LEARNING DESIGN TOOLS AND PEDAGOGICAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION AREA: BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND CONTENT

Following the ongoing change of educational paradigms in many European countries, as a result of the convergence process towards a European Higher Education Area (EHEA), university teachers, whether involved in blended learning or e-learning modes of formal education, are faced with new challenges related with the conception and development of pedagogically sound, good quality learning experiences and teaching materials that can be deployed within virtual learning environments (VLEs). However, current tools seem to fail satisfying existing needs within the teaching community (Laurillard, 2008). This paper tries to determine to what extent some of the most relevant and innovative learning design tools can help realise the kind of learning experiences fostered by current pedagogical assumptions in the EHEA (Tuning Project, 2005; ENQA, 2008 and 2009; European Commission, 2008), particularly for the undergraduate and Masters cycles. The paper begins by reviewing the main pedagogical implications of the EHEA educational model, which sets the preconditions that should be observed by teachers when designing learning experiences. Then, it explores the features of the most relevant learning design tools as well as current trends in their development, and the extent to which they reference these preconditions. This leads to a presentation of a mapping between pedagogical requirements and tools’ features, identifying existing gaps. Finally, identified barriers and opportunities are discussed.

References:
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European Commission (2008). Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning [online]. Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2008:111:0001:0007:EN:PDF
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Tuning Project (2005). Approaches to teaching, learning and assessment in competences based degree programmes [online]. Available at: http://www.tuning.unideusto.org/tuningeu/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=175#process