Category Archives: education design

Negotiation and Conflict Resolution – Open2Study – a course review

On the weekend I wrapped up studying Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, a free 4 week/module online course offered through Open2Study

Open2Study is the MOOC* offering of Open Universities Australia, a more conventional provider of free online education and training.

Structurally, Open2Study courses use a fairly standard framework – four modules composed of ten short videos (4-10 mins) of a presenter talking to camera. After each video is a single multi-choice question and after the final video is a ten multi-choice question assessment quiz covering the content from the module. Discussion forums are also provided but not supported/moderated by the person delivering the course as far as I can see and links to additional reading/resources are also made available.

In terms of rich educational design, there’s something left to be desired in this model but at the same time, it’s a free resource drawing on the skills and knowledge of some talented people and it does provide a decent introduction to the topic.

Negotiation and Conflict Resolution was developed and presented by Dr Andrew Ley of the Macquarie University Graduate School of Management. The first two modules focus on negotiation, the third touches on conflict resolution (with a slightly heavy leaning toward understanding the origins of conflict at the expense of practical solutions in conflict resolution) and the final module focuses on communication skills.

Dr Ley is an engaging and clearly knowledgeable presenter and the videos make decent (and sparing) use of basic text and the occasional image to illustrate key points. The videos are delivered via YouTube and make effective use of the Interactive Transcript functionality. This enables learners to quickly scan the content of the video and click the text to skip to particular sections of the video.

video screenshot

This is an effective way of dealing with the difficulties in scanning the information presented in videos.

The discussion forums were scantly used – Dr Ley did suggest that learners discuss particular questions in the forums at several points in the later videos but it was left to the learners to start these posts and subsequently this tended not to happen. A more effective strategy for using the forums would’ve seen either Dr Ley or an Open2Study moderator facilitating discussion here by raising an initial question and providing responses to interesting student comments (while not dominating the thread). Wrapping up the discussion with a summary of the thread and/or further issues to consider would also be good practice.

A PDF with references for further reading is provided for each module, however it seems like an oversight not to provide these as URLs where possible.

Overall I’m glad to have the opportunity to access this level of training for free and at my leisure and if you are interested in gaining a richer understanding of some of the key principles and strategies of Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, it is well worth signing up for this course. The next intake starts on 15/09/14 at https://www.open2study.com/courses/negotiation-and-conflict-resolution

From an educational design perspective, it’s adequate but there is room for improvement – but hey, it’s free, university level education.

Next up I’ll be checking out the Open2Study User Experience for the Web course, so here’s hoping some of those lessons flow through to this blog.

 

*I say MOOC because this has come to be the default usage of the term but my personal feeling is that true MOOCs should have a far richer learning model than content/quiz/content/quiz

Reframing a job interview as a class

So I had an interview for an eLearning Developer job the other day and I feel like I fizzed it.

I’m not entirely sure why – I’m utterly qualified for the position (it’s pretty much an exact match for the work that I’ve been doing for the last 11 years – just in a university rather than a TAFE setting) and I put together a pretty killer application. I also did a pretty solid job on working up a response to the scenario they gave me in advance of the interview.

It’s essentially a job that is made for me – I’d even be taking a not insubstantial pay-cut but I’m keen for some new challenges and opportunities and I’m happy to wear that.

The interview itself though – I don’t know, I was rambly, I was nervous, I’m not sure that I really answered the questions. I was very mindful of interview tips and techniques that I’ve read about – be engaged, don’t talk about pay and conditions, do your research, don’t raise negatives about your old employer – and yet…

The end of the interview felt a lot like every bad date I’ve ever been on – nothing to be said or done beyond “well it was nice meeting you”

After a few days of moping and eating too much sugar and fat, I’ve realised that I need to frame the interview experience completely differently.

I walked into that room as a supplicant, hoping that the interviewers in their infinite wisdom and kindness might bestow a job upon me.

What I should’ve done is treat it like I’m running a workshop in what a great team member I could be. When I’m in teacher mode, I’m a different person. (I’m sure we all are)

There’s no room for doubt, there’s just me, the material and the learners. And if someone out there is better equipped to run a workshop about me, I’ve yet to meet them. (I don’t think I’d want to either)

So this is a plan from here on in – it’s not an interview, it’s not a request – it’s a lesson about me as their prospective employee.

 

 

Using Feedback in Moodle for more than student evaluations & Using Padlet

The first in our series of CITFLN TeacherNet Show and tell sessions went well with Jo Whitfield sharing some ideas about using the Feedback tool for more than student evaluations and I presented Padlet, an embeddable interactive wall.

Here are the videos from these presentations

Digital Research – a double edged sword (infographic)

Allison Morris has shared a very interesting infographic that she worked on about digital research with regard to U.S college students.

She discusses this image in a blog post at Infantium – http://www.infantium.com/blog/2013/05/25/students-and-digital-research/

It clearly illustrates the challenges that both teachers and learners face as our digital literacy and information management skills struggle to keep up with emerging technology.

Image sourced from http://www.onlineeducation.net/2013/03/11/digital-research-a-double-edged-sword

Digital research infographic

Learning design: Why you want to lead with the scenario

http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2013/08/why-you-want-to-put-the-activity-first/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cathy-moore%2FLPhE+%28Cathy+Moore%29

This post by Cathy Moore (and another that I came across not too long ago here at Computing Education Blog ) struck a chord with me. In essence, they are both saying that learners can benefit by having their skills and knowledge tested right from the beginning of a subject. Whether it involves participating in a scenario and completing some kind of formative assessment, putting this activity up front lets your learners see what they are expected to know, what they don’t currently know and why this is a relevant and worthwhile part of their studies. The odds are pretty good that they will fail the scenario or quiz or whatever the first time around but as long as we make it clear that this is OK and that it’s just a part of learning, the memories of this experience will give context and meaning to everything else that they learn afterwards. I took this approach perhaps a little inadvertently in a digital literacy course that I trialled last year. I wanted to test the value of a particular quiz

via Delicious (via IFTTT)

San Jose State’s MOOC Missteps Easy to See – Higher Education

http://diverseeducation.com/article/54903/#

Some useful lessons about running MOOCs gained by looking at a poorly run one. The fact that these courses were still being built as they were being delivered – something perhaps not uncommon in face-to-face land but rarely an inspiring sign – should have been the first give away. It’s hard not to think that this was the result of a top-down “OMG, everyone else has a MOOC, we have to have one too, now, now now” mentality that even I have been bumping up against lately

via Delicious (via IFTTT)

Great e-Learning designs for Moodle – Karyn Milne CIT Creative Industries

screenshot of moodle course

The following short video (5:03) showcases some of the fantastic design work that one of our Creative Industries teachers – Karyn Milne – has done in her Moodle course. (We call our Moodle system eLearn, in case you find references to eLearn in the video confusing).

The main tips that I have taken from this are:

  1. Use advance organisers to give learners a context and a framework for the activities and resources that are coming. In this instance it is as simple as expanding on the topic heading – Printing (Technology, literacy and cultural change) or The Bauhaus (Form follows function – and the new hopes)
  2. Visual representations of the content help add extra meaning. Now Karyn is a skilled graphic designer so maybe your topic banners might not be quite as artistic but it is still relatively easy to add simple images that also help to break up the dreaded Moodle wall of text
  3. Provide simple and direct instructions with the actions emphasised
  4. Provide a range of different resources and activities – in these two topics we have documents, videos, a quiz and a discussion forum.