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Active learning: making learning engaging
We’ve probably all sat through enough ‘death by PowerPoint’ slide decks to know what happens when we’re presented with information but don’t have the chance to engage with it. In the best-case scenario, we simply don’t learn anything. But often we leave the meeting or class worse off – with unanswered questions, frustration and reduced…
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Learning from one another: the value of students’ insights
Students are at the heart of our approach to learning design. We focus on helping our module authoring teams make evidence-based decisions, and insights from students form an important part of that evidence. This is the reasoning behind our curriculum design student panel (CDSP), which was highly commended in the ALT Learning Technologist of the…
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Our time at Bett 2019, Education Technology event.
The Bett 2019 Education Technology event has come and gone, and 2 intrepid Open University explorers decided to brave the cavernous space of the Excel and see what it had to offer. Mark’s account The day started with joining the bustle of thousands of expectant educators looking to transform their student experience and hopefully their…
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Supporting success through assessment
Research in assessment practice points to an emphasis on summative assessment to test learner knowledge. However, this assessment strategy does not necessarily develop knowledge and skills. In fact, a strategic approach by learners to only engage with knowledge that will specifically apply to summative tasks creates a shallow approach to learning. It is a strategy…
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Where is podcasting in higher education?
Podcast: An audio file made available for automatic download via web syndication. Typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically. During the years following the coining of the term in 2004, the world started exploring the potential of podcasts. YouTube was an independent curiosity, MySpace was the social media…
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Perfect partners: how we work with others to support learning design
Over the last year I’ve been reflecting on how much the success of our work depends on effective partnerships with a range of people – within and external to the Open University. As Learning Designers, it’s inherent in our role that we work collaboratively with curriculum teams to elicit and capture ideas for module creation.…
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Learning analytics: the patchwork quilt visualisation
In the Open University, we have developed a suite of LA (Learning Analytics) visualisations called ‘Action for Analytics’ (A4A: slides from a presentation giving more detail) designed to help those responsible for producing modules to see the effects of their designs. For example, it’s possible to track just how much use videos we produce for…
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Analytics4Action: emphasis on the ACTION
It is no secret that we live in a world driven by data. The insight gained from analytics underpins success in almost every industry, from strategic consumer research in commercial sales to the in-play behavioural patterns of leading men and women in sports; a great deal of importance is afforded to the reporting of “The…