{"id":1007,"date":"2021-05-12T10:25:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T09:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/?p=1007"},"modified":"2021-05-12T10:35:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T09:35:12","slug":"learning-design-without-borders-a-recap-of-this-years-learning-design-bootcamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/?p=1007","title":{"rendered":"Learning design without borders: a recap of this year\u2019s learning design bootcamp\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not many of us have the energy for a bootcamp\u00a0after all\u00a0the challenges of COVID19 \u2013\u00a0unless it\u2019s a learning design-related one, it seems.\u00a0The Open University Learning Design team is hosting this year\u2019s\u00a0learning design bootcamp<\/a>\u00a0and we\u2019ve been\u00a0delighted\u00a0to find\u00a0that\u00a047 participants\u00a0representing 11 teams from\u00a0four countries\u00a0are taking part.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As last year, the bootcamp is fully online\u00a0and provides an\u00a0opportunity for teams to explore online learning design\u00a0collaboratively.\u00a0However, this year\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0been opened up to non-UK teams, all of whom bring different perspectives and experiences of teaching through the pandemic.\u00a0Perhaps that\u2019s why, far from\u00a0being overwhelmed by the\u00a0prospect of a bootcamp, the teams\u00a0have embraced the\u00a0chance\u00a0to\u00a0learn from\u00a0one another.<\/p>\n

Practical application<\/h6>\n

The\u00a0learning design\u00a0bootcamp\u00a0has always been about providing\u00a0guidance\u00a0 for participants\u00a0on how to\u00a0identify\u00a0the challenges they and their students face,\u00a0exploring\u00a0a range of tools to help them address these challenges, and applying\u00a0these to a module\u00a0or piece of curriculum\u00a0in development.\u00a0 In other\u00a0words\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0practical,\u00a0which means\u00a0teams will\u00a0quickly\u00a0be able to see the impact of the tools they choose. It also models many of the kinds of\u00a0activities\u00a0we\u00a0know\u00a0help all of us learn, such as\u00a0engaging, active-learning focused\u00a0tasks,\u00a0productive work,\u00a0research, discussion and\u00a0reflection.<\/p>\n

In other\u00a0words\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0practical,\u00a0which means\u00a0teams will\u00a0quickly\u00a0be able to see the impact of the tools they choose. It also models many of the kinds of\u00a0activities\u00a0we\u00a0know\u00a0help all of us learn, such as\u00a0engaging, active-learning focused\u00a0tasks,\u00a0productive work,\u00a0research, discussion and\u00a0reflection.<\/p>\n

However, this year\u2019s\u00a0bootcamp\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0adapted\u00a0to address the\u00a0new\u00a0challenges faced by institutions\u00a0in the past year:\u00a0less time\u00a0than ever\u00a0and increased demand for online learning.\u00a0It also acknowledges that over the last year, many institutions have come up with their own approaches\u00a0to online learning\u00a0that\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0now\u00a0looking to\u00a0build on.
\nThe\u00a0event\u00a0involves\u00a0a series of interactive workshops for participating teams, each addressing a learning design challenge\u00a0and exploring ways to address it.\u00a0Teams\u00a0will apply these insights\u00a0\u2013\u00a0with the support of a mentor\u00a0\u2013\u00a0to a module they\u2019re developing.<\/p>\n

Working together<\/h6>\n

Each workshop is\u00a0introducing participants\u00a0to\u00a0a range of resources they can use to understand students\u2019 needs, and to design learning experiences that are flexible, inclusive and accessible to their students.<\/p>\n

They\u00a0also\u00a0get\u00a0to\u00a0explore\u00a0a selection of learning design approaches\u00a0(and the theories that underpin them), including\u00a0the OU\u00a0activity planner<\/a>\u00a0and other tools,\u00a0and the\u00a0Co-Designs<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ABC\u00a0methods<\/a>.\u00a0Teams can ask questions about these approaches, reflect on how they can tailor them to their own contexts and begin to use them in a low-stakes environment.\u00a0They\u2019ll\u00a0also\u00a0look at how to evaluate the materials created\u00a0both during design and once the course is live\u00a0to\u00a0build on the findings\u00a0\u2014\u00a0an essential aspect of any learning design process.<\/p>\n

Recognising that many organisations face the same challenges, there\u2019s an added focus this year on community-based solutions to learning design challenges. The hope is that participants can form new connections and new ways of devising solutions from within their networks, and that these will endure beyond the bootcamp. There\u2019s also an emphasis on reflection \u2013 something many of us find it difficult to carve out time for in everyday life. Participants will be guided through a reflective framework that they can apply to future\u00a0modules.<\/p>\n

Lasting\u00a0benefits<\/h6>\n

There\u2019s plenty of support for participants. Each team has been partnered with a\u00a0learning designer from another institution\u00a0who can\u00a0help them\u00a0reflect on their goals and explore ways to meet them.\u00a0As with all mentoring, it\u2019s a two-way process, with mentors likely to\u00a0learn\u00a0both from observing others\u2019 practice and from their reflections on this.<\/p>\n

In addition,\u00a0participants can\u00a0interact with and\u00a0gain new insights\u00a0from\u00a0other teams\u00a0through\u00a0synchronous and asynchronous\u00a0online\u00a0channels\u00a0\u2013 essential given the international flavour of this year\u2019s event.\u00a0This sense of community support alongside the focus on reflection means that participants can gradually build new practices and relationships that will endure.<\/p>\n

Look out for #LDBootcampUK on Twitter for updates.<\/p>\n

Thank you to Katharine Reedy for her help with this post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not many of us have the energy for a bootcamp\u00a0after all\u00a0the challenges of COVID19 \u2013\u00a0unless it\u2019s a learning design-related one, it seems.\u00a0The Open University Learning Design team is hosting this year\u2019s\u00a0learning design bootcamp\u00a0and we\u2019ve been\u00a0delighted\u00a0to find\u00a0that\u00a047 participants\u00a0representing 11 teams from\u00a0four countries\u00a0are taking part.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":1011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1007"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1016,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007\/revisions\/1016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}