Designing your online/blended unit in Desire2Learn
References/recommended reading
- Main page
- Intended learning outcomes/Writing ILOs
- Assessment
- Activities
- Site design and development
- Evaluation
- Developing a sense of a safe, dynamic, transactional space
Main page
Anderson, T & Elloumi, F (eds) 2008, Theory and practice of online learning (2nd edn). (This free, easily readable online book covers theory, tools and methods of designing and delivering learning online.)
Benson, R & Brack, C 2010, Online learning and assessment in higher education: a planning guide, Chandos Publishing, Oxford. (This current book is a quick and easy reference text for those new to higher education online teaching. It covers the why, how and what of online learning construction and gives plenty of examples. It also discusses how two prevalent theories of higher education teaching and learning - constructivism and phenomenology - meet in the online teaching world.)
Biggs, J & Tang, C 2007, Teaching for quality learning at university, 3rd edn, McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead, UK. (This text sets out the theory and practice of constructive alignment, which is used worldwide as a framework for good teaching and assessment. It is written for higher education teachers and has an easy-to-read, 'how to' approach. See Chapter 4: Using constructive alignment in outcomes-based teaching and learning.)
Biggs, J 2009, Enhancing learning through constructive alignment, Presentation 28 September, Deakin University. (In this iLecture recording, John Biggs explains the theoretical bases and practical application of constructive alignment.)
Brabrand, C nd, Teaching teaching and understanding understanding, parts 1-4, YouTube video sequence, University of Aarhus, Denmark. (This is a sequence of short videos that provides an overview of some of John Biggs' main ideas. Part 4 deals specifically with constructive alignment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6rx-GBBwVg&feature=player_embedded. Part 1 deals with 'deep' and 'surface' approaches to learning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMZA80XpP6Y&feature=player_embedded. Part 3 deals with different levels of understanding as Biggs describes them in his Solo Taxonomy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfloUd3eO_M&feature=player_embedded.)
Goodyear, P 2009, Teaching, technology and educational design: the architecture of productive learning environments, Australian Teaching and Learning Council, Sydney. (This final report of an ALTC fellowship sets out clearly the need for and nature of educational design amidst the various issues and pressures in contemporary higher education. It provides links to design patterns and resources.)
Graham, C 2006 'Blended learning systems: definition, current trends, and future directions', in C Bonk & C Graham (eds) Handbook of blended learning: global perspectives, local designs, Pfeiffer, San Francisco, pp.3-21. (This chapter includes an analysis of ways to blend online and face-to-face elements to enhance access, flexibility, and teaching and learning practices. The book contains many insights into how to design units for blended learning and is available from the Deakin library.)
Larkin, H & Richardson, B 2012, 'Creating high challenge/high support academic environments through constructive alignment: student outcomes', Teaching in Higher Education, pp. 1-13, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13562517.2012.696541. (Two Deakin Health academics used empirical data to evaluate the effects of applying principles of constructive alignment in an occupational therapy course. The results indicated improvement in student satisfaction and academic achievement.)
Intended learning outcomes/Writing ILOs
Anderson, L, Krathwohl, D, Airasian, P, Cruikshank, K, Mayer, R, Pintrich, P, Raths, J Wittrock, M (eds) 2001, A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing, Longman, New York.(This text is an update of Bloom's original taxonomy published in 1956. The taxonomy categorises different thinking processes, which helps when you are choosing the verbs for intended learning outcomes. The book contains detailed instructions for writing intended learning outcomes, with many examples and lists of useful words)
Biggs, J & Tang, C 2007, Teaching for quality learning at university, 3rd edn, McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead, UK.(See Chapter 5: Designing intended learning outcomes for an extended discussion of learning outcomes at program and course level.)
Biggs, J 2008, SOLO Taxonomy, http://www.johnbiggs.com.au/solo_graph.html
Biggs, J 2009, Enhancing learning through constructive alignment, Presentation 28 September, Deakin University.(In this iLecture recording, John Biggs explains how to write intended learning outcomes as part of his discussion of constructive alignment.)
Biggs, J 2009, Enhancing learning through constructive alignment, Presentation 28 September, Deakin University. (In this iLecture recording, John Biggs explains how to write intended learning outcomes as part of his discussion of constructive alignment.)
