Engines for Education Integrating Open Educational Resources in Learning and Teaching

Engines for Education

Integrating Open Educational Resources in Learning and Teaching

04/22/23 2Naidu_Engines for Education

In an age of economic volatility and increased competition, most organizations (not just Open Universities across the world are using the concepts of “open to people, places, methods and ideas” as a mainstream marketing strategy to attract a highly mobile student population.

Students at many of these places of learning have access to, not only a very wide range of learning resources, but resources which they are able to adopt easily (at no direct cost to them), and also modify as and when necessary to meet their learning goals.

Education2020http://epic2020.org/2012/05/01/hello-world/


What do you think about this scenario?

04/22/23 Naidu_Engines for Education 4

1. Very possible huh?2. Students have plenty of learning

resources they can choose from.3. Do not have to pay large sums of

money to access these resources.4. Moreover, they can modify these

resources as they wish without having to seek permission to do so.


But wait a minute...Lets look at this more

closely...


• Is open access to learning resources all that is necessary?

• Are novice students the best judge of what is a good or a poor learning resource for them?


• As undergrads, did we/you know where and how to find great learning resources, and when we had found them, did we know what to do with them?

How different is this....


...from picking out the best bread spread from our supermarket shelves?


Or choosing the best medicine for your ailment

in your pharmacy?



OK....Perhaps I am stretching this a bit

too far....but the point is....


Students need help...

• Locating learning resources• Evaluating the good ones from the

bad.• Understanding and applying these

resources to the solution of real life challenges and problems


That’s what teaching is all

about!!

Lets talk about teaching...


Conceptions of teaching differ...

• For some, teaching is a highly structured activity.

• For others, teaching is an open-ended activity with minimal structure and guidance, such as is the case with higher degree study.


Effective, efficient & engaging teaching

• In fact, effective, efficient and engaging teaching (e3-teaching) is neither an open-ended and unstructured activity, nor a one-way transmission of content with the teacher doing all the hard work.


E3 Teaching

• E3 teaching is much more than that (see Spector & Merrill, 2008).

• It takes place when a teacher carefully choreographs the learning experiences of students in close alignment with the expected learning outcomes for them, and with a fine balance of guidance and structure.


E3 Teaching

• E3 Teaching is about putting “students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions” (see Robinson & Aronica, 2009, p. 238)

• “Great teachers have always understood that their real role is not to teach subjects but to teach students” (p. 249).


Nine principles for e3teaching

1. Teachers and learners are clear about the learning outcomes.

2. Learning is situated within a meaningful context and within the culture and the community in which learners live and work.

3. Learners are engaged in pursuing and solving meaningful and real-life/world challenges, and where they have opportunities to work on a variety of problems and tasks of increasing complexity with timely and useful feedback .


Nine principles for e3-teaching

4. The learning activities in these learning situations are clearly articulated and explicitly linked to knowledge and skills already mastered .

5. Learners, while working on learning situations, are required to think for themselves by reflecting in and upon their actions and regulating their own performance.

6. The development of understanding is promoted as a social process with learners acting upon authentic situations in groups and with dialogue, discussion and debate.


Nine principles for e3-teaching

7. The assessment of learning outcomes is closely aligned with the learning context.

8. The assessment of learning outcomes is linked to meaningful problems and tasks, and aimed at helping students further develop their knowledge, skills and problem-solving abilities.

9. The assessment of learning outcomes is designed to develop self-regulatory and meta-cognitive skills.


We needModels of teaching

and learning

• Few would argue against the spirit of these guiding principles.

• But many will have problems applying them in their day-to-day teaching activities without operational models.


Theoretical orientation

• These models need to...– Immerse learners in the culture of the

subject matter, task or skill that is being learned.

– Offer opportunities for meaning and understanding to be developed through the interaction between the learners, their readiness and the attributes of the learning contexts and its artefacts.


Scenario-based learning

• Scenario-Based Learning is such a model• SBL is about using a scenario to situate all

learning and teaching activities. • Scenarios can be real or contrived. Their

value lies in their affordances – the opportunity they present for situating and contextualizing all learning and teaching activities.


