Liquid Learning

In a world of digital bystanders the challenge is for all of us to design engaging online education

New article in the 'Conversation' written with international colleagues on the need for all of us to become designers in a world of engaging digital education.

https://theconversation.com/in-a-world-of-digital-bystanders-the-challenge-is-for-all-of-us-to-design-engaging-online-education-147195

With travel restrictions still ongoing we made the call to move  ASCILITE 2020 into online mode. Like many other conferences intended to run during 2020 it was too much of a risk (indeed hope) that we would be able to bring everyone together for a full face to face event. But, this had presented a special opportunity for the event this year ... it will be the first time it has run online. The core sessions will run in a reduced format over a 24-hour period from 12pm Monday 30th November to 12pm Tuesday 1st December. We already have received a fantastic selection of papers and we will be running complimentary session around the core timings. It is going be exciting. The bonus, for those looking forward to the f-2-f event in Armidale will now have the pleasure of visiting the University of New England next year for the 2021 conference that will retain our 'Back to the Future' theme.

Registrations are open for the ASCILITE 2020 conference. Come and join us!

https://2https://2020conference.ascilite.org/registration/

ASCILITE 2020: Back to the Future at University of New England

Very much looking forward to ASCILITE 2020 being held at the University of New England at the end of 2020 (30 November – 2 December 2020). The aim is to make this into an event that not only showcases the best of teaching and technology but also provides an opportunity to highlight some of the best parts of the New England region.

For further information visit the conference website http://ascilite.org/2020-conference/

And for a taste of the New England countryside visit https://www.newenglandhighcountry.com.au.

Key dates (indicative) are: 

• Call for Papers Opens: 15 April
• Call for Reviewers Opens: 15 April
• Call for Reviewers Closes: 30 May
• Call for Papers Closes: 26 July
• Early Bird Registrations Open: 6 July
• Early Bird Registration Closes: 23 October
• Registration Closes: 27 November

 

Future student experience at the University of New England, NSW

Changing times and new challenges ahead for 2020 at the University of New England, NSW. Academic transformation will be a big part of the agenda for 2020 and I am excited to be working at the frontline of innovation for a dual mode university. Creating a platform for sustainable innovation to deal with an increasingly complicated tertiary education sector will be key. The ambidextrous university - one that maintains a stable and resilient baseline service coupled with ability to run out agile design thinking based approaches to creating a meaningful and fulfilling future student experience will be critical.

 

 

 

Identity as taonga: now and in the future

Identity Conference 2019

Excited to be the invited conference chair for the upcoming Identity Conference 2019 being held at Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand. This is the fourth identity conference since 2008.

Identity Conference 2019 – Identity as taonga: now and in the future – is a not-to-be-missed event for people in business, government, academia and media who recognise the importance of keeping up with changes in the way we manage, share and express our identity.

Increasingly central to this is digital identity, and how we use digital identity to engage with government and business and how we need to safeguard it from misrepresentation, misunderstanding or theft. The central theme is to look at the identity-related problems of today and the solutions of tomorrow.

Keynote speakers include the social scientist Nigel Latta, technology and privacy journalist Kashmir Hill, Privacy Commissioner John Edwards, Chief Archivist Richard Foy, demographer Prof Tahu Kukutai, and ID Care managing director Prof David Lacey.

 

 

Ethical Leadership in a changing world

Never a better time? We have just launched a new MOOC on Ethical Leadership. Leaders committed to an ethical approach have never been more important in a changing world that has come to be marked by low levels of trust, increasing cynicism, and uncertainty. The course has been been designed to introduce to the theories and practices of ethical leadership, with a focus on organisations. It draws on New Zealand case studies and is aimed at helping participants recognise the role of ethics in organisational decision-making, as well as analysing the actions of leaders from an ethical perspective. Recognised leaders from New Zealand’s private, public and NGO sectors help to elaborate the main issues that ethical leadership should address.

