Design Rationale

Introduction

 E-learning to me, is a new way of learning to how we have previously learnt in the past. In incorporates new theories and new ways of thinking, and it is the new technologies that we have now that have made this possible. Connectivism and constructivism, relatively new ways of thinking have motivated this video heavily, as it has also changed the way I traditionally thought of learning. I find the new theories that we have engaging, interesting and excited for the future of learning. I have incorporated my ideas of the exciting new ways to learn, and how this is possible through my motivational video, “E-Learning: The start of something bigger”.

My motivational video is linked in to this website, and can be viewed by the video clip that is directly above this Design Rationale.

Video Choices

 The theme of this video is entitled “E-learning, the start of something bigger”. The idea of this theme is to incorporate my ideas of e-learning, particularly within my context of learners, in particular adult learners. The idea behind the video is to show how I feel about e-learning, especially in relation to my own learning as an adult learner.

The video itself has been directly linked to this blog – this is so that the video is easy to find, and then, when reviewing the video itself, able to easily see the rationale behind why the design was chosen, and any others in this subject to find it quickly and easily.

I have chosen to present material for the viewer to see, mostly free clipart pictures, or available freely on the internet. I’ve also chosen to include my voice as a voiceover – to give the viewer something to connect to, so as to hear a real person talking, from real experience, rather than just random text on the screen with happy background music.

The idea is to put the focus on the message that you can hear, along with graphics that represent or are relevant to the topic being spoken about. I want the message to be about adult learners, and in particular one who is an adult learner, so that the viewer can truly see and understand not only the
e-learners perspective, but to learn and understand an adults’ perspective on the barriers that are found in e-learning.

I experimented implementing music to go in the background, to help affect the motivational side of the video, however, I found that all music detracted away from the voice over and taking away of the message being told.

My video is broken up in to sections to make the message shorter and with identifiable sections:

Introduction

Barriers

New Ways

Conclusion

The introduction section seeks to show the viewer what the video is all about – e-learning and the change that it is making in our lives. It starts with identifying what e-learning is, and how, through technology, it is changing our lives.

It then goes on to the barriers that we face with e-learning – why do people not accept it and use it right away? What stops us from doing that and why? Particularly adult learners are not easily able to get started with this – not being digital natives it is harder for adult learners to get started… however, once they are started, they have the abilities and the knowledge to move forward, and to truly become e-learners. It also deals with how we are now able to be connected – the changes in connectedness that e-learning is bringing. It is not only how it changes our daily lives (Wikipedia, Google) but also with how we can learn and the resources we now have available, all around the world.

The New Ways section incorporates the theory from this course – what we have learnt and how it is changing the way we learn. Two theories, constructivism and connectivism, have made a big impact on how I see the way we learn – these are innovative and interesting ways to learn, ways that will engage the learner, keep it interesting and keep the learner involved. I can see the future of learning are these theories, particularly when the theories (connectivism in particular) are more finely tuned.

For this to happen, there needs to be more uptake by the teachers and education systems in general, for e-learning to move forward. Change will not be quick, but it will come, especially as the education systems we currently have in place have will start to have the technology to change.

The SAMR model, that shows how technology is changing and transforming the tools we have to learn, was also a factor in the New Ways section.  Examples of how encyclopedias have moved to Wikipedia is an example of the SAMR model and the Redefinition of an existing tool.

Web 2.0 tools are also mentioned – the changes that have come about and are available due to these new tools make a huge difference in our lives, particularly as learners. And the amount of learning tools available in this format are huge – and growing bigger by the day as teachers and learners realize the value and potential of this tool.

It also mentions the digital natives, those that have been brought up with technology and adult learners – those that have not. Whilst it may be easier for digital natives, as they have always been learning with these technologies, adult learners have the capacity and the capability to learn this way – it may just take time for them to overcome the barriers to learning.

