Webinar presentation for the Belarusian National Technical University, 23 November 2020

1. Online Learning and
Open Educational
Practices in Tallinn
University
Hans Põldoja

2. Hans Põldoja
Head of Studies, Associate Professor of Educational Technology
Tallinn University, School of Digital Technologies
Education:
Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture (2016)
Tallinn Pedagogical University (2003)
hans.poldoja@tlu.ee
http://www.hanspoldoja.net

3. Tallinn University

4. Tallinn University is the largest
university of humanities and social
sciences in Tallinn, and the third
largest public university in Estonia.

5. The university now known as
Tallinn University came into
existence on 18th March 2005.

6. - Academic Library
- Tallinn Pedagogical University
- Institute of History
- Institute of International and
Social Studies
- Estonian Institute of Humanities
- Institute of Ecology
- Academy Nord
- The Estonian Institute for Future
Studies
- Tallinn Pedagogical College
It developed as the result
of the merger of several
research and development
institutions in Tallinn:

7. Focus fields
Healthy and
sustainable
lifestyle
Society and open
governance
Digital and
media culture
Cultural
competences
Educational
innovation

9. Tallinn University in numbers

10. Online learning in Tallinn
University

11. Online learning before COVID-19
• Online learning mostly is used to provide blended learning in
courses with limited number of contact hours
• Some lecturers have prepared video lectures and complete
online courses
• University has no online learning strategy, each lecturer is free
to decide on their approach

12. Support structure for online learning
• E-learning Centre
• Information Technology Office
• IT technicians / support staff in the schools

13. Online learning environments
• Moodle
• Google Classroom
• eDidaktikum

14. Forced online learning in Spring 2020
• All the courses had to move online with a short notice
• Courses followed the same schedule as in contact studies
• Zoom and Google Meet were used for video lessons
• Semester was extended for courses which required the use of
labs

15. Study on online learning in Spring 2020
• 527 students
• 153 lecturers
(Rumma, Poom-Valickis, Aus, & Väljataga, 2020)

16. Lecturers’ view (1)
• 3% prefer online learning, 32% contact studies and 60%
blended learning
• Workload increased for 60% of respondents, 27% did not notice
a difference in workload
• 40% concluded that they did not manage with teaching as well
as in regular contact studies
• Feedback and individual consultations took more time, lectures,
practice lessons and group assignments took less time
(Rumma, Poom-Valickis, Aus, & Väljataga, 2020)

17. Lecturers’ view (2)
• Individual written assignments and presentations, oral discussions in
video meetings and online group presentations supported learning the
most
• Lecturers’ skills improved the most in using digital tools for
collaboration with colleagues, creating digital learning resources and
choosing appropriate tools.
• The smallest average improvement was reported in analyzing
evidences of students’ learning and providing personalized learning
for students
(Rumma, Poom-Valickis, Aus, & Väljataga, 2020)

18. Lecturers’ view (3)
• The older lecturers were more satisfied with students’ results,
their working environment at home and handled stress better
• Junior researchers were more satisfied with their digital
competencies than teachers, lecturers and associate
professors
• There was no significant correlation with the number of
courses
(Rumma, Poom-Valickis, Aus, & Väljataga, 2020)

19. Students’ view (1)
• 12% prefer online learning, 25% contact studies and 58%
blended learning
• 43% reported increased workload, 43% had the same workload
• Compared with contact studies, the students had less clear
undestanding about the organization of studies, less chances to
communicate and get feedback
• Main methods: online lectures and seminars, independent work
with literature. Not enough labs, simulations, games.
(Rumma, Poom-Valickis, Aus, & Väljataga, 2020)

20. Students’ view (2)
• Graded tests supported student learning
• Individual and group presentations, and individual written
assignments supported student learning less
• Important factors affecting learning: involvement in learning,
environment at home, self-regulation skills
(Rumma, Poom-Valickis, Aus, & Väljataga, 2020)

21. Autumn semester 2020
• New students from most of the non-EU countries were not able
to come to Estonia to start their studies
• Some study programmes started in hybrid mode, some study
programmes did not accept non-EU students
• Local students started in regular contact studies
• It was recommended to organize courses with more than 50
participants online

