he 7Cs of Learning Design work

Moving from where we are to where we want to be.

Where we are	Where we want to be
Modules are usually allocated to individual tutors or external consultants	A team approach to learning design
Individuals ‘write’ their distance learning (DL) course materials in silos, with little collaboration or support	Teams design courses rather than ‘write materials’
Production is content-focused, with little understanding of sound DL pedagogy or learning design	Pedagogical, technical and library support available from the start
	Content is just one component of the course; pedagogically sound tasks (or ‘e-tivities’) are central to all designs
There might be resistance to using high-quality resources developed by others	Existing high-quality content such as open educational resources are integrated into courses
Printed versions of materials are often shipped to DL students at great cost	Printing costs are reduced through smart uses of technology, including e-book readers
Modules are ‘delivered’ to students, who work entirely at their own pace and require personalised, expensive support throughout the course and fail to benefit from peer input	Structured, participative task-based collaboration provides DL students with focus and cohesion
Some tutors may lack basic e-moderating skills	Tutors are skilled e-moderators
‘Cohorts’ may not operate as such; structured group work can be minimal or non-existent	‘Flexible cohorts’ maximise the impact of tutor input and peer collaboration
Assessment is very traditional	Assessment is considered right from the start of any design process
	Assessment is innovative and capitalises on the online work carried out during the course
Pedagogical innovation is largely under-utilised	Good practice in DL informs on-campus learning and teaching
The affordances of technologies are not fully exploited	Appropriate technologies are embedded within sound, consistent learning design
Associate Tutors are on a range of different contracts with different responsibilities	Associate Tutors’ contracts, responsibilities, skills and support are agreed and consistent
Learner isolation increases and retention drops	Increased learner motivation and retention through peer interaction

The 7Cs of Learning Design Workshop:

achieves successful, productive, collaborative working between academics, tutors, learning designers, librarians and technologists;
exploits low-cost, high-impact technologies;
focuses e-learning on learner activity and group work;
is practical, outcomes-based;
is based on 20 years of research into low-cost networked learning and five years of researching, developing and testing;
offers a high return on investment of a small amount of time;
reinforces the concept of design once, deliver many times.

This workshop is suitable for:

the design of new courses and re-design of existing ones;
campus, blended and distance modes;
any level (e.g. HE, FE, lifelong learning, work-based learning, etc.);
any short course, unit, module or programme;
any discipline;
any VLE.

You will need:

a course team willing to commit to two full days of their time;
a module or programme the team needs to design, or an existing one that needs re-vamping;
access to the electronic resources that the team will use in their course, as well as the ‘module specification’, which should include details such as learning outcomes and assessment procedures;
a ‘reality checker’, who will join in for an hour at about 1pm on Day 2 of the workshop. Their role is to review and offer feedback on the work done by the course team.

Publications

(2010) Armellini, A., & Aiyegbayo, O. (2010), ‘Learning design and assessment with e-tivities’. British Journal of Educational Technology 41(6), 922-935.

(2008) Alejandro Armellini and Sylvia Jones, Carpe Diem: Seizing Each Day to Foster Change in E-learning Design Reflecting Education, Vol. 4, No. 1 (PDF)

(2008) Gilly Salmon, Sylvia Jones and Alejandro Armellini, Building Institutional Capability in E-learning Design ALT-J, Research in Learning Technology,Vol. 16, No. 2 (PDF)

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he 7Cs of Learning Design work

Moving from where we are to where we want to be.

The 7Cs of Learning Design Workshop:

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