Find out more and enrol at:

https://www.edx.org/course/ethical-leadership-in-a-changing-world 

 

 

New Zealand: Landscape as Culture: Mountains

Excited to have our latest Massive Open Online Course on New Zealand - landscape as culture completed (NZ102x). This follows our first bicultural New Zealand MOOC on the subject of "Islands". This second course invites participants to learn about New Zealand’s mountains, or 'Maunga', and the cultural identities attached to them. It explores the lives of indigenous Māori people who trace their ancestry to their mountain, as well as the European, Pākeha people who identify with mountain culture.

Visit our growing list of programmes here on the edX portal:

https://www.edx.org/school/victoriax 

 

 

RIDE 2016 conference at the University of London

As the co-chair and organiser I am really pleased to see how the programme for the RIDE conference has come together this year. It promises to be an exciting day and one for celebration as the Centre for Distance Education celebrates the tenth incarnation of the annual conference. We have two excellent keynote speakers lined up for the day:

Prof. Dr Ilona Buchem - Beuth University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany.
Prof. Hugh Davis - Director of Institute for Learning Innovation and Development, University of Southampton, UK.

The programme also features seminars, workshops and showcases around three themes: design for learning, technologies for learning and enhancing the student experience. These will incorporate presentations include the Open Science Laboratory project at the Open University, latest developments in assessment and feedback, digital badging, and a strong focus on MOOCs that will reflect on the state of play and also looking into the future how we might evaluate them. Everything kicks off at 9:30am on Friday 11 March at Senate House, University of London. And the latest version of the conference programme is available for download and viewing here: RIDE2016_short_programme_FINAL (pdf, 2Mb).

 

Design4TEL - online professional development courses launched

 

Two new  online professional development courses launched at Surrey:

Designing Technology Enhanced Learning – a learning design studio approach (FHEQ Level 7 - 15 credits)

Use a design methodology to solve novel educational challenges relevant to your particular context. Develop the critical knowledge and tools to successfully design, implement and evaluate innovative approaches to learning and teaching challenges. Supported by peers, experts and an online workbench you will work through the design process, identifying a challenge and then prototyping and evaluating solutions that incorporate design patterns and principles.

http://www.surrey.ac.uk/designingtel/

 

Moving into Academic Leadership – an autoethnographic approach (FHEQ Level 7 - 15 credits)

Explore your personal academic identity and leadership approach through an autoethnographic analysis of your academic journey. Supported by your tutor and peers, you will consider aspects of professionalism, expertise, culture, gender and discipline that shape your leadership in academic activities, helping you to develop a roadmap to enhancing your leadership.

http://www.surrey.ac.uk/dhe/programmes/ma/academicleadership/  

 

Call for papers on Design Patterns for Open Online Teaching and Learning

Following on from the successful MOOC Design Patterns Project there is a specific call out with eLearning papers that I have been invited to guest edit on patterns for open online education.

Call for Papers eLearning Papers #42

Call for papers on Design Patterns for Open Online Teaching and Learning

http://www.openeducationeuropa.eu/elearning_papers/call_for_papers

Deadline: 11 May

Guest Editor: Professor Steven Warburton, University of Surrey

 The rapid rise of massive open online courses (MOOCS) has revived interest in the broader spectrum of open online teaching and learning. This “renaissance” has highlighted the challenges and potentials associated to the design of such educational environments. Arguably, the accelerated expansion of open online education creates risks for pedagogical quality and learner experience. There is an urgent need to articulate, share and critique design knowledge in this field.

 We are witnessing a wealth of different approaches to the delivery, pedagogy, functionalities and support mechanisms for Open Online Learning. Some have these have been successful and others not so successful – for an example we can see high variability in the documented retention rates across different MOOC offerings.

 Design patterns and pattern languages have been proposed as effective means to facilitate rigorous discourse, bridging theory and practice (Bergin et al, 2012; Conole et al, 2010; Goodyear, 2005; Mor et al, 2012; Mor et al, 2014; Sharp et al, 2003). The Design patterns paradigm was proposed by Christopher Alexander as a form of design language within architecture. A design pattern describes a recurring problem, or design challenge, the characteristics of the context in which it occurs, and a possible method of solution. These patterns were organized into coherent systems called pattern languages where patterns are related to each other. 