22. Preparations for online studies
• Schools purchased distance studies equipment:
• Cameras (webcams, streaming cameras, photo cameras)
• Wireless microphones
• Conference microphones
• Wacom pen displays
• Seminars for lecturers
• Additional Zoom licenses

23. Challenges
• Flexible studies: some students in physically present, others
online
• Involving students
• Sound quality
• Reorganizing studies by complete days

24. Open educational practices in
Tallinn University

25. How to make learning more
open and personal?

26. Understanding the background: the
Open Education movement

28. https://creativecommons.org

29. (Plourde, 2013)

30. Open education movement
• 2001 — Creative Commons
• 2002 — UNESCO adopts the term Open Educational Resources
(OER)
• 2008 — Cape Town Open Education Declaration
• 2012 — 1st World OER Congress and Paris OER Declaration
• 2017 — 2nd World OER Congress and Ljubljana OER Action Plan
• 2019 — UNESCO Recommendation on OER

31. https://en.unesco.org/themes/building-knowledge-societies/oer

32. Wider perspective on open education
• Open educational resources
• Open online courses (MOOCs, etc)
• Open learning environments
• Open pedagogy: personal approaches to learning and assessment
• Open data and learning analytics
• Thinking outside the institution

33. Three examples from Tallinn University
• Open learning environments
• Open badges for personalized learning and assessment
• Open study information system

34. Open learning environments

35. https://opikeskkonnad.wordpress.com

36. https://ifi7313.wordpress.com

37. Course blog
Learner blogs
Blog-based open online courses

38. Course format
• Course blog + learner blogs
• Additional Web 2.0 and social media tools (Twitter, SlideShare,
YouTube, …)
• Open enrollment
• Open educational resources
• Assignments through blog posts
• Feedback and discussion in comments

39. Benefits of using blogs
• Supporting learners to develop and express their ideas
• Supporting collaboration and group work
• Getting feedback from others
• Enriching the learning environment
• Promoting new educational practices
• Motivating learners
(Goktas & Demirel, 2012)

40. Challenges in blog-based courses
• Coordinating and following the course activities
• Creating and sustaining the learning community
• Designing content and activities
• Feedback and assessment
(Väljataga, Põldoja, & Laanpere, 2011)

41. Väljataga, T., Põldoja, H., Laanpere, M. (2011).
Open Online Courses: Responding to Design
Challenges. In H. Ruokamo, M. Eriksson, L. Pekkala,
& H. Vuojärvi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th
International Network-Based Education 2011
Conference The Social Media in the Middle of
Nowhere (pp. 68-75). Rovaniemi: University of
Lapland.
Proceedings of the NBE 2011
68
Open Online Courses: Responding to Design Challenges
Terje Väljataga
terje.valjataga@tlu.ee
http://terjevaljataga.eu
Hans Põldoja
hans.poldoja@tlu.ee
http://www.hanspoldoja.net
Mart Laanpere
mart.laanpere@tlu.ee
Tallinn University
Centre for Educational Technology
Narva road 25, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia
Tel: +372 6409 355, Fax: +372 6409 355
Open education and open educational resources movement as a recent trend in higher education focuses on providing free access to a
wide range of educational resources and online courses. However, such a narrow approach fails to acknowledge the transformative and
innovative opportunities openness can offer in higher education. The authors of the paper take a wider perspective to the concept of
openness in formal higher education. In addition to open technology, content and knowledge sharing openness in course design is an
important dimension to consider. Although open online course design solves many educational problems and challenges, at the same
time it also creates new ones. This paper discusses about the re-occurring course design challenges that facilitators face while designing
and running open courses. Through a multiple case study a variety of design responses to the design challenges is analyzed and
demonstrated.
Keywords: open online course model, open educational resources, pedagogical design, multiple
case study
1 Introduction
The concept of openness has multiple interpretations and dimensions in the context of higher education. Among
others, it has been used by proponents of open classroom approach in 1970-ties and by distance education
enthusiasts while establishing open universities”. The purpose was to solve a number of educational problems
and challenges, for instance, to improve access to existing study programmes and attract more (or better)
students following Huijser, Bedford, and Bull’s (2008) claim that everyone has the right to education. In
general, openness in education is attributed to a barrier-free access to education in terms of time, affordability
and admission requirements being freely available through the Internet.
A recent trend is the open educational resources (OER) movement (Atkins, Brown & Hammond, 2007), which
provides free access to a wide range of educational resources and online courses. OER and its importance has
been widely documented and demonstrated (Downes, 2007). The key tenet of open education is that “education
can be improved by making educational assets visible and accessible and by harnessing the collective wisdom
of a community of practice and reflection” (p. 2) (Iiyoshi & Kumar, 2008).
The notion of openness in education is clearly triggered by the opportunities technological development offers.
In addition to growing access to Internet, the latest evolution of digital technology and Web has fostered a new
culture of creating and sharing open content in online communities. It has been possible due to the blurred line
between producers and consumers of content allowing shifted attention from access to information toward
access to other people (Iiyoshi & Kumar, 2008). In the light of ongoing technological development, there are
educators who are exploring ways to expand the notion of openness in education beyond public sharing of
educational content. Iiyoshi & Kumar (2008) point out that with the concept of openness we might tend to grow
our collections of educational tools and resources and miss the transformative and innovative opportunities
“openness” can offer. One of the emerging practices in this direction is the open online course model.

