The Simple Art of eLearning

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The Simple Art of eLearning

• Derek Harding
• Learning Teaching Consultant

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Acknowledgements Issues 1

• Professor Gerda Roper
• Set up the conditions to allow this to happen
• Added the requirement that the project be
  sustainable
• Suggested the idea that the project should bring
  the world to Teesside students

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Acknowledgements Issues 2

• Lesley Hicks
• Lesley was essential to the project since it was
  her module that we worked on most
• Needed to be careful that it was her ideas that
  were implemented and in ways she could manage
  after the project

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Acknowledgements Issues 3

• Dr Richard Hall
• Allowed me to explore some of my ideas with staff
  at De Montfort University as part of a Pioneer
  Project
• Worked with me on the TLTP funded Chic Project
  during which we developed the concept of
  Customisation for Local Use of web resources.
  Outputs from the project are still in use today.

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Acknowledgements Issues 4

• Su Gollifer
• The first artist I worked with. A pioneer of
  early computer art we explored the current state
  of learning with computers in the early days of
  blackboard. The results of which were presented
  as a paper at the Amsterdam BB conference and
  took part in a symposium in Copenhagen. We still
  share ideas, some interesting and some downright
  weird!

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Acknowledgements Issues 5

• The Institute of Unnecessary Research
• www.unnecessaryresearch.org/
• Simply because it is a brilliant example of how
  to think outside of the box
• It really is what it says and is funded
• It is not a joke or a spoof

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Knitting these things together

• Sustainability a window on the world
• Focus on the lecturer and her ideas
• Customisation for local use
• Keep the discipline and its needs in mind rather
  than the technology and be creative. Think
  outside of the box.
• Keep it simple

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The Practicals 1

• Image - vitally important but often neglected
• Information - of the right kind and not too much
• Interaction - with each other rather than with
  the technology
• Pointers - to interesting things, ideas and so on
  but you have the opportunity to guide them here
  (the wikipedia issue?)

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Image Example
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The Practicals 2

• Information

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The Practicals 3

• Interaction
• This can get very creative but the best way to do
  this is to get students to do it rather than you.
• E.g. as in the example construct a student
  gallery (prompt - show gallery example)

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The Practicals 4

• Pointers
• The flow of the module ideally should be such
  that students come in and interact with the
  content and with each other then go off in search
  of other things through the various links etc.
• (prompt show world galleries example)

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The skills - Image 1

• Image
• Making a banner - if you know how to use
  photoshop or a similar package you need to know
  how to open an image, crop the part you want,
  resize it and maybe cut and paste into another
  file if you are putting a number of images
  together. But most people only need to do it
  once or twice so ask a 6 year old to do it for
  you (only joking, but.. ).

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The Skills - Image 2

• Look and feel
• Decide on navigation labels that make sense to
  you and your students and stick with them. You
  will need to be able to edit the navigation area.
  If you are not sure about this get someone from
  the elearning team in CLQE to come and help.
  They have an at desk service. Alternatively you
  could ask me.
• Keep it simple
• Use a muted colour scheme. Again keep it simple
  and understated

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The Skills - Information

• You need to be able to upload a file from your
  computer. E.g. the module handbook, your banner
  image etc.
• You need to know how to edit the text area of
  items you put in to explain them.
• In essence if you know how to insert a table,
  insert an image, add text in a table cell,
  highlight some of the text and make it a link, in
  word, then you already have the skills to do all
  of this except make the banner.

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The Skills - Interaction

• You need to know how to add a wiki

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The Skills - Pointers

• You need to know how to compile a set of pointers
  (links) and insert them in Blackboard.
• Possibly the simplest way of doing this is to
  keep a word document open while you are
  browsing/searching and cut and paste site
  addresses into that as you go. Add descriptions
  and you will gradually build a resource that can
  be put into blackboard.

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And Finally

• I asked students if you could have anything in
  BB what would you have?
• They said access to mymail
• To do this add a link to http//mymail.tees.ac.uk
  to the navigation panel

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Update

• The project is ongoing in the sense that further
  work is being done e.g.

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Conclusion

• The school was very happy with the outcome
• Lesley has a sustainable module model
• We have a set of ideas and approaches which can
  be generic
• It looks professional
• It makes use of existing resources
• Students can help shape it
• It is relatively simple to do

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The Simple Art of eLearning

• Any questions?