9 Special Purpose Award, Certificate in Training and Education along with other two modules, namely, Assessment and Programme Design (10 ECTS) and an ePortfolio based module - Reflective Practice and Development (5ECTS). Reflective practice and active learning were strong foundations of the original course, so the challenge was to enhance these elements and build on and retain the good practice which had already been established.
The focus of this short paper is on redesigning the one particular module – Pedagogical Practice 1, which is also part of a wider Masters in Training and Education. As an exercise in rethinking the various elements and adding new online tools and activities I used the OULDI Open University Learning Design Initiative (JISC-OULDI) project colour coded cards, a creative approach which helped clarify my instincts and judgements about the learning design. It involves distilling down to the essential elements of the module and creating a hierarchy of importance/significance of certain tools, activities and aspects of the course. This helped clarify what the online elements would be and how they would help students “unpack” the lecture content, fulfil the course assessment and achieve the validated Learning Outcomes. Once my choices were made as to the various blend of elements and how they would resonate with the other modules in the programme, I attempted to map out the online activities and assessment elements and discuss planning of design and delivery with the Programme Director and other academics on the team. The online activities would include use of the student forum, VLE blogging, creating a glossary of theory terms, collaborative project work using the online wiki tool and online quizzes. Assessment had a formative element in an online, micro teaching exercise, using Adobe Connect and summative assessment which included peer observational assessment. The course lectures were captured using Power Point within Camtasia and there were synchronous blended elements such as an induction day and regular Webinar tutorials. I included use of the University of London’s recently developed Learning Designer, a web based tool for dynamic lesson plan creation and support of learning technology integration. As this module has only begun delivery the final results will not be available by the end of May; however the main online lectures and activities will conclude on the 23rd May so there will be a rich source of material to present at Ed Tech 2015.