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Transcript of ACETS and the ‘Semi-structured Learning Design Statement’ Rachel Ellaway The University of...
ACETS and the ‘Semi-structured Learning
Design Statement’
Rachel EllawayThe University of Edinburgh
UNFOLD, Berlin, November 2005
The ACETS Project
Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) have been a topic of debate for several years
But what happens when teachers use other people’s materials in their teaching?
… not just as an adjunct (textbooks, libraries etc), but in their teaching
UK JISC ‘Exchange for Learning’ Programme X4L - RLOs (mostly content and
tools: RELOAD etc)
ACETS: “Assemble Catalogue Exemplify Test and Share”
Multi-dimensional, detailed case studies of reuse in situ
Real students, real activities
Healthcare focus: anatomy or communication skills
ACETS + 36 months = ?
Research methodology
21 exemplar case studies
Ethnographic evidence base
Focus on underlying issues
Recommendations
21 Exemplar Case Studies
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UKEL 5 UKEL 6 UKEL 7 UKEL 8 UKEL 9 UKEL 10 UKEL 11 UKEL 12
UKEL/SCQF level
Number of exemplars
ACETS SSLD
5-part exemplar
– Baseline survey
– Reflective diary
– Closing interview
– Semi-Structured Learning Design
– Materials
ACETS SSLDSemi-structured Learning Design: SSLD
Based on IMS Learning Design
‘to achieve these outcomes and given these preconditions, these individuals perform these roles within the following activities using these resources and services in this environment’
Rendered as a pro-forma
Uses natural language but remains sufficiently formalised for cross-comparison and analysis
Creation is part of closing interview - post hoc holograph
Thematic analysis
Using the SSLD in ACETS
Teachers had major problems doing an SSLD themselves, so ..
Initially rendered by ACETS Project Officer
Iterative validation and clarification
Blank pro-forma bad - completed pro-forma good
Clearly identifies the RLOs (push-button map)
But many emergent issues …
SSLD Issues
Scope - from whole courses down to using single artifacts?
Granularity - stepwise or overview, too much detail, too little?
Focus - algorithms, elements, stories … pedagogy?
Implicit vs explicit environmental factors?
“on or off?” - blending online and offline activities - when does technology become invisible?
Sequencing non-contiguous (or otherwise different) kinds of activities?
SSLD Issues
Key importance of triggers - but often not ‘triggers’ in an activation sense
Domain-specific terms need expanding (teaching and learning is highly culturally and politically situated)
Objectives/outcomes need expanding: procedural objectives vs terminal outcomes (context again)
Dependent activities outwith current activity - e.g. assessment (activities are often not self-contained - context yet again)
Difference between ‘teaching design’ and ‘learning design’ (what the teacher thinks happened) - issues of ‘hidden curricula’
ACETS SSLDsCommon analysis framework for v.different activities
SSLD in ACETS is 1 of 4 case study components - triangulation, dimensioning etc (methodology …)
IMS LD very useful as basis for an evaluation framework but not perfect
Complex for teachers to create, but less so to read (validation step)
Issues of representativeness - emergent craft vs algorithm
Later cases used SSLDs from earlier cases as starting point - not as a whole but as ‘licks’ or ‘riffs’
Many issues: scope, detail, focus, context, borders, perspectives …
But it helped us to generate a number of recommendations
Recommendations (i)
• Reuse is not in itself a good or bad thing and it should not be encouraged
or discouraged as a matter of dogma.
• Reuse is not particularly dependent on upfront technological support; the
needs of teachers are often highly specific, contextualised and related to
their personal approaches to teaching.
• If educational institutions and supporting bodies wish reuse to become
mainstream then they must deal more directly with the issues and needs of
teachers.
• Appropriate resources for teachers’ needs need to be made available, with
conditions of use and the facility to obtain them for local applications
made clear and simple.
LD
LD
LD
Recommendations (ii)
• Web and multimedia skills, although interesting and useful, are far less
important than good pedagogical and instructional skills.
• The technology that the exemplars used was mostly Google for
searching and local VLEs for delivery. As such, infrastructure is mostly
in place and frequently used.
• Local support is very important but it should be focused on what can be
done as well as how it can be done.
• Without motivation and clearly perceivable benefits teachers will be
unlikely to overcome the difficulties associated with using existing
third-party materials.
LD
Exemplars online at:
www.acets.ac.uk
Reports from:[email protected]
ACETS and the Semi-structured Learning Design Statement
Rachel EllawayThe University of Edinburgh
UNFOLD, Berlin, November 2005