[MUSIC] >> This episode examines the key considerations when planning your online or blended class. We discuss the importance of considering pedagogy before technology. Some useful strategies when deciding which components are better suited to the online learning environment, aligning assessment with learning outcomes, and digital literacy and information engagement. The video discusses these in the broader context. Where as the PDF examines them in far greater detail. >> Starting with the basics of effective teaching and curriculum design, regardless of the technology that you want to use. >> When it's mainly about technology, or access, or management issues then, the eye, is off the ball. It's that sharp focus on what is it that they want students to be doing, experiencing, taking away. >> The biggest pitfall when you start teaching online is to think that the technology is going to somehow solve problems for you, or that the technology should be your main focus. >> I've seen some casualties along the way and so have students. So I think it is important to be aware of the importance of, of communicating with students why things might be changing. What's in it for them? How will they, how will it, benefit their learning? [BLANK_AUDIO] >> Start slowly. In our experience, we started with one course. We ran the course. We analyzed he course, evaluated the course. We built two more. We, we did the same with those. >> And certainly, the curriculum needs to be developed in such a way that students don't miss out on quality learning experiences. >> Develop content for courses that is specific to online delivery. And it's not a case of taking what already exists, you know, in a face to face scenario. And trying to sort of, shoehorn into an online delivery package. >> Does what you're doing actually gain from happening online? If it doesn't, don't do it online. >> Move all the stuff that doesn't work very well in a face to face setting to the internet, and then, enrich and develop the key activities when having people together, makes the difference. >> The way that people behave in a face to face context and the way they behave in an online context are two totally different things, and context should be tailor made to suit those differences. >> Focus on how students learn and, in particular, the development of their cognitive abilities, the exploration of ideas and techniques. And if you design your units that way, then you can start to see how the technology will allow you to do things which you otherwise couldn't if you didn't have it. >> You know, there's a line between what you say, how the assignment is presented, how the activities are designed, and guess what? How the assessment is done. The assessment part of it is the one that's been left out to a large degree. And that alignment process. >> We, we focus on what's the, the main assignment and we design that. Then we design the supplementary assignments that support it or, or draw on it. And only then do we start to plan how will we get students talking and thinking and reading about the subject matter of the unit. >> And when it comes to assessment. If it's online, they can log in. They can do self assessment against this criteria. And then they can get the feedback online, as well. [BLANK_AUDIO] >> Information engagement is often overlooked because the students just seem to be so really competent at it. But I think that technological competency often masks a shallow understanding of what information is, where it comes from how to use it, in what context it should be used and so on and so on. >> You can't assume, for all the talk of the net generation, that your students have that digital literacy. That, that media online savvy. So, you need to build into your units of study either sufficient scaffolding to help them to learn that, or perhaps over a series of units, develop their skills so that maybe by third year or fourth year, they've got that really sophisticated e-awareness that you need for them to become excellent users of the Internet for their learning. >> And get some assistance, you know, we're, this is not an innate ability, you know? It's good to get assistance that you got in your universities from instructional designers in particular. Looking at examples that are on the web. Talking to people who are doing it already. It's not algorithmic. There isn't a rules that you have to follow. What you need to do, is get lots of different perspectives on what people are doing. [BLANK_AUDIO]