Abstract:

Learning via the “flipped classroom” concept has proven to have a positive influence on students’ learning but it also calls on the didactic design in the online learning rooms, where the students work. The learning room must support the students’ unassisted learning, their preparation for class and their preparation for supervision in both a motivating and clear way.
The room must be easy to use after class for re-reading, collaborative learning in study groups, online or face to face, including obligatory problem based papers.

That is why the didactic design must have a high focus on:
• educational materials in a variety of forms e.g. text and video
• discussion- and study exercises enabling students to become focused and explorative learners
• tools for synchronic and asynchronic collaborative learning
• tools for self evaluation
• references to supplementary material
• online/video presentations from external experts if possible

The educational material must:
• be supportive for different learning styles
• invite to both individual and collaborative learning
• be accessible at all times and places for synchronic and asynchronic collaboration in a clear and intuitive way

At the Nursing Education Programme at University College Lillebaelt in Denmark, we have been working actively and innovatively to create a didactic design in our online learning rooms that satisfy the demands for flipped learning referred to above and at the same time adapted to the special needs of each learning module at the nursing education programme.

Through a process of development and testing in practice, we have reached the following didactic principles for designing the digital learning room:
• all educational materials must be presented in two forms e.g. text and video
• all educational material and learning support facilities are organized in main groups with significant headlines
• all main groups with headlines and a short summary of content are presented on the front-page of the room
• only two clicks from the main group on the front-page of the room till the student reaches what he or she needs in the room
• the structure and content must be recognizable from one online learning room to another even though each room is suitable for different teaching modules
• it must be easy and quick for the lecturer to maintain the online learning room

Two online learning rooms with this didactic design, both with reference to the nursing education programme have been created. One for learning theory and practical procedures according to the subject “Cardiac arrest at hospital” and the other for the subject “quantitative analysis method” and contains theory, practical design and when to use which design.
Both online learning rooms have been tested by a group of students and their lecturers and the response from both groups has been very positive.

The students’ experience:
• more variation when preparing for class
• more motivation for learning due to the variation in learning materiel
• faster learning
• larger learning outcome from the class teaching

The lecturers’ experience:
• the students are much better prepared for class and therefore it is possible to get deeper into the subjects
• it is possible to interact with the class discussing problematic subjects
• the lecturers develop their own skills within ICT and learning and ways of using ICT in didactic design

Keywords:

Didactic design, flipped classroom, teaching material.