Online Learning
- Refers to learning material delivered via web
- Often refers to learning material delivered via a Learning Management System (LMS)
- Online delivery is a flexible delivery option which can support on-campus subjects or subjects taught by distance education
Educational Design
- Identify learning objectives and methods of achieving them face-to-face versus remotely
- Lectures, extra reference material, supplementary material
- face-to-face, printed handouts
- Powerpoint slides, streaming audio, streaming video, web pages, pdfs, printed handouts
- Communication (Staff-Student, Student-Student)
- Tutorials, Seminars, Practical classes, student consultation times
- Discussion forums / Chat / Whiteboard / Email / Phone / Video-conferencing / Post
- Interactive tasks
- Revision / Assessment (MCQs, written exams, assignments etc)
- Face-to-face, Online delivery, CDs, Print-packs, Telephone . . .
Web-based learning via LMS
- Learning Management Systems (LMS) hosted by (e.g.) University
- Blackboard
- Moodle
- Virtual framework to support online teaching and learning
- Bundles together standard web and internet services within its structure
- Enables restriction of resources to subgroups of students
- Easy-to-use for academic staff with no MM / web skills
- Gives "control" of computer-based teaching back to academics
- Use web-based delivery so no need for special client software other than "standard" browser
- Gives rise to a whole set of issues related to standards, browsers, accessibility etc
Generic LMS Architecture
LMS delivery and management of content
- Content can be provided in any web-deliverable format
- Presentation of content and communication tool availability can be sequential, hierarchical and / or progressive
- Progression through content (content release) can be controlled by criteria based on, for example, completion of assignments, scores on assignments, passage of time
LMS course administration
- LMS takes care of backend "administrivia"
- Allocates students to courses
- Uses information from student information system
- Gives standard login and access to appropriate courses based on enrolment
- Only enrolled students can access course information
- Can create subgroups for tutorials / PBL groups
- All access requires user login (cannot view material for courses you are not enrolled in)
- Makes it difficult to interact across different cohorts and cannot continue communicating in the LMS framework beyond enrolment
An LMS is essentially an enterprise administrative system for course management
LMS communication and collaboration
Asynchronous
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Synchronous
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Assignments, Revision and Assessment
- There are built-in assessment tools in all LMS
- Most provide standard question types such as MCQ, fill-in-the-blank, matching, calculated answers, short answers
- Short answers and long answers are difficult to mark automatically, but can be queued for manual marking
- There are also built-in assignment submission tools which may be just a digital dropbox or may have more sophisticated auditing and feedback
- Some LMS (eg Moodle) allow discussion forum posts to be rated (teacher only, or peer review)
- There are many technical and non-technical issues relating to unsupervised online assessment (eg with respect to identity, timing and available resources) but online assessment tools can be used very effectively for self-review
Things to consider when using online delivery
- Will academic staff be expected to produce content for use online, or will that be done by specialist support staff
- File formats, web design standards, templates, accessibility, QA
- If material is online so students can download and print it, is this the appropriate delivery method?
- Explicit role or subsumed within "teaching load"?
- Who will monitor email / discussion groups / chat
- How often? What level of facilitation? How long will it take?
- Will you use online quizzes for graded assessment?
- Issues with connections, timing, invigilation etc
- How will you use student tracking features / weblogs?
- Will you inform students if you are tracking their individual access to learning materials?
- Who will handle class lists (enrolment, sub-groups, tutors)?
- Who will provide support / training for staff and students?
- If course materials are only available online, need to understand accessibility requirements and have access to appropriate technical expertise
- Who will keep local backups of grades and materials and monitor course availability during semester?
- Need to consider long-term record-keeping obligations and archiving strategy for online courses and student data