Bloom, B, Engelhart, M, Furst, E, Hill, W & Krathwohl, D, 1956, Taxonomy of educational objectives: handbook 1: cognitive domain, David McKay, New York.(This provides the original verion of 'Bloom's Taxonomy'.)
Connoley, R 2004, Writing learning objectives. (This is a brief introduction to the theory and practice of writing intended learning outcomes (or objectives). It refers to the original Bloom's Taxonomy.)
Assessment
Australian Universities Teaching Committee Assessing learning in Australian universities. (This site contains a discussion of some of the issues to consider when adopting online assessment, 34 strategies you could adopt, and some helpful advice on where and how to get started.)
Biggs, J & Tang, C 2007, Teaching for quality learning at university, 3rd edn, McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead, UK.
(See Chapters 7-11 for detailed coverage of contemporary assessment issues in higher education.)
Deakin University Assessment (higher education courses) operational policy. (This policy contains detail on assessment requirements.)
Institute of Teaching and Learning (Deakin University) Assessment practices professional development module. (This module provides information on designing good quality, manageable assessments that will enhance learning as well as provide a fair indication of students' learning.)
Institute of Teaching and Learning (Deakin University) How do I cater for different learning styles? Teaching tip. (This teaching tip provides a brief introduction to how to cater for differing learning styles in a group of higher education students. It has a list of links to further resources.)
Activities
Benson, R & Brack, C 2010, Online learning and assessment in higher education: a planning guide, Chandos Publishing, Oxford. (This current book is a quick and easy reference text for those new to higher education online teaching. It covers the why, how and what of online learning construction and gives plenty of examples. It also discusses how two prevalent theories of higher education teaching and learning - constructivism and phenomenology - meet in the online teaching world.)
Herrington, J, Reeves, T & Oliver, R 2010, A guide to authentic e-learning, Routledge, London. (This book provides the theory and many practical strategies for authentic learning tasks, with an emphasis on how these may be carried out in an online environment.)
Laurillard, D 2002, Rethinking university teaching, a conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies, 2nd edn, Routledge, London. (This book outlines Laurillard's 'conversational' approach to teaching and learning and discusses ways in which computer-based activities can be used to support learning conversations.)
Oliver, R 2000, 'When teaching meets learning: design principles and strategies for web-based learning environments that support knowledge construction' (.pdf), ASCILITE Conference Proceedings. (This paper provides several examples of extended web-based authentic learning activities.)
Site design and development
Salmon, G 2011, E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online, 3rd edn, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, UK. (This book is widely recommended for teachers looking for advice on how to manage online learning. 'Learning submarines: raising the periscope' provides an overview. Alternatively, view a four-minute YouTube video outlining her framework for supporting online activities.)
Evaluation
Institute of Teaching and Learning (Deakin University) Why evaluate your teaching? professional development module. (This module covers many aspects of evaluation of face-to-face and online teaching, and includes links to further resources.)
Institute of Teaching and Learning (Deakin University) Using student evaluation of teaching data to enhance teaching and learning professional development module.(This module introduces the concept of quality in higher education and details strategies that could be used to address each of the SETU questions.)
Phillips, R, McNaught, C & Kennedy, G 2012, Evaluating e-learning: guiding research and practice, Routledge, NY. (A comprehensive and authoritative text on evaluation of e-learning, providing strong theoretical discussion and a practical framework.)
Quality Matters Program (2009) Quality Matters Rubric Standards 2008-2010 (This rubric, created by a US higher education quality organisation, uses 40 peer-reviewed criteria against which you can evaluate online and blended unit designs.)
Developing a sense of a safe, dynamic, transactional space
Laurillard, D 2002, Rethinking university teaching, a conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies, 2nd edn, Routledge, London. (In this book Laurillard develops her 'conversation framework' for learning, applying it to face-to-face and online teaching and learning.)
Garrison, G & Archer, W 2007, 'A theory of community of inquiry' in M Moore (ed) Handbook of distance education, 2nd edn, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah New Jersey, pp. 77-88. (This chapter sets out the 'community of inquiry' framework and discusses some of the pedagogical implications for online learning.)
Salmon, G 2011, E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online, 3rd edn, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, UK. (This book is a practical guide to student-centred online teaching, including many ideas for activities and ways to solve particular problems. 'Learning submarines: raising the periscope' provides an overview. Alternatively, view a four-minute YouTube video outlining her framework for supporting online activities.)
