Month: November 2019

Using Blackboard Learn to design and manage a quality learning environment is hard. Managing the web content alone is hard to do well. To do so requires significant HTML, CSS and related web design knowledge. Knowledge that not everyone has, or should have, or can have. That’s why there are so many ugly Blackboard sites.

The difficulty of sharing this specific type of design knowledge is just one small example of the question facing institutions of higher education (especially in these pandemic times): How to share design knowledge in design for digital learning?

The following resources are associated with an ASCILITE’2019 paper (or conference proceedings PDF) that attempted to explain one possible way of answering that question.

Not the answer, but an answer that has since been successfully used to share design knowledge across hundreds of courses across multiple institutions (but mostly at my current institution).
https://twitter.com/iainmacl/status/1304703627840323584
Early versions of the work are described in blog posts (Card Interface and Content Interface) and are currently (mid-2021) open source software ready to use on any Blackboard Learn instance (Card Interface or Content Interface)

Working Software

This paper draws on the experience developing the Card and Content Interface. Two collections of Javascript & CSS that can be embedded into any instance of Blackboard Learn.

The Card Interface is simplest to install and use and has been used at Universities in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand.

Both tools have

GitHub repositories: Card Interface and Content Interface; and,
Online documentation: Card Interface or Content Interface)

Abstract

Higher education is being challenged to improve the quality of learning and teaching while at the same time dealing with challenges such as reduced funding and increasing complexity. Design for learning has been proposed as one way to address this challenge, but a question remains around how to sustainably harness all the diverse knowledge required for effective design for digital learning. This paper proposes some initial design principles embodied in the idea of Context-Appropriate Scaffolding Assemblages (CASA) as one potential answer. These principles arose out of prior theory and work, contemporary digital learning practices and the early cycles of an Action Design Research process that developed two digital ensemble artefacts for 7 courses (units, subjects) and in less than a year been used in over 60 sites. Experience with this approach suggests it can successfully increase the level of design knowledge embedded in digital learning experiences, identify and address shortcomings with current practice, and have a positive impact on the quality of the learning environment.

Presentation

The PowerPoint animations don’t translate 100% correctly to Google Presentation but close enough.

References

Aitchison, C., Harper, R., Mirriahi, N., & Guerin, C. (2019). Tensions for educational developers in the digital university: Developing the person, developing the product. Higher Education Research & Development, 0(0), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1663155

Arthur, W. B. (2009). The Nature of Technology: what it is and how it evolves. New York, USA: Free Press.

Behnke, J. (2018). Content editor HTML vs. PDF? Retrieved February 24, 2019, from Blackboard Community website: https://community.blackboard.com/thread/6523-content-editor-html-vs-pdf

Bennett, S., Agostinho, S., & Lockyer, L. (2017). The process of designing for learning: understanding university teachers’ design work. Educational Technology Research & Development, 65(1), 125–145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9469-y

DeLanda, M. (2006). A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity. A&C Black.

Dimitriadis, Y., & Goodyear, P. (2013). Forward-oriented design for learning : illustrating the approach. Research in Learning Technology, 21, 1–13.

Ellis, R. A., & Goodyear, P. (2019). The Education Ecology of Universities: Integrating Learning, Strategy and the Academy. Routledge.

Fischer, G., & Girgensohn, A. (1990). End-user Modifiability in Design Environments. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 183–192. https://doi.org/10.1145/97243.97272

Goodyear, P. (2015). Teaching As Design. HERDSA Review of Higher Education, 2, 27–59.

Greeno, G. J. (2005). Learning in Activity. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences (pp. 79–96). https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816833.007

Introna, L. (2013). Epilogue: Performativity and the Becoming of Sociomaterial Assemblages. In F.-X. de Vaujany & N. Mitev (Eds.), Materiality and Space: Organizations, Artefacts and Practices (pp. 330–342).

Mathes, J. (2019). Global quality in online, open, flexible and technology enhanced education: An analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Retrieved from International Council for Open and Distance Education website: https://www.icde.org/knowledge-hub/report-global-quality-in-online-education

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054.

Mor, Y., Craft, B., & Maina, M. (2015). Introduction – Learning Design: Definitions, Current Issues and Grand Challenges. In M. Maina, B. Craft, & Y. Mor (Eds.), The Art & Science of Learning Design (pp. ix–xxvi). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Nanard, M., Nanard, J., & Kahn, P. (1998). Pushing Reuse in Hypermedia Design: Golden Rules, Design Patterns and Constructive Templates. 11–20. ACM.

Roberts, J. (2018). Future and changing roles of staff in distance education: A study to identify training and professional development needs. Distance Education, 39(1), 37–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2017.1419818

Ryan, T., French, S., & Kennedy, G. (2019). Beyond the Iron Triangle: Improving the quality of teaching and learning at scale. Studies in Higher Education, 0(0), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1679763

Sein, M. K., Henfridsson, O., Purao, S., & Rossi, M. (2011). Action Design Research. MIS Quarterly, 35(1), 37–56.

Sun, S. Y. H. (2017). Design for CALL – possible synergies between CALL and design for learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 30(6), 575–599. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2017.1329216

Zittrain, J. (2008). The Future of the Internet–And How to Stop It. Yale University Press.