M25-LTG November 2018 Learning Design Workshop

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I had the privilege to deliver a workshop on Learning Design to 20 members of the M25 Learning Technology Group (LTG) on Friday 16 November 2018 at City, University of London.

The workshop was sponsored by the Association for Learning Technology (ALT),  City, University of London: @julievoce, University of East of London: @santanuvasant  and Cambridge Education Group Digital: @CegDigital

The workshop involved all attendees applying the CoDesignS framework (Morton et al 2016; Toro-Troconis & Aleksiev, 2018; Toro-Troconis et al, 2016), focusing on one of the key aspects of the framework, which involves the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains (Bloom, 1956). The Learning Domains guide the selection of the right pedagogic activity and technical tools.

The video below introduces the Learning Domains and presents ways of designing online, blended and face to face activities, based on the principles of the taxonomy. The video compares the use of different journeys to the design of different learning journeys (online, blended and face to face).

 

Figure 1: YouTube video: Learning Design and Learning Domains  – https://bit.ly/2DUznbx

The CoDesignS cards used for the M25 workshop included several case studies from different M25 universities (Imperial College London, Queen Mary University of London, University of East London and the Royal Veterinary College). They can be download at: https://codesignssite.wordpress.com/m25-ltg/

A short Mentimeter survey was run at the beginning of the workshop to find out about the attendees’ motivations to learn more about Learning Design.

 

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Figure 1: M25 Learning Design Workshop

Figure 2 below shows the main job titles of the people attending the workshop. ‘Learning Technologist’ was the most popular title as expected, since this workshop was targeted to the M25 Learning Technology community.

Figure 2: Job title of attendees at the workshop.

Figure 3 shows the majority of the participants engage with supporting learning technologies within their current roles, followed by Learning Design advice and support activities.

 

Figure 3: Activities attendees engage with within their current roles

Figures 4 and 5 below shows the majority of attendees have been involved in the design of a blended or online course.

Figure 4: Attendees involved in the design of a Blended Course   

Figure 5: Attendees involved in the design of an Online Course

Figure 6 shows the majority of participants have Learning Design experience with 14 people having more than 1 year’s experience in this area.

Figure 6: Years of experience in Learning Design

Figure 7 shows four out of 17 participants hold a CMALT qualification.

Figure 7: Number of participants holding a CMALT qualification

The participants were asked to type five words that described their motivation to join this workshop on Learning Design. Interesting words like inspiration, collaboration, curiosity and development stand out in the WordCloud presented in Figure 8 below.

 

Figure 8: Words that describe the participants’ motivation to join the Learning Design workshop

The workshop was very active and involved participants working in groups of four applying the CoDesignS framework.

 

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At the end of the workshop, the ‘Learning Design Bootcamp’ organised by City, University of London, University East of London and Cambridge Education Group Digital was announced. The Learning Design Bootcamp starts in April 2019, finishing in July 2019. The call for proposals can be accessed at:

https://learningdesignbootcamp.wordpress.com/call-for-proposals/

The deadline for submissions is Friday 15 February 2019 17:00.

The information received at the workshop shows evidence of great interest in Learning Design from the Learning Technology community. It also shows how this sample of Learning Technologists across London has already had experience in the design of blended and online learning courses. The majority of the universities represented in the workshop seem to have embraced Learning Design at a strategic level. However, further support seems to be required to bring strategy and practice at the same level.

REFERENCES

Bloom B. (1956), Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. UK: Longman Group.Morton, C., Saleh, S., Smith, S., Hemani, A., Ameen, A., Bennie, T., Toro-Troconis (2016), ‘Blended Learning: how can we optimise undergraduate student engagement?’. BMC Medical Education Journal; 16:195. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-016-0716-z

Toro-Troconis, M., Hemani, A. and Murphy, K. (2014), ‘Learning Design in the 21st Century – Blended Learning Design Tool (BLEnDT© & MOOC-it©). In Proceedings of the #designforlearning: from blended learning to learning analytics in HE. Open University (OU), Higher Education Academy Conference, The Open University Milton Keynes, UK, 26-27 November.

Toro-Troconis, M., Bridson, JM., Halawa, A., Prescot, D., Edwards, S. (2016), ‘Course Design Sprint (CoDesignS) Framework’. In Proceedings of the Association for Learning Technology Annual Conference 2016 (ALT-C 2016), Coventry University, UK, 6-8 September.

Maria Toro-Troconis is Head of Academic Research and Quality at Cambridge Education Group Digital. Maria provides academic leadership to CEG Digital, embracing the range of partners and disciplines, by providing a coherent vision for research and scholarly activities. Maria contributes to the delivery of CEG Digital’s strategy, promoting pedagogic excellence in the delivery of existing and new programmes. Maria has almost 20 years’ experience working with Higher Education institutions across the UK. @mtorotro mtroconis@ceg-uk.com 

If you enjoyed reading this article we invite you to join the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) as an individual member, and to encourage your own organisation to join ALT as an organisational or sponsoring member

 

 

 

 

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