Home | Threshold Concepts & Variation Theory Open University Learning Design Initiative The OU Learning Design Initiative (OULDI) started with institutional strategic funding in 2007 and has been funded by JISC under the Curriculum Design programme since September 2008. Our work is focused around several key questions: Our aim is to develop and implement a methodology for learning design composed of tools, practice and other innovation that both builds upon, and contributes to, existing academic and practioner research. We have been working across several OU faculties and with 4 other universities to pilot curriculum design activities and relevant supporting tools and to contribute to the broader academic work in the subject. We have produced a range of tools which include: Additional outputs include: Our is underpinned by an ongoing programme of empirical work, aimed at getting a richer understanding of educational design processes.
Event Registration University of Dublin, Trinity College 27 June 2012 The 2012 Threshold Concepts Conference was the National Academy's 6th Annual Conference and the 4th Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference, and attracted close to 300 delegates over the two days. Certificates of Attendance: Please scroll through the certs at the following link Certificate of Attendance (pdf) to locate your individual certificate. Keynote Presentations:Please click here to view the four keynote presentations from the 2012 Threshold Concepts conference. Programme: Conference programme (pdf)Book of abstracts (pdf) Student SymposiumA free pre-conference symposium took place on June 27th from 2-4pm for delegates new to the area of Threshold Concepts.The workshops addressed the following themes.Workshop 1: Background to Threshold Concepts Workshop 2: Introduction to Decoding the Disciplines Conference Publication:Conference proceedings will follow the 2012 International Conference. Time: 9 am
Carpe Diem MOOC The Threshold Concept Threshold Concepts in Practice (2016) Edited by Ray Land, Jan H. F. Meyer and Michael T Flanagan Educational Futures: Rethinking Theory and Practice, Michael A Peters (Series Editor), volume 68Sense Publishers, Rotterdam/Boston/Taipei, 2016 ISBN: 978-94-6300-510-4 (paperback), ISBN: 978-94-6300-511-1 (hardback), ISBN: 978-94-6300-512-8 (e-book) Threshold Concepts in Practice brings together fifty researchers from sixteen countries and a wide variety of disciplines to analyse their teaching practice, and the learning experiences of their students, through the lens of the Threshold Concepts Framework. The majority of chapters in this book are developments of talks first presented at the Fifth International Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference: Threshold Concepts in Practice, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom, 9-11 July, 2014. Click here for Further Details and Table of Contents.
Linking online course design & implementation to Learning outcomes: A design experiment | Karen Swan them, moreover, from a collaborative constructivist point of view. Buildingfrom the notion of social presence, the CoI framework represents onlinelearning experiences as a function of relationships among three presences:social, teaching, and cognitive. The CoI framework views all three as workingtogether to support deep and meaningful learning processes. Course Redesign The original purpose of this study was to investigate relationships betweencourse design, learning processes, and course outcomes.
E-learning essentials (genuinely) | UCL E-Learning Environments team blog By Matthew S B Smith, on 7 August 2014 Last month I attended a 3 day JISC Netskills workshop at Newcastle University entitled ‘e-learning Essentials’. Based on this particularly uninspiring title, I was prepared for the course to cover already well-trodden ground. However, I quickly found it to be the antithesis; within the first hour the unexpectedly inspiring trainer Danny McAtominey was making me think about e-learning in a way I had not considered in some time. The course focussed heavily on learning theory and rationale with the first day spent entirely away from technology (in fact during the three days I did not learn about a single new tool or piece of software). We looked at educational taxonomies, instructional design cycles and pedagogical frameworks (the kind of diagrams I do not doubt we all have copies of but so rarely dig out and consult) and how these align with and inform course design.
International Learning Design Challenge: Summary | Building Community Knowledge Sign up on We launched the International Learning Designs Challenge on 10th February. You can still sign up and catch up with the activities.If you missed our Big Launch today, you can watch the recording of it below. We keep on responding to your questions on Twitter #LDChallenge and via email: learningdesignercommunity@gmail.com Professor Diana Laurillard launching the International Learning Designs Challenge: Aim Can we build a library of One Hundred Learning Designs that are effective, shareable, and editable, in just five days, using a dedicated online tool – the Learning Designer. Our aim is to engage the teaching community from across the globe to join in designing, sharing, and discussing how to create great learning designs for transforming education. Schedule What is the Challenge? We have set three learning design challenges for current and future teaching and learning, for any sector or subject area: What will you get out of the design challenge?
