A workshop aimed at assisting the the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Athabasca University investigate how to put in practice their new strategic plan which calls for student-centered and open digital learning. Translating theory to practice.
Patient Counselling. Definition of patient counseling; steps involved in pati...
Designing digital learning
1. Athabasca University, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Sept. 2015
Strategies for designing student-
centered, social, open, and engaging
digital learning experiences
George Veletsianos, PhD
Canada Research Chair, Associate Professor
School of Education & Technology
Royal Roads University
3. A worldwide
economic
downturn
Globalization and
competition à
internationalization
policies
Increased
demand for
education
Curtailment of
public funding
Calls for
accountability
Impact of emerging
technologies
Automation à
Work?
Privatization
Higher Education Pressures
4. Goal #1: To explore student-centered
course design and learn from one
another.
5. Goal #2: To facilitate the expansion
of your techno-pedagogical toolkit
7. A
B
C
D
E
It’s easy to do this in a f2f class.
What would it look like in an online course?
Introductions
Adjective Circle (Amazing Anna)
8. What are some other ways that you ask
students to introduce themselves in online
courses?
• Tell us about yourself using 7 adjectives
• Tell us about yourself using 7 nouns
• As above, but also use photos
• As above, but use the 7 adjectives to
write a story.
9. • Superhero Students
You are to create a drawing of yourself to share with
the rest of the class. Your drawing should portray you as
a superhero and include your superhero name
Use your creativity to create a representation of yourself
so that we learn more about each other.
You can use pen/pencils/crayons and paper, or a
graphics program to do this.
– Adapted from Dunlap & Lowenthal:
http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/CUOnline/FacultyResources/additionalResources/
Handbook/cuonlinehandbook2011/Documents/chapter10.pdf
What are some other ways that you ask
students to introduce themselves?
11. • Music videos
Locate a music video on youtube.com that
describes you and post it below, along with a
message for the rest of the class explaining
why this music video describes you.
Caution: A lot of music videos contain
language and imagery which may be
offensive. Please review the lyrics & watch the
whole video prior to posting it to ensure that it
is appropriate.
What are some other ways that you ask
students to introduce themselves?
12. • Music videos
What are some other ways that you ask
students to introduce themselves?
13. What image do you have of a student-
centered online course?
What does such a course look like?
14. What image do you have of a student-
centered online course?
What does such a course look like?
Enter adjectives here: http://tinyurl.com/audoc2
18. Using a diverse array of
activities…
– Discussions
– Videos
– Debates
– Digital stories
– Concept mapping
– Professional communities - socialization
– Case studies
– Solving problems
26. Embedding your personality?
Another example: Memes & Funny 1-liners
By Royce Kimmons Introduction to online learning course:
http://courses.doceocenter.org/theoretical_foundations_online_learning
34. Think-Pair-Share:
Explore the use of one of these activities with your own area.
Give an example, describe how you would use this, and explain
how you would improve this strategy.
Stories & digital storytelling
Video updates
Discussions driven by real-world data
Co-designing with students
40. Video-related activities
• Additional ideas
– Record an elevator speech
– Find, share, and comment
– Identify misconceptions in existing videos
– Film and share roleplays
42. Introduce learners to professional
communities - Others
– Professional listservs e.g., Tomorrow’s
Professor
– Blogging communities
– Social Networking Sites (e.g., LinkedIn
discussion groups, Facebook groups)
– Ask students to attend a virtual
conference and do X (reflect/summarize/
etc)
43. Authoring Open E-books and
Open Textbooks
• Create worthwhile digital artifacts as a
class (&make available to others)
à Replacing disposable assignments with those that add
value to the Word (David Wiley)
44. Authoring Open E-books and
Open Textbooks
• Work with your instructional designer to figure out the
best platform for creating the e-book (Wiki? A
dedicated website? A collection of Google
documents?)
45. Course book clubs
• As a class, select a few books that are of interest
• (allow choice in reading/listening the books to
accommodate student preferences/life)
• Task teams with analyzing and presenting
46. Audio + Video Feedback
• Back to instructor presence and diversity
47. Concept Mapping
Vide-related activities
Professional communities
E-books, open books, open textbooks
Book Clubs
Audio and video feedback
Think-Pair-Share:
Explore the use of one of these activities with your own area.
Give an example, describe how you would use this, and explain
how you would improve this strategy.
48. What are some activities/strategies that weren’t
discussed today but have worked well for you
and your students?
49. How do our conversations affirm or
refine the image that you have of a
student-centered online course?
What does such a course look like now?