The Conclusion was meant as a concise way to sum up the video – a way to put emphasis on the changes that e-learning has brought and will continue to bring – and to get the viewer excited about the changes to come. It is the start of something bigger, something that the world hasn't seen before – technology driving learning which is driving us all to be better connected to each other and learn like never before!

Collaboration

 Without collaboration, I cannot see that this subject would have been possible for me. I can see the true value in collaboration – sharing an idea, an opinion or even speaking about how something can be done. It is hard to take words and form them in to an idea or a framework… but when speaking to others, sending emails or reading their blog, that becomes possible. I have really valued collaboration and the opinions of others throughout this course, and I look forward to that continued collaboration in the future.

Conclusion

This motivation video is a mark of my journey as I have worked through this course. It has taken my core ideas of what e-learning is and expanded upon it, added more information for thought and given me the structure of what e-learning is and what it is to me in my context of adult learning. I have been excited by the depth and breadth that e-learning can take us to, across the globe making connections and sharing ideas with anyone, anywhere… and the advances that we are likely to make in the future. I can truly see the value of e-learning for all learners, both digital natives and adults. It is the future of learning – and I look forward to the changes it will bring to us in the future.

References

 W Fasso (2012) 20001: Learning Theory in the Digital Age

Creative Commons www.creativecommons.org.au

Free Digital Photos http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Week 7

Does elearning require a new theory of learning? I believe it does. In the past, we have used set theories of learning, which have served us well. However, with elearning, it takes the way we have previously learnt and completely changed it. I don't believe that it is an e-version of learning... it is seperate and distinct from learning in the WAY that we learn. It is far more self-motivated and self-driven and changes the way we learn. Existing learning theory simply isn't enough for this new way of learning.

The key concepts of this paper for me were:

Social implications of e-learning - how this is changing the way we learn. Do we need a new theory of learning to keep up with this?
For me, the answer to this is simple: yes, we do need a new theory to keep up with the social implications of e-learning. It is so different to what we have done previously, that we need to analyse, work out and document these changes, to come up with a better structure for learning, but to also help those new to e-learning.

Technology enhanced learning... learning is made better with technology.
I believe that technology does enhance learning. That's one of the reasons we have technology - to do things better or in a way that we couldn't previously fathom. However, I don't believe that e-learning is simply learning that has been enhanced by technology... it has revolutionised the way we learn, so it is not simply learning with a bit of technology thrown in.

There are gaps in the framework of elearning theory.
As this field of e-elearning is relatively new, there are most definitely gaps in the framework of elearning theory. We have had one learning theory for such a long time... that this new way of thinking and learning will take time to properly explain and to have appropriate theories in place.

Transduction process
I had to really look at this... the words used in this weeks' reading were making my head spin.
Transduction to me, from reading this, is transforming from existing technology to new... for example, moving from pen and paper to a Word document. Taking the old, and modernising it... or, if using the SAMR model, the Substitution layer. However, this is only part of the transforming process.

Connectivism
I like the idea of connectivism - it seems to be to really be the next stage of learning. To put the onus on the learner, to construct their own pathways for learning, to structure their learning, and to search for information, using a teacher as a guide is a very interesting idea. For me, this links very closely with constructivism, and the ideals seem to be similar, though connectivism takes it one step further. I feel that this is likely to be the future of learning.

It will take a while to fully hash out where this sits, and how to take this further. In my context of adult learning, I can see it will take some time for this idea to work - adults have always learnt very differently to this way of thinking, and making the leap to this is no small task. I see this as working much better when incorporated in to all levels of education - training young students to think this way and to use it as they grow and learn, is a great way to start learning in a connectivist way.

Incoporating this new learning idea, I have updated my map.

I see Connectivism working with Constructivism - they are both similar, but  for me, Connectivism seems to work upon and from the constructivist point of view, so I have added it working with Constructivist theory. It isn't an objectivist theory and doesn't work with it, so I have not connected it to objectivist theory.