42. http://www.edufeedr.net

43. Põldoja, H., Duval, E., & Leinonen, T. (2016). Design
and evaluation of an online tool for open learning
with blogs. Australasian Journal of Educational
Technology, 32(2), 64–81. http://dx.doi.org/
10.14742/ajet.2450
A stralasian Jo rnal of Ed cational Technolog , 2016, 32(2).
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44. Open Badges

45. (Class Hack, n.d.)

46. (Mozilla Foundation, 2012-13)

47. Badge system in a MA course

48. https://oppematerjalid.wordpress.com

49. Põldoja, H., Jürgens, P., & Laanpere, M. (2016).
Design Patterns for Badge Systems in Higher
Education. In M. Spaniol, M. Temperini, D.K.W.
Chiu, I. Marenzi, & U. Nanni (eds.), Advances in
Web-Based Learning — ICWL 2016 (Vol. 10013, lk
40– 49). Cham: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/
10.1007/978-3-319-47440-3_5
Design Patterns for Badge Systems in Higher Education
Hans Põldoja
(✉)
, Pirje Jürgens, and Mart Laanpere
Tallinn University, Narva mnt 25, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia
{hans.poldoja,pirje.jurgens,mart.laanpere}@tlu.ee
Abstract. Open Badges as a method for assessment and recognition of learning
originates from the context of informal learning. Thus, it cannot be introduced
into formal higher education without reconsidering the existing assessment
processes.This paper presentsexperiencesfrom three years of using Open Badges
in a master level course. In each iteration, the badge system was revised based on
learners’ feedback. Special attention was given to supporting learners with
different learning styles. To summarize our findings, this paper proposes a set of
design patterns for developing badge systems in higher education. While the
learning styles proved to be useful as generic design guidelines for separating two
alternative learning pathways for the course, more research is needed on advanced
learning-style-based learning pathways.
Keywords: Open Badges · Assessment · Higher education
1 Introduction
Open Badges (OB’s) is a web technology for recognizing and verifying knowledge,
competencies or involvements gained in online or offline settings. In a basic sense,
badges are digital images that contain embedded information about the accomplish‐
ments. The development of the Open Badges technology started in 2010, when a group
of open education activists came up with the initial concept during the Mozilla Drumbeat
Festival. Inspired by the use of digital badges in gaming and various social apps, they
proposed that badges could be used for verifying learning. The technical specification
of the Open Badges Infrastructure (OBI) was developed together with the Mozilla
Foundation and released in 2012. While digital badges are typically used within a single
environment, OBI was developed as an open standard that allows people to collect
badges from different issuers. The initial scenarios about using open badges focused on
informal learning contexts [1]. However, in recent years there have been a number of
studies about using badges in schools [2, 3] and in higher education [4–6].
Introducing open badges to formal higher education courses provides an opportunity
to reconsider the existing assessment procedures. Recent research on open badges has
proposed a number of reasons for adopting badges. Ahn, Pellicone, and Butler [7] see
badges as motivators for behavior, pedagogical tools for promoting particular learning
activities, and credentials for recognizing learning achievements. While Jovanovic and
Devedzic [8] identify similar roles for open badges, they discuss additional benefits such
as supporting alternative forms of assessment (e.g. peer-assessment), providing learners
© Springer International Publishing AG 2016
D.K.W. Chiu et al. (Eds.): ICWL 2016, LNCS 10013, pp. 40–49, 2016.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-47440-3_5

