A book which divides opinion
For this reading group Session, we’re reading Daisy Christodoulou’s Seven Myths About Education. Read the whole book if you can make the time. It’s 130 pages of enjoyably simple, clear prose. The Guardian describes it as “one of the most talked-about in education in the past 20 years, prompting praise and anger in roughly equal …
Where are we? Where are we going?
Where are we? Where are we going? Each year the National Institute for Digital Learning at Dublin City University publishes its top ten digital education publications. This month we’ll discuss a selection from that, focusing on strategic direction and leadership. If you only read one thing, make it: Flavin, M., Quintero, V., 2018. UK higher …
Time may be solved – what about distance?
Description Video-conferencing tools are commonly used for meetings or one-to-one tutorials at universities but less so for teaching. Come and discuss what these tools can offer distance and blended learning contexts, how they can enhance the interaction and collaboration, and what is needed to implement this in online programmes. Main texts Most research on synchronous …
An alternative to minimally-guided instruction
Direct instruction (DI) is one of the most empirically well-established instructional methods in education yet one of the least well-known. Championed by leading educational researchers such as John Hattie and Dylan William, DI was vindicated as most successful education program in the largest, most expensive US Department of Education project even run. Indeed, in a …
How does it sound to you?
In this month’s reading group, we’ll look at audio feedback, how it’s used and what the issues might be around its adoption. We’ll start off by discussing the background readings in 1 and 2. Further conversations will be guided by which of the ‘In practice’ texts and topics people have been most interested in (or …
How a service came under suspicion.
We like to think of lecture capture as primarily a measure towards a more inclusive education, but events of the past year lead us to question this. When read in order, the following pieces tell a story of the function creep of lecture capture, measures taken to limit this, and the consequences for trust between …
Many approaches to instructional design have a taxonomy of types of learning at their heart. Which taxonomy is the most helpful? Can we divide up learning into boxes?
We’ll focus on two types of examples: taxonomies of learning objectives and of learning activities. Optional background paper: Lee S. Shulman (2002, 25 min) provides a thoughtful background to the value and limitations of taxonomies, and includes some interpretation of Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy Then you could either pick one part to get your teeth into or select …
Ahead of the M25 ALT workshop on instructional design in July
This week we’re looking at how instructional designers go about creating online courses, particularly: Is it the same process if you’re creating professional training or academic modules? Is ‘understanding’ an acceptable learning aim? What about ‘caring’? Can you decide on learning activities in two hours or does it take two days? Background only Most …
What makes educational practice ‘open’?
In open education discourse, there’s been a shift from open educational resources to open educational practices. But what does ‘open educational practices’ mean? You can tell a resource is open because it‘s been openly licensed (allowing use and adaptation) but how can you tell if a practice is open? The readings, selected by Leo Havemann, interrogate the …
To learn, you need to do something with your information. But, perhaps not surprisingly, most of us would rather chill.
Why? And what reservations might we have before signing up to the active learning club? We suggest you start with reading at least one reading from each heading. If you are very pressed for time, read the first article and Joshua Eyler’s Storify below. Active learning works! In Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics (2014), Scott …