TEL-lingit like IT is

When it comes to suggesting change in higher education practice, one of the questions often raised is “where’s the evidence in favour of this?” Not having absolute, robust proof for a new or different approach can lead to nay-sayers claiming the high-ground, and make even the open-to-change somewhat wary. It’s not that evidence isn’t important or needed; asking for evidence is a fair request! However it's helpful to consider just what evidence in higher education actually is , and how far it can take us. Discussion around evidence and higher education should really begin with one word: caveat . Suggesting adjustment to any education practice is far from straightforward, particularly where an incumbent system is in place. David Didau has said that, regarding beliefs around teaching, “We are predisposed to fall for a comforting lie rather than wrestle with an inconvenient truth. And we tend to be comforted by what's familiar rather than what makes logical sense...” ( What i...

Elevator tale: this post provides an overview of literature that has emerged since my 2016 paper " Reading and studying on the screen ". It's a much longer post than usual, but most is supplemental. A review of additional studies comparing reading text from print and digital devices, four not considered and a further seven of which were published subsequent to or alongside my own, confirm my 2016 findings and recommendations. It is clear that future studies need to explore further dimensions if we are to learn more. In particular, studies should move beyond a simple, print-based comparison (applying digital design intentionally), and should also seek to measure differences that might come from briefing participants as to how to read effectively from digital media (removing the over-confident approach readers tend to apply when reading from digital sources). One perceived barrier to digital education is that it requires students to read from a screen. In actuality ...

Elevator tale: this post tries to place TPACK in an ODE context. ODE works best when design is consistent, creative, collaborative, and comprehensive across the student tuition experience. These suggest a team-based approach to TPACK, involving specialist TEL and learning design roles working with subject experts. This teamwork often leads to tensions, which might be managed through a sound design methodology (such as Agile). In the previous post I provided an overview of TPACK and noted that "The goal for all TEL practitioners and online educators is the nirvana of TPACK, where Technology, Pedagogy And Content Knowledge all synergise into an optimal learning experience for the student." In this post I want to suggest how that nirvana might be reached in online and distance education (ODE) contexts. It's important to begin with a description of the main elements of the online and distance context of practice. Four foundational principles for effective online distanc...

In a previous post I mentioned reading through Matt Bower's Design of technology-enhanced learning , and how more posts would likely be sparked by it. Bower's second chapter prompted this post, as, he rightly points out, TPACK "highlights the interconnected nature of key dimensions of technology-enhanced learning" (p.20). This is the first of two posts, 1) explaining TPACK and 2) suggesting a nuance to it for the purposes of open and distance education (ODE) and effective TEL.  If you're unfamiliar with TPACK there are various introductions on YouTube, with options depending on how much of a hurry you're in. There is TPACK in 3 Minutes ; TPACK in 2 minutes ; and, what looks to be the record holder for brevity, a 1:49 introduction . This somewhat longer  clip by Matthew Koehler provides a very useful history of its development, and introduces its open future. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org A very useful reference we...

Well, this IS awkward. After almost ten years using my ePortfolio based on Mahara , I've made the switch to LinkedIn . The awkward part is, I proposed and chaired the development of Mahara in 2006-2007. So, why the big switcheroo? Here's how I've been operating up to now. I realised early on in my e-learning career that my best means of maintaining an online presence would be to ensure I have some sort of central profile that I could easily keep up to date and link others to. A customised tinyurl ( http://tinyurl.com/mnichols ) made this very simple, and I would use that URL for a whole host of profiles I would normally have to maintain separately. Think about it: my public blog profile , Student Hub Live profile , EDENprofile and user account profiles for the likes of Faithlife.com , Mendeley and ResearchGate … all are potential online sources for someone seeking information about me, and, without some sort of central coordination, each of them becomes rather dated ra...

I'm reading through Matt Bower's Design of technology-enhanced learning , and enjoying it as a refresher. It didn't take long to find a useful link, to the ISTE standards for students . I really, really like the potential of linking TEL practice with student digital literacy, and I think the ISTE standards (with their indicators) are an excellent reference for TEL designers. Weaving these standards into course design leads quite naturally into effective learning design, while contributing to digital literacy. ISTE aims to serve K12 teachers however its work looks directly relevant to all levels of TEL. In some of my own previous work I've talked about the merits of online education, compared with print-based course design . Now, I'm not suggesting that the ISTE list is, prima facie , suggesting online learning as a replacement for print-based material. It is interesting, though, to consider the merits of an online-based approach with the ISTE standards in mind...

I’ve recently been thinking about TEL in the context of quality assurance and enhancement (QA and QE), partly inspired by trying to establish some TEL standards for learning design. It occurred early on that which standards might be appropriate depends very much on the level of practice you’re concerned with. The theme of the next EDEN conference in Genoa is “ Exploring the micro, meso and macro: Navigating between dimensions in the digital learning landscape ”. The three levels of micro, meso and macro encourage different views of practice which are extremely helpful. But what do these levels mean? Fortunately, the three levels can be made to apply to all types of products and services - making illustration easy. Consider your phone; it consists of many features (operating system, camera, storage capacity, etc) that combine to form a single product (your mobile phone), which operates within a given context (the 4G network of your telco). Or, your car; again, a collection of ...