51. Badge points
• Basic knowledge badges — 10 points
• Golden badges for basic knowledge — 15 points
• Broken badge for basic knowledge — 5 points
• Learning resource author — 24 points (36 points for a golden badge)
• Researcher — 36 points
• Enlightener — 10 points
• Wikipedist — 12 points

52. Recommended learning pathways

53. “Researcher”
• 6 blogging assingments on basic knowledge — 60 points
• Writing a literature review — 36 points
• Total 96 points (grade A)
• Workload 78 hours

54. “Practitioner”
• 6 blogging assingments on basic knowledge — 60 points
• Developing a learning resource — 24 points
• Total 84 points (grade B)
• Workload 68 hours

55. “Non-blogger”
• Writing a literature review — 36 points
• Developing a learning resource — 24 points
• Presentation in the seminar — 10 points
• Writing a Wikipedia article — 12 points
• Total 82 points (grade B)
• Workload 79 hours

56. Three methods combined
• Personal learning contracts
• Open badges
• Personal learning pathways

57. Learning contract template
• Topic: What is the topic I wish to learn about?
• Purpose: What is the purpose of my task? Why do I wish to learn about or learn to do a
particular task?
• Resources: What kind of technological, material and human resources do I need? How can I
get access to these?
• Strategy: How do I intend to go about learning this particular topic/task? What action may be
involved and in what order will these be carried out?
• Outcome evaluation: How will I know when I have completed the task/topic successfully?
How shall I judge success?
• Reflection: How well did I do? What has worked? What has not worked? Why? What remains
to be learnt? What are my strengths and what are my weaknesses? What shall I do next?

58. Open study information
system DigiÕIS

59. Study information system
• Study programmes and course descriptions
• Courses, enrollments and grades
• Course feedback
• Student data
• Study contracts and invoices
• Applications and documents

60. Could some of this data be …
… open?
… linked?
… visualized?

61. http://dti.tlu.ee/digiois/

62. Goals
• Making the data about the organization of studies available
for teaching stuff, students and other interested parties
• Improving the organization of studies and supervision through
the availability of data
• Improving the decision making processes and involving a
larger group of stakeholders through the availability of data

63. Schedule of courses by semester

64. Teaching by semester

65. Supervising

66. Final theses

69. References
• Class Hack, Open Badge Anatomy (Updated): http://classhack.com/post/
45364649211/open-badge-anatomy-updated
• Goktas, Y., & Demirel, T. (2012). Blog-enhanced ICT courses: Examining their
effects on prospective teachers’ ICT competencies and perceptions. Computers &
Education, 58(3), 908–917. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2011.11.004
• Plourde, M. (2013). MOOC (massive open online course). Retrieved from https://
et.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOOC#/media/File:MOOC_poster_mathplourde.jpg
• Rumma, K., Poom-Valickis, K., Aus, K., & Väljataga, T. (2020). TLÜ distantsõppe
uuringu raport. Talinna Ülikool.

70. Photos
• Nick Morrison, https://unsplash.com/photos/FHnnjk1Yj7Y/
• Dom Pates, https://www.flickr.com/photos/globalismpictures/5441692868/
• Andy Lamb, https://www.flickr.com/photos/speedoflife/6924482682/
• tommydgnr8, https://www.flickr.com/photos/theweddingoftheyear/
5993598429/

71. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Hans Põldoja
hans.poldoja@tlu.ee
Tallinn University
School of Digital Technologies
http://www.hanspoldoja.net
https://www.slideshare.net/hanspoldoja