Week 4: How do you document what happens in the design and development process?
I was tempted to go off on another track when John sent me a very intersting article about the term 'engagement', and its many possible meanings. Perhaps we can park that and bring it up again another time ... I'm always interested in finding out how people interpret and use eduspeak - and the concept of 'engagement' seems to be top of the pops at present. Watch out for MoE's 4 bulletins on engagement - for learning; for support; for professional development; and for diversity - which have been written by the consortium 'e-lucid' based on a selection of the govt-funded reports over the last few years...
... end of the advertorial, and back to the prosaic. I want to know
How do you record or document what happens during the design and development process?
There are a number of good reasons for keeping some sort of record of what happens. It could do any of the following:
- designer and teacher can be sure they are 'on the same page' and have the same expectations
- designer/teacher can re-trace the steps they took in coming to a solution
- you know how long things took, and (perhaps) why
- designer/teacher have a record of why certain things didn't happen,
- It provides a place to record what is effective/what didn't work
- you can make's a 'wishlist' of elements you'd like to include in later iterations
- it's useful for audit purposes
and last but not least - others can learn from your experience.
There are proably more... and I realise that in some cases there will be a division between design and project management roles. Is there a case for keeping all this information in one place?
As I have mentioned before, I have used OTARA (or tried to use OTARA) as a communication and documenting tool to cover at least some of these points. What do others do? Are there other tools that cover all or some of these issues? Are there other important points to record?
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Summary for Kate
Hi all,
This is a very quick summary because I have hooked into someone's wireless connection from a hotel in Melbourne. The hotel wanted to charge $126 for a week's internet!
Thank you to John, Robin, and Paul for your contributions. I think all of us agree with Robin's comment: my philosophy of teaching is based in constructivism and consequently I want to work in a way that shifts the focus from what we want to teach to what the learner needs to do, to learn
There seems to be a feeling - in many organisations - that using a model or records somehow inhibits a creative process. Those of us who do think it is a sound practice are still struggling to find a model that suits both designer/developer and teacher. There are models and proponents - Herrington and Oliver, Martin Jenkins and others - who have put a great deal of thought and research into developing models that work in the contexts of constructivism and experiential learning.
I certainly will follow this up by posting some OTARA documents into the LDnet resources space.
Cheerio for now,
kate
Adding OTARA to LDnet resource...
Yes, John, I will put it on my list of things to try!
Thanks for the reminder - I'll get to it asap
k8
LDNet resources
Check out some of the LDNet resources that elate to this area - http://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/community/ldnet/resources/books/how-do-i-evaluate-my-learning-design The AUTC Learning Designs link discusses the Boud and Prosser framework mentioned by Robin.
Resources can be added using the community tools menu at left of LDNet front page. Don't think anyone's tried this yet so keep in touch - I think there is a publishing approval process so you might not see your addition up there immediately. Kate - do we have the OTARA material - perhaps you could try adding it :-)
two reasons to document
Paul's comment there's accountability, but there's also the fact that reflective practice... is difficult without a written record
points to 2 reasons for keeping records of design and development - the success and consistency of application for accountability would depend on the degree to which the organisation made it part of its normal porcesses.
The second - reflective practice - seems to depend much more on individual motivation.
John's earlier comment: there's a bunch of digital folders on my hard drive, and a heap of cardboard filing boxes in the cupboard
relates to the second of these, and strongly suggests that the organisation wasn't interested in the advantages of the 'accountability' aspect.
It seems to me there are lost opportunities in both areas; in keeping a record for audit, accountabilty, and future planning
and for building on personal and team experience.
But there may be some exceptions -- what about those who do record their progress for conference presentations? Are these people a special breed? (Only slightly tongue-in-cheek!)
k8
Re: the need to document
Kate said: Does documenting projects only happen if there is institutional backing (or requirement) for a specific process?
For me, some of the reasons for documenting learning design decisions are similar to the reasons for teachers' lesson planning: there's accountability, but there's also the fact that reflective practice (and thus improving what we do) is difficult without a written record.
Paul
what happens when u use Word
Sorry folks,
the message above demonstrates what happens here when you copy and paste from Word. And I don't have an 'edit' option on my post. I can only edit my fist posting!
k8
does the organisation have the...?
I think John’s ball in the air (“there's a bunch of digital folders on my hard drive, and a heap of cardboard filing boxes in the cupboard”) will be quite familiar to people – and it will remain common as long as there isn’t an agreed plan about documentation at the beginning of a project. It also suggests that you’re the only person who’s interested in keeping a record of your projects! So at the end of that posting, I was left wondering: are records necessary at all – does anyone (or the organisation) really need a record?
Robin’s link to the Enquiry Based Learning Planner (ebl) planner designed by Martin Jenkins takes us to a particularly useful set of documents. I’ll certainly be looking at those in more detail – I’m sure I can make use of them.
Robin says: “At Gloucestershire it is now part of the validation and review process. It was used to great effect as a developmental tool with teams of academics, and support people.” And it has nice links to Oliver and Harrington’s work – which encourages us to look at activities rather than content.
Even so, the document is quite long, and I wonder how many teachers can be persuaded to go through this process. I can see it happening if the institution has bought into the process – but otherwise?
John’s and Robin’s experiences both (‘praps unintentionally) lead to the question: Does documenting projects only happen if there is institutional backing (or requirement) for a specific process?
k8
another tool
Hi
I'm a late developer in this arena - and will state my biases from the ourset! My preference in learning design is using it as a developmental tool ( my current occupation is staff developer!). I work in the polytechnic sector and my mission in my role is to support the paradigm shift from the 'profession' or 'trade' of the 'teacher' to educator. So my philosophy of teaching is based in constructivism and consequently I want to work in a way that shifts the focus from what we want to teach to what the learner needs to do, to learn - nothing too new there! I do not have a lot of experience in e-learning and while I acknowledge that learning design arose from this field I think it has much wider possibilites of implementation.
Please excuse or ignore this if I am way behind the 8ball in this discussion or have taken it off road!
The model I have worked with is the Enquiry Based Learning Planner (ebl )planner designed by Martin Jenkins at the University of Gloucestershire.
http://resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal/pedagogictoolsguides/index.cfm
While it has the title of 'ebl' it has uses in a much wider context of learning approaches. Based on the University's principles, it includes a checklist which can be used at course or module or programme level. Secondly it has a list of principles based on Boud and Prosser's (2002)Principles of Good Design and thirdly it has a temporal plan. This is a visual representation focusing on supports ( i.e. the lectures, the 'process' activities, the external inputs e.g. information literacy) , activities ( that is what the students will be doing) and 'resources( the techie bits and the equipment etc ). One of the benefits of such a visual representation is that it can identify the relationships between those elements and can highlight gaps or mis-alignments
It is utterly simple in its design but very effective in practice.
At Gloucestershire it is now part of the validation and review process. It was used to great effect as a developmental tool with teams of academics, and support people e.g learning technologists and librarians.
The objectives/outcomes or graduate profile ( depending on the programme/course level) would be the starting point and assessment the end point but this could also be part of the 'activities.' It does seem quite complementary with what I understand of OTARA.
Keeping a record
I'll throw a ball in the air Kate...
My system is hopelessly muddled - I haven't really decided whether hard copies or electronic copies of work in progress is best. So I tend to end up with multiple versions in both formats. The disadvantage is keeping track of consecutive versions. The advantage is having consecutive versions to refer to. So there's a bunch of digital folders on my hard drive, and a heap of cardboard filing boxes in the cupboard :-) I don't really think this passes as "keeping records" - there's no analysis involved - just data! Keen to hear what others do in the way of analysis.