Course Dimensions: Online graphics

[GraphDesProject]

I’ve chosen to use my private online design teaching for this activity as I’d like to get it as clear in my mind as possible and make the quality of it as efficient as I can.
…think about the four dimensions mentioned (logistical, practice based, pedagogical, participation).
 •Which of these considerations is the biggest driver towards your adoption and choice of technology?
Practice-based considerations are absolutely at the forefront of this. I’d always consider firstly what it is I believe that the learners need to know or do and how this could be accessed online. However, as I’m running a private business on not much capital I also have to consider the logistics of what I can do, or hire someone to do, and how many learners there’ll be in what circumstances. This is why I chose WordPress blogs as a way of engaging with the learners. After having considered Digication e-portfolios (which do look great) I felt that free WordPress blogs were better for cost, links to the community of practice (hence WordPress not any other blogging platform) and above all for more of a two way  conversation and demonstration of work in progress. It is also why I have selected interactive PDFs as the platform for the main materials. I can make these myself and alter and update them when necessary. They run from a WordPress website where course expectations are listed as FAQ and other info. So these are fully distance courses, with discussion between learner and tutor within blogs where others are free to also participate. Pedagogical considerations are also present in the manner that the learning material is structured.  I’d say it is constructivist as it starts with researching and drawing conclusions, works though generating and developing ideas and at all times leads the learner to more and more independent work.
 
 
•How do these dimensions change each time you run the course and what effects does this have on technology choices (e.g. ‘scale/capacity’ of certain activities for class size, physical location of activity)?
So far these dimensions have not changed very much. This might be to do with the relatively small scale of the project, but also to do with the fact that learners take the individual projects as and when they want, asynchronously. There is the opportunity for each project to be taken independently or with the option of tutor support. So each project has to be written to cover all possibilities for the independent learners.
At the moment I’m more likely to change references about inspiring design cases and other such content than I am to alter anything else. That’s  not to say that I cannot see where some improvements could be made, it is more of a logistical thing.
I didn’t mention participation in the previous point. However, I am trying to get more community spaces (based on my experience of starting a couple of MOOCs) where social media and shared spaces like Study Cloud could provide more peer support. I’ve had a few learners sign up then disappear, which I think might be mature learners shying away from blogs. However, much of the useful info on, say Study Cloud, might be a “legacy” from learners who are no longer participating when someone else accesses their notes or comments. I don’t want a so-called community space that is like an abandoned station with tumble weed blowing through….
 
•How does this relate to the learning activity dimensions you may have identified in Activity 1.2?
 
As I’ve said in previous posts, graphic design swings all over the Kolb learning styles in quite a dynamic and hopefully energising way. The online projects were written based on the processes of f2f projects, rather than having being fully developed for online work alone. However, I can’t really see what I would have done differently if that had been the case. Again, I think it’s more of a case of bringing more lively resources and embedding them rather than a complete re-vamp. The emphasis of the learning materials is to get learners “doing” through active research, analysis, developing creative ideas, evaluations and re-workings and getting ready professionally via a portfolio and, indeed, attitude. So that covers all of the Kolb learning styles. I do survey each learner about their online experience, including the design and usability of the learning materials.

But any thoughts would be really welcome!
 
Sancha (@GraphDesProject)
 

[SueFolley]

It sounds like you have given this a lot of thought and are doing all the right things. It is a lot more difficult to design online learning courses where students work through tasks in their own time and not in a corhort working through simiar things at the same time. It is much more difficult to build in peer learning and develop social presence if students are not on the same topic/section at the same time. In terms of eportfolio, I have recently seen an instance of Google sites being used for eportfolios and it looked really good. The tutor was able to create a template for the students to work off, but then the customise it to look how they want. It looked quite impressive, though haven’t used it myself. I haven’t come across Study Cloud before – so off to have a look at what that has to offer.

[GraphDesProject]

My colleague, Tim Bones, does make website portfolios with our f2f students – this year he has shown them how to use Wix as well as, other open access software and these look really good too. But you can make some really strong portfolios simply from good old WordPress blogs anyway, so its all good!!

Sancha

[James Kerr]

The ability to create electronic portfolios and link them easily to other social networking sites, and not just in a “closed, black-box” environment is a side project I am working on.  I see a need for a quasi-social space where learners of any age can keep track of their projects, no matter what the format, and be able to include badges and credentials, then not only link that to current SN sites but also easily be able to invite/include others to view their portfolios.  There are a number of ePortfolio resources available, but I haven’t found one yet that does quite what I am considering.  Think of it as a combination of LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google Docs, all mashed together into one resources.  Examples of writing, pictures, art, music, videos, recordings, etc can all be catalogued and assembled into a living digital portfolio that would easily allow people to share their digital works, whether to potential employers, colleagues, backers, etc.

Thoughts?

[philtubman]

James,

We use ‘mahara’ at lancaster which i think does most of what you say.. integrating social media… ah.. perhaps if you can rss., mayabe html the fancy ocTEL TAGS_explorer (thats a friday job coming on…). it think the rest you could ’embed’ with the right html, perhaps thats another friday job lol…

you can certainly share publicy using either ‘public’ or ‘secret URL’ which you control. i believe badges are ‘in the post’

It is linked to our moodle by mnet so you can ‘send’ discussions and submissions to the portfolio content area too…

[ElizabethECharl]

James and Phil – We have recently signed up to Mahara – so I shall look forward to discovering how well students and staff use it.

[Author]

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