Session 3 Understanding online learning

Introduction

How do universities get started with online education? In this session, you will look at some of the principles that underpin effective online teaching, and how learning theories can inform approaches to online provision. Following this, you will be introduced to a categorisation of the technologies used in online teaching and learning. Pulling all of this together should enable you to plan for learning and teaching facilitated by technology.

Practitioner reflections

This session begins with a clip from Leanne, who talks about some of the tools and concepts she has found useful in her teaching. In it, she refers to ‘learning objects’, by which she means the different elements of her online teaching. As you watch the video, or read the transcript, make a note of the different types of work Leanne has to do in order to take her teaching online, and consider in each case how other professionals could help her to complete these tasks.

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Transcript

LEANNE:
Hello! When I first started creating online learning objects, I was surprised at the amount of time that it took. Compared to my previous face-to-face teaching experiences, I had to dramatically change the way in which I planned for learning opportunities when taking them online. I quickly realised that the ability that you have in class to change the direction and adapt to the needs of learners quickly didn’t exist, so much more thought about the different routes that students could take needed to be considered in advance.
Although this felt a little daunting at first, the benefits for students soon became apparent. They could access the learning at a time, location and pace appropriate to them as individuals. The creation of digital badges is something that has had a particular impact on my teaching practice. After being really motivated when I was awarded some digital badges myself on an online course that I was completing, I decided to use them with my students.
In the past, I found it difficult to acknowledge and track the progress made by students online when it comes to the acquisition of skills. This was particularly important in my context, as students were studying a practical biology course. By introducing a range of digital badges to represent the various skills developed on the course, students had a way of demonstrating the progress they made.
Creating learning objects can be time-consuming initially, but will save you time in the long run. I would recommend for anyone to take their teaching online in this way.
End transcript
 
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Learning outcomes

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

  • find, evaluate, manage, curate, organise and share digital content for learning, teaching and assessment;
  • share learning and teaching materials and resources on appropriate digital sites and networks;
  • understand some of the key principles of online teaching;
  • relate theories of learning to strategies that can be used to enhance learning online.

1 Principles of effective online teaching