Engaging academics in collegial online professional development during a course renewal process: Intent and reflection. | Vikki Pollard Research and Development in Higher Education: Higher Education in a Globalized World Volume Refereed papers from the 37th HERDSA Annual International Conference 7 - 10 July 2014 Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong SAR, Peoples Republic of China Savage, J. & Pollard, V. (2014). Higher Education: Higher Education in a Globalized World, 37 (pp 274 - 283). Published 2014 by Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia, Inc PO Box 27, MILPERRA NSW 2214, This research paper was reviewed using a double blind peer review process that meets requirements. reviewed the full paper devoid of the authors’ names and institutions in order to ensure objectivity and anonymity. conference theme and sub-themes, originality, quality and presentation. acceptance, this full paper was presented at the international conference. Copyright © 2014 HERDSA and the authors. research or private study, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act, accordance concerning above.
What Technology Does What: An #edtech Chart For Teachers What Technology Does What: The Ultimate #edtech Chart For Teachers by TeachThought Staff Okay, we’ve had this post half-finished for long enough that some of the apps we had here are no longer relevant, so we figured it was probably time to go ahead and publish it even if we couldn’t figure out the best way to format it. This is what we hope will be an ongoing collection of the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom. We’d like to see it crowdsourced, so we may convert it to a public document/wiki-type file at some point. We’ll also try to add to it ourselves as technology suggests itself that we haven’t considered (or just plain forgot about). We may even just crowdsource it–open it up as a wiki and let you add your expertise. Maybe something like this? As a teacher I want students to… General …work with pdf files iBooks, iAnnotate PDF, Papers, Noteshelf, GoodReader …Stay Focused 30:30, Simply Noise, Simply Rain …Save content privately Pocket , pearltrees, Evernote Edshelf Hardware
ABC (Arena Blended Connected) curriculum design By Natasa Perovic, on 9 April 2015 The ABC curriculum design method is a ninety-minute hands-on workshop for module (and programme) teams. This rapid-design method starts with your normal module (programme) documentation and will help you create a visual ‘storyboard’. A storyboard lays out the type and sequence learning activities required to meet the module’s learning outcomes and how these will be assessed. ABC is particularly useful for new programmes or those changing to an online or a more blended format. The method uses an effective and engaging paper card-based approach based on research from the JISC* and UCL IoE**. The team starts by writing a very short ‘catalogue’ description of the module to highlight its unique aspects. Next the team plan the distribution of each learning type by arranging the postcard-sized cards along the timeline of the module. The type and range of learner activities soon becomes clear and the cards often suggest new approaches. Refererences:
CELT | Manchester Metropolitan University What are they? These cards were produced to support course planning activity in workshops or meetings. The format makes them portable and easy to use in a variety of contexts. The cards cover teaching activities (things organised by the course team – orange cards), learning activities (things students do outside timetabled sessions – blue cards), assessment types (A4 cards) and the MMU employability and sustainability outcomes (green cards). The basic idea is to lay out the teaching activities in the intended sequence and then to add in the intended learning activities around them, to get a visual overview of how the course works and what students need to do to prepare for the different parts and whether they have enough time for this, and to check that the teaching activities lead up logically to assessment points. How can the cards be used? They can be used in a variety of ways; some suggestions might be:
The Design Studio / Viewpoints project Viewpoints was a Jisc-funded project supported by the Institutional Approaches to Curriculum Design programme (2008-2012). The project was led by the University of Ulster and outputs were disseminated by the follow-on Panorama project (2012-2013) The following is a summary and background to the Viewpoints project as it developed. Our Project The Viewpoints project will provide practitioners with a series of simple, user-friendly reflective tools that promote a creative and effective approach to the curriculum design process. See our Curriculum Design Institutional Story Our Dissemination Project blog/website Viewpoints Project NING community (by invite) Information Skills NING community (by invite) Slideshare (copies of presentations, documents, printable files) YouTube channel - Viewpoints YouTube videos/digital stories with closed captions for accessibility Twitter - links about current Viewpoints activity Webinar recordings: Other project outputs tagged with 'Viewpoints' A1Poster.pdf Our Cluster
Connected Curriculum Connected Curriculum A distinctive approach to research-based education Connected Curriculum is an institution-wide initiative which aims to ensure that all UCL students are able to learn through participating in research and enquiry at all levels of their programme of study. Educating through dialogue and active, critical enquiryCreating an inclusive research and learning communityMaking connections across modules, programmes and beyond the classroomCreating assessments that mirror ‘public engagement’ in researchEquipping students to address interdisciplinary challengesExploring critically the values and practices of global citizenship Engaging students as partners in their education, and as co-producers of knowledge Improving the experiences of both students and staff A word from UCL’s President and Provost, Professor Michael Arthur “At University College London, our top strategic priority for the next 20 years is to close the divide between teaching and research.