SBL for professional learning

• SBL is a model of situated learning. • SBL mirrors professional practice.• Is best suited for professional

learning


Key attributes of Scenario-Based Learning

• A scenario that affords learning in the subject matter.

• Problem-solving within authentic and realistic settings.

• Learning-centered activities which emphasize the centrality of the learning activities in the learning and teaching process.

• Authentic assessment tasks that closely reflect reality.


The roles of teachers in scenario-based learning

• Teachers and tutors are NOT merely “guides on the side” .

• The teacher is an engaged architect & choreographer of the learners’ learning experience.

• There is strong instructional guidance and direction.


Developing SBL


#1: Identification of the key competencies

for practitioners

• This first step in the process involves identifying the key competencies that a practitioner in the profession needs to possess.


Commitments Mj

#2: Articulation of thelearning outcomes for

the learners.

• These competencies will form the basis for the development of the learning outcomes for your learners.


Commitments Mj

Learning MjOutcomes Mj

#3: Identification of key events in the life of a person who has accomplished these

outcomes• The next step is to identify

events in the life of the practitioner who demonstrates competency in these skills.

• Knowing what such professionals can do in relation to these competencies is critical, as these are the events that will help you develop a suitable scenario.


Commitments Mj

Learning MjOutcomes Mj

Learning MjContext Mj

#4: Identification of the main steps that

practitioners take to work through these events

• The aim here is to break down the events in the life of an accomplished practitioner, in the form of the processes that they would adopt.

• This is critical because your goal is to emulate best practice.


#5: Development of a scenario with the variety that will offer scope for

learners to learn the steps outlined in step 4

• Now you are ready to develop a scenario that you know will afford the best opportunity for your learners to acquire those same sorts of competencies that you identified for your expert practitioner.


#6: Development of the learning activities and assessment tasks that learners will be required to complete within the context of

this scenario

• Your learning scenario is not complete until it has a clear role or goal for your students.

• What are your learners required to do in this scenario?


Putting it all

together

It is not a linear process

The Connections

It is Goal-Based

A Generic Viable Systems Model (see Beer, 1985)

Is OER-Based

Its a Recursive System

Is iterative (embedded system)Has variety (requisite variety)

Is a complex system (Just like real-life challenges and problems)


Its a Viable System(Beer, 1985)

• The VSM provides a framework for the design and development of the learning and teaching transaction

• Locates the purpose of OERs and their use in solving real-life challenges and problems.

• Viable Systems Model ( see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viable_system_model; http://www.cybsoc.org/contacts/people-Beer.htm)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viable_system_model

http://www.cybsoc.org/contacts/people-Beer.htm

Its the Engine for Education

(http://www.engines4ed.org/) (Schank & Cleary, 1995)

• Viable Systems Model = the Engine

• OERs = Essential Fuel for the Engine


Selected References

• Beer, S. (1985). Diagnosing the System for Organizations. NY: John Wiley & Sons.• Billett, S. (2011). Integrating experiences in workplace and university settings: A

conceptual perspective. In S. Billett & A. Henderson (Eds.), Promoting professional learning (pp. 21–40). Dordrecht: Springer.

• Brown, J.S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32 –42.

• Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Holum, A. (1991). Cognitive apprenticeship: Making thinking visible. American Educator, 15(3), 6–11, 38–46.

• Merrill, M.D. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 50(3), 43–59.

• Naidu, S. (2010). Using scenario-based learning to promote situated learning and develop professional knowledge. In E. P. Errington (Ed.), Preparing graduates for the professions using scenario-based learning, (39-49), Brisbane: Post Pressed.

• Schank, R. C. (1997). Virtual learning: A revolutionary approach to building a highly skilled workforce. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

• Schank, R. C., & Cleary, C. (1995). Engines for Education. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Spector, J.M., & Merrill, M.D. (2008). Editorial. Distance Education, 29(2), 123 –126.• The Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbuilt. (1993). Designing learning

environments that support thinking. In T. M. Duffy, J. Lowyck, & D. H. Jonassen (Eds.), Designing environments for constructivist learning (pp. 9–36). New York, NY: Springer-Verkag.


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Engines for Education Integrating Open Educational Resources in Learning and Teaching