Abstract:

This paper discusses design practices for online learning. It addresses the teacher’s changed role from teaching to facilitating learning process. The theoretical part reviews articles and literature related to the topic. The empirical part of the paper describes a case example of a higher education institution developing a systematic approach to technology-mediated teaching and building online courses and degree programs. Specifically, it addresses the challenges faced in developing teachers’ design practices for online courses to promote quality online learning outcomes.

New information technologies and rapid growth of internet have resulted in expectations for technology’s ability to provide high quality education for all. This has increased demands for higher education to provide technology-rich courses and online learning programs. Still, in educational institutions, the main bottleneck for development is not the technology but rather the teachers’ skills in designing learner centered online courses and in facilitating learning process online. In order to develop these skills systematically, a structure is needed, consisting of principles and practices for course design. At the same time, it is important to allow and encourage the creative side of course construction, design as such being a creative process (Beetham & Sharpe, 2013).

At Laurea University of Applied Sciences, a concrete step towards online learning was taken in 2014 when a separate unit (DigiTeam) for developing technology supported teaching was established.At that time, there was a lot of doubt among the teachers in bringing courses online. It is still not surprising as many educational practitioners see online learning as an alien environment in which they are deskilled (Stephenson, 2001). In addition, a lot of overlapping work took place as same subjects were delivered in different campuses and the collaboration between campuses was poor. Hence, the work of DigiTeam focused on two aspects: intensive development work with early adopter teachers wanting to explore the limits of technology. This way, it was possible to create a critical mass of teachers and digimentors who could share best practices. It was also very rewarding to learn how the teachers from different campuses teaching the same subject kind of found each other and together produced some courses they would never have been able to produce alone. Now we are in a stage where it is possible to identify the so-called digistars (teachers known for innovatively designed online courses with excellent feedback from students). They are being admired by the so-called wannabe digistars.

In the past years, we have learnt about the importance of having a systematic approach for introducing technology in teaching and learning. Digitalization is not only shaping how teaching and learning takes place nowadays, it has also changed the substances learned, the methodologies and even the physical spaces teachers and students use. Hence, it is of utmost importance that the higher education institution management has a clear vision and that digitalization is embedded in the strategy and not just an element attached to it. It is also necessary to build a framework and permanent processes for supporting teachers’ design practices.

References:
[1] Beetham, H. & Sharpe, R. 2013. Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age, 2nd edition
[2] Stephenson, J. 2001. Teaching & Learning Online: New Pedagogies for New Technologies

Keywords:

Online course design, digital pedagogy, online learning.