 Some of the key questions within this call are underpinned by a desire to understand the design processes and mechanisms by which we come to create and deliver open online learning at scale and by extension how we can formulate this into sharable design solutions that can be applied by others. Particularly where we are observing differentiation and varying degrees of success in the current landscape.

In this issue, we are seeking either pattern papers, pattern review papers or papers which discuss the process of eliciting and using design patterns in the design and delivery of open online education. This may include the following: 

 1. Papers reviewing existing pattern languages applicable to online learning;

2. Theory and methodology for mining / using patterns in relation to designing for Open Online Courses;

3. Pattern papers, including design narrative(s), design pattern(s) and scenario(s);

4. Application of patterns to design problems in open online learning.

For examples of pattern papers, please see the references below. You might also want to explore http://ilde.upf.edu/moocs/ as an environment for authoring and sharing design narratives, design paterns and design scenarios.

Submission guidelines

In this issue we will not be accepting “from the field” articles. We expect two categories of submissions:

Design pattern papers focus on design as a mode of action (identifying a need and creating new “things” to address it) and as a mode of inquiry (understanding human experience by introducing innovations and observing their effect).Design research asks not “what is” but “how do we make it better?”. Design papers are expected to presentdesign principles, design guidelines or design patterns, supported by empirical evidence (qualitative, quantitative or mixed) and theoretical justification. 

In good editorial form: Selected articles are clear and precise. They should identify a framework of reference and exhibit a dual commitment to the advancement of both theory and practice.  

Length: Should not exceed 6,000 words.

In-Depth articles are full-length texts that discuss current findings from research or long-term studies. They should have the following characteristics: 

Academic focus: Articles must be original, scientifically accurate and informative, reporting on new developments and recently concluded projects.

In good editorial form: Selected articles are clear and precise. They should develop their argument coherently and present unity of thought.

Length: Should range from 4,000 to 6,000 words.

References

Bergin, J.; Eckstein, J.; Volter, M.; Sipos, M.; Wallingford, E.; Marquardt, K.; Chandler, J.; Sharp, H. & Manns, M. L. (2012), Pedagogical Patterns: Advice For Educators, Joseph Bergin Software Tools .

Conole, G.; McAndrew, P. & Dimitriadis, Y. (2010), The role of CSCL pedagogical patterns as mediating artefacts for repurposing Open Educational Resources, in F. Pozzi & D. Persico, ed., 'Techniques for Fostering Collaboration in Online Learning Communities: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives' , Hershey, New York , pp. 206-223 .

Goodyear, P. (2005), 'Educational design and networked learning: Patterns, pattern languages and design practice',Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 21 (1) , 82-101.

Mor, Y. (2013), SNaP! Re-using, sharing and communicating designs and design knowledge using Scenarios, Narratives and Patterns, in Rosemary Luckin; Peter Goodyear; Barbara Grabowski; Sadhana Puntambekar; Niall Winters & Joshua Underwood, ed., 'Handbook of Design in Educational Technology' , Routledge, , pp. 189-200  

Mor, Y.; Mellar, H.; Warburton, S. & Winters, N., ed. (2014), Practical Design Patterns for Teaching and Learning with Technology. Sense: Rotterdam/Boston/Taipei. https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/technology-enhanced-learning-1/practical-design-patterns-for-teaching-and-learning-with-technology/ 

Mor, Y.; Warburton, S. & Winters, N. (2012), 'Participatory Pattern Workshops: A Methodology for Open Learning Design Inquiry', Research in Learning Technology 20.

Sharp, H.; Manns, M. L. & Eckstein, J. (2003), 'Evolving Pedagogical Patterns: The Work of the Pedagogical Patterns Project', Computer Science Education 13 , 315-330 .

See also:

• MOOC Design Patterns Project
• Design Patterns page on the Learning Design Grid

 

Contact

For any question regarding the submission process you can contact us at editorialteam[at]openeducationeuropa[dot]eu