Assignments
Assignment 1: Community contributions
This includes contributions to our weekly synchronous discussion, community backchat on Mattermost, and Hypothes.is annotations.
Due: ongoing through the term | Value 15%
Assignment 2: Learning Design Presentation
In pairs (or alone if you prefer, but I strongly encourage groups of two), you will conduct research and deliver a 15 minute presentation distilling an issue, topic, or theme in the field of learning design. You are welcome and encouraged to engage the audience with a learning activity (using a talk structure or educational technology) during the presentation. These presentations are scheduled to begin in the first week of March and will be conducted during our weekly class time.
Presentations may be guided by the following key questions:
- What is the issue, topic, debate, technology, or learning design practice to be presented?
- Why is this important in the context of teaching and learning?
- What is the history of the phenomenon?
- How might you apply concepts and theories reviewed in EDCI 565 to the presentation topic?
- What does the research say in regards to the issue (please cite 3-5 academic sources, thereby contextualizing the issue in the literature)?
- How does the issue impact learners, educators, community members, or institutions?
- What are the pros, cons, risks, and/or benefits?
- What are some of the strategies, best practices, and tips regarding your inquiry findings?
I encourage you to design an interactive activity for participants to engage in during your presentation. You will have access to Zoom (breakout rooms, screenshare), Mattermost (polling, chat), WordPress blogs or bring in your own tool for use. You may also assign tasks to be done in advance of the presentation, for example, reviewing a reading or video, contributing to a brainstorming activity, signing up for a technology tool to be used in the presentation, etc. These tasks should be communicated clearly to your peers and provided one week in advance of the presentation date.
A rubric for this assignment is available here
Due: presentations will be conducted in March. I will seek volunteers for presentation dates or draw randomly | Value 25%
Assignment 3: Learning Activity Design Proposal
The Learning Activity Design Proposal is an opportunity to sketch out your plan for the final project and gather feedback before proceeding with assignment four. You can submit the proposal as an audio/video file (5-8 minutes tops) or as a written document (1-2 pages).
The proposal may be guided by the following key questions:
- What is the learning outcome or goal of the activity?
- What is the learning context, who are the learners, what design constraints impact your teaching space (online or F2F)?
- What is your plan for the learning activity? This can be a rough sketch in the proposal.
- How might you present your design (visualization, lesson plan, etc.)
Due: February 22 | Value 20% | Please submit the proposal directly to Michael via email or using Mattermost.
Assignment 4: Learning Activity Design Final Project
The final project builds upon the proposal submitted for assignment three, incorporating the feedback provided from your instructor and peers. This project requires that you apply what you have learned about principles, theories, frameworks, and/or technologies to develop a plan for a learning experience. You are strongly encouraged to base this upon your own teaching or research context, in either planning a future lesson, or exploring a current practice in more explicit theoretical depth.
The final project has two parts: a design document that provides the underlying rationale for the experience; and, either a description of, or if practical, an actual learning product/experience (e.g. learning design plan for a class or workshop, interactive tool, self-directed video).
The design document should is no fewer than 2,000-2,500 words equivalent to 4-5 pages double spaced. If you feel the need to go longer in order to follow your inquiry please feel free.
The design document may be guided by the following key questions:
- What are the learning outcomes or goals of the activity?
- What is the scope of the design (program, course, lesson, concept)
- What is the learning context, who are the learners, what design constraints impact your teaching space (online or/and F2F)?
- What academic literature and research can be found in relation to your design? I am expecting a brief (1-2 page) literature review related to the design approach, theory of learning, learning design model, etc. This section should include independent research conducted beyond the course readings specific to the intervention described.
- What teaching and learning activities, resources, and assessments make up your design?
- What learning theories apply to the activities and assessment you include in the design?
- How do students interact with each other, with educational content, and/or with the teacher?
- How do your learning activities, resources, and assessments align to your learning outcomes or goals?
- How is the activity sequenced, what important milestones do learners reach along the way, where are the opportunities for formative and summative feedback?
- How do ensure the design is accessible and affords flexibility to all learners?
- How will you know if the design was successful?
The actual learning product, set of resources, or description of a learning activity may take on many forms, or simply be a description of the resources if hosted in a password protected space such as Brightspace or Google Classroom.
A rubric for this assignment is available here
Due: April 5 | Value 40%
