Innovative and Technology Enhanced Teaching and Learning: Active Learning with special focus on Technology Enhanced Collaborative Learning: Topics

WELCOME TO INNOVATIVE AND TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED TEACHING AND LEARNING: ACTIVE LEARNING WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED COLLABORATIVE LEARNING COURSE

This chapter serves as an introduction into active and collaborative learning.

It gives you an overview of:

• What is active learning
• What is collaborative learning
• How to introduce it into you course and colleagues’ experiences

Background on the global changes in education that lead to the reformation of higher education (HE) and changing didactics towards active learning.

What is active learning?

Why active T&L offers a perfect opportunity for changing academic T&L?

How the strategic deployment of new, computer-assisted technology should contribute to improve the effectiveness of the learning process and should increase the efficiency of the educational practice.

Good design and planning, while crucial for every type of course, are even more important for activating and technology enhanced courses. In traditional training, the largest effort is in the delivery of training sessions, while in activating and technology enhanced learning, the design and development of the learning environment and materials is much more crucial to guarantee the quality and achievement of the objectives. Therefore the use of instructional design is imperative.

For Part 2 always use the course material per section in the following order:

1. Presentation
2. Manual
3. Assignment
4. Reference Material

A good starting point for incorporating technology into active learning is to apply the TPACK model. It blends the use of technology, content and pedagogy by finding the ways in which they connect, intersect and then support active learning. As a teacher it gives you a good overview of the knowledge needed to successfully integrate technology in your course(s).

The components that need be taken into account while designing a course will be examined by using an instructional design model developed by the KU Leuven (Belgium) aimed mainly at users without much prior instructional design experience.

Now it’s time to take a closer look at the actual instructional design process itself. The ADDIE Model and its five design phases are used to illustrate the practice of systematically designing, developing and delivering a course.

We will take a closer look at how you can address the analysis phase in practice and introduce qualitative technology enhanced learning experiences in your course or curriculum.

During the analysis phase the instructional objectives are established, the student characteristics are identified and the broader context in which this learning takes place is determined.

We will take a closer look at how you can address the design phase in practice and introduce qualitative technology enhanced learning experiences in your course or curriculum.

The design phase deals with the different components of the learning environment that need to facilitate learning and help students achieve the course objectives: content of the course, teaching methods, tools and materials used, who will teach/guide the course and how it will be evaluated.

We will take a closer look at how you can address the development phase in practice and introduce qualitative technology enhanced learning experiences in your course or curriculum.

In the development phase, instructional designers and developers actually create and assemble the components described in the design phase. Because developing something for a technology enhanced course can vary considerably from doing this for a more traditional course, we will focus now on the development of technology enhanced courseware and tools/technologies.

We will take a closer look at how you can address the implementation phase in practice and introduce qualitative technology enhanced learning experiences in your course or curriculum.

During this stage, the materials created during development are introduced to the target audience and the learning process starts.

We will take a closer look at how you can address the evaluation phase in practice and introduce qualitative technology enhanced learning experiences in your course or curriculum.

Despite the fact that evaluation is the final stage of the ADDIE methodology, it should not be considered as the conclusion of a long process, but as a starting point for the next iteration of the ADDIE cycle. Diligent evaluation will enable you to review and keep on improving the educational program. Instructional Design is also an iterative process, and evaluation should be carried out on a regular basis.

Overview of methods and techniques for active learning:

• For transferring content and achieving learning goals
• For promoting interactivity in the classroom
• For assessment
• For organization of curriculum and teaching/coaching activities