Implementing Technology

Where are you starting from with your unit?

If you are writing a new unit or redesigning an old one you should take the opportunity to look at what other Universities are offering as e-learning for your subject domain (it’s surprising what a quick Google search will come up with).

There are a number of designs for e-learning that utilise the advantages provided by ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies). These include:

• Problem based learning
• Case based learning
• Collaborative learning
• Role play simulation
• Learning by designing

When developing a current unit, choosing where to start will depend on your subject, your students and yourself. Most use for e-learning fall into one of three areas:

Content	Text Images Audio Video	Web sites Documents Files Guest lecturers (from anywhere in the world)
Communication & collaboration	The day to day teaching online Getting students working together	Exchanging files Voice and/or text communication e-tivities
Assessment	Online quizzes Interactive exercises	Incorporation of collaboration into assessment

Remember:

• Start small and expand
• Develop reusable objects
• Consider and try different teaching strategies
• Plan for an integrated set of e-resources with print and face to face components
• Select the right mix of technologies (including print), as there is a large range available and using too many of these can be very confusing for you and also your students.

E-learning tools can also help in the administration of your units, for example, assignment submission and feedback; storing, calculating and viewing marks.

Course and unit online development

If possible it is recommended to do a whole of course approach for conversion to an e-learning approach rather than individual units. This can be done in a number of ways, e.g. all one hundred level units first, or all core units first. This approach creates greater buy-in from the students.

Supported / blended / fully online

You can choose to …

• just use one or two online features to support your face-to-face or print-based teaching, or
• create hybrid or blended units (i.e. a much more integrated approach than the previous option), or
• go fully online

However, it is best to start small and build up in subsequent offerings of the unit.

The range of technologies

How to choose a technology

There are a number of factors to take into consideration when choosing an e-learning tool to use with your students. For example, for communication and collaboration there is a large range of tools available both built into Blackboard and as add-ons. You wouldn’t want to use them all it would be too confusing, so you need to consider:

• Subject, that is, the topic or the particular learning outcome(s) that you want the students to achieve;
• Students, there are issues of accessibility, of their expectations; and
• Self, you will be involved in setting up and running the technology effectively so you may need to be prepared to stretch yourself and learn something new, take some training – but, remember, it has to be achievable and done in realistic steps.

If you are considering a technology not currently in use at CDU for your teaching, it is worthwhile bringing it to the attention of the university’s Learning Technologies Working Group, which is chaired by Tony Gilding (P:8946 6906. E: tony.gilding@cdu.edu.au) and has members from across the central services and faculties.

The aspects that need to be considered for a new technology is well described in the SECTIONS model by Tony Bates and Gary Poole (Bates, A.W., & Poole, G. (2003). Effective teaching with technology in Higher Education: Foundations for success. p.79):

Students: what is known about the students – or potential students-and the appropriateness of the technology for this particular group or range of students?

Ease of use and reliability: how easy is it for both teachers and students to use? How reliable and well tested is the technology?

Costs: what is the cost structure of each technology? What is the unit cost per student?

Teaching and learning: what kinds of learning are needed? What instructional approaches will best meet these needs? What are the best technologies for supporting this teaching and learning?

Interactivity: what kind of interaction does this technology enable?

Organisational issues: what are the organizational requirements, and the barriers to be removed, before this technology can be used successfully? What changes in organization need to be made?

Novelty: how new is this technology?

Speed: how quickly can courses be mounted with this technology? How quickly can materials be changed?

Australian Flexible Learning Framework (VET)

The Australian Flexible Learning Framework is a national strategy collaboratively funded by the Australian Government and all States and Territories at AUD$15 million annually. The Framework provides the vocational educational training (VET) system with e-Learning skills, professional development opportunities, products, resources and support networks to meet today's increasingly technology-driven learning environment.

You can access the AFLF's monthly newsletter Flex e-news at: http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/go/home/news/flexenews

Case studies: Be inspired by snapshots of individuals and organisations making inroads into flexible learning and e-Learning. Their experiences and achievements can be viewed through the AFLF's growing library of case studies, which illustrate e-Learning in action.

Learnscope

LearnScope is a project of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework. Since its inception in 1998, LearnScope has been part of a national strategy to increase the capacity of vocational educational training (VET) professionals to use flexible learning approaches and new technologies in the delivery of training.

LearnScope focuses on professional development to enhance the skills and understanding that underpin e-Learning and e-Business.  It provides funding for work-based professional development projects and encourages both individuals and teams to model sustainable practices in their own learning through a range of strategies including engagement with recent thinking about professional development in the 'knowledge era'.

e-Learning for Industry

e-Learning for Industry is a project  the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, and provides funding opportunities for industry groups and businesses that are interested in e-Learning. Businesses, can partner with Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to develop and showcase practical e-Learning solutions to workforce development needs.

e-Learning in the Trades is a resource to support trade teachers and highlights examples from teachers in the building trades currently using e-learning tools to improve the flexibility and the impact of their teaching.

Resources

Chickering, A. W., & Ehrmann, S. C. (1996). Implementing the seven principles: technology as a lever. (http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html)
Although relatively old the principles are commonsense and still valid.

• Safe Assignment - plagiarism prevention
• Web teaching links - a compliation of useful site put together by Dartmouth College
• DEST web categories - explored in Bell, M. et al. (2002) Universities online: a survey of online education services in Australia. DEST Occassional Paper Series 02-A.
• Pathways to good practice: A guide to flexible teaching for quality learning - this initiative of Southern Cross University Teaching and Learning provides comprehensive support for flexible teaching.
• The University of Queensland provides detailed resources for flexible learning at their Teaching and Educational Development Institute.
• CDU Webcams – a guide on the use of High Definition webcams (Microsoft LifeCam Cinema) for learning and teaching purposes
  

• Overview
• Implementing Technology
• Developing Resources
• Teaching Online
• Online Assessment
• Resources & Links
• 
  

Authorised by: PVC Academic, OLT