Welcome to
my Professional Doctorate Digital Appendix Files. Please use the menu to the
left to see the multimedia examples.
Three
projects were conducted to generate data to validate the eLearning theories,
models and pedagogical design principles[1] offered in the concluding chapter. Through this study
the overall research question addressed is:
‘How can
the learning process (a virtual learning environment event) be facilitated and
supported through the research and
development of web-based technology that is appropriately matched to eLearning
pedagogy and online epistemology?’
The
projects discussed are:
Ø Project
1: Educational Web-based Video Conferencing -
This study aims to answer the
question, ‘How can web-based video conferencing and related tool sets (white
boards, shared desktop, text
chat, recording utility, etc.) be pedagogically designed appropriately and
applied to a virtual research
environment (VRE) context to address the collaborative and support needs of
trans-disciplinary (across subjects
and levels) work based learning practitioner researchers?
Ø Project 2: eLearning Teaching
Templates –
This study will answer the research
question, “How can eLearning model templates be used to promote the online teaching/learning process?”
Ø Project 3: VLE Denouement Profile
methodology and Toolkit -
The research question, ‘How can a common understanding of VLE design and
implementation between the NCWBLP
stakeholders be facilitated and supported?’ is addressed.
Research
approaches and tools
The
three-stage strategy of this study starts with the Web-based Video Conferencing Project. This study was funded
for £5000 from Middlesex University’s Centre for Learning Development
(formerly CLD). Data was collected through:
Online
survey,
Interviews- by
telephone and face-to-face (f2f),
Research Blog
– online learning diary,
Multimedia
case studies using Adobe Breeze.
Project
2: Teaching Activity Templates project-
This project was funded by the University
of London through the Institute of Education (IoE) and the Centre for Distance Education (CDE) for £20,000. The main data
collection techniques were:
Interviews- by
telephone and face-to-face (f2f),
Research Blog
– online learning diary,
Multimedia
case studies using Adobe Breeze,
Website
toolkit with evaluation (see CD-ROM).
Work based
learning case studies have contributed to and informed the formation of
several teaching templates designs. In my
capacity of NCWBLP Chair of Staff Development I intend to integrate these
online pedagogic models into the VLE
adoption system of the Centre when they have been refined. In this way the
NCWBLP staff will have the opportunity to
contribute to the project evolution.
The final
study, Virtual Learning Environment
Denouement Profiling, tied together
the first two research strands in an
innovative approach to promote a common understanding between the stakeholders
of a VLE. Data collection techniques,
listed below, were used to promote a common language or understanding to
promote a shared perspective of the online
learning system. It was funded for £2000 by the CEWBL Research Fund. The VLE denouement profile (VLED) project used:
Online
survey,
Interviews- by
telephone and face-to-face (f2f),
Multimedia
case studies using Adobe Breeze,
Website
toolkit with evaluation,
VLED Profile
technique & toolkit (see CD-ROM). Details of profiling are presented in
the Conclusions and Denouement Chapter at
the end of this report.
Concluding
contributions -
This
report has shown my research as an example of ‘leading edge practice’ in
several ways. First, epistemology (the way
we view knowledge) was analysed and adapted to the context of online learning
or ePedagogy. This provided a sound
theoretical foundation to the study.
Next
profiling, a research technique, was presented and critically reviewed. This
innovation was also supported in Project 3
and illustrated by a software toolkit.
The
Transitional Autonomy Model (TAM) was then offered as a contribution to the
eLearning community as the synthesis of
several learning theories and computer interface design principles. This
resulted in a set of TAM pedagogic design
principles to guide VLE stakeholders in the process of developing sound
eLearning events.
Finally,
these instances of online learning events were represented by the Spiral-web
learning model (SLM). This graphic exemplar
combined many of the elements of the projects and ePedagogy to provide a
concise representation of the
‘transitional’ nature of eLearning.
CD-ROM
exemplars
Attached
to this report is a CD-ROM containing the associated software illustrations.
You are encouraged to open the electronic
exemplars as you read along to get first hand experience and see the theories
and pedagogic design principles in action.