Dr Simon Paul Atkinson (PFHEA)
Enhancing Institutional Outcomes
FIRST PUBLISHED ON SUBSTACK In 2007, I was invited to deliver a ‘keynote’ at the opening of the National e-Learning Centre in Zagreb, Croatia. I was then the Head of e-Learning and the Head of the Centre for Learning Development at the University of Hull. I argued then that the “e” in e-learning should stand …
Continue reading “Building Beautiful Learning – a Manifesto”
Have you got some time for professional development over the holiday period? Or do you have colleagues or design teams working on course designs over the holiday period? Anyone who has ever tried to assess or teach to poorly learning outcomes, and then tried to defend their practices or results, will tell you that getting …
Continue reading “Free Online CPD Course on Learning Outcomes (until 14th January 2023)”
There are many courses out there that do a great job of teaching manual, dexterity and physical capabilities. From bricklaying, hairdressing, to gas-fitting, there are course that are focussed around manual processes. However, there are huge numbers of graduates from tertiary programmes that cannot perform duties required of employers on day-one simply because they have …
Continue reading “Why we need to change how we design courses.”
Let’s talk about the skills required of learning designers, or instructional designers. Context makes all the difference. Learning design in a face-to-face University context looks very different from an online instructional designer working in a government department or commercial enterprise. Roles using generic job titles can differ significantly. There are learning designers who guide academics …
I have no idea what the protocol is for naming versions of things. I imagine, like me, someone has an idea of what the stages are going to look like, when a truly fresh new is going to happen. For me I have a sense that version 4.0 of the SOLE Toolkit will incorporate what …
Continue reading “Enhancements to the SOLE Tookit – now version 3.5”
NOTE: updated high-quality visualisations of these taxonomies are available here. I think being able to visualise things is important. Faculty and learning designers need to be able to see Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) take shape, and many find existing lists uninspiring. It’s not uncommon for faculty and instructional designers to grow weary of ILOs; they …
Continue reading “Visualising Outcomes: domains, taxonomies and verbs”
In my last posting I suggested that a module specification could usefully have four sections, clearly articulated, for Intended Learning Outcomes, so that a student could identify from their assessment evidence that they had met specific ILOs in a range of domains. In doing so they not only have a useful platform to identify future …
Continue reading “Learning Design becomes mission critical”
Can one know too much about the learning we design? Why is it we appear to know so little? It’s hard to share what you can’t articulate. This is an attempt to make the learning expectations, aspirations and intentions we have of learners as transparent as possible. The desire to produce a useable, intuitive (or at least helpful) toolkit to implement …
Continue reading “Modes of Engagement: Version 2.3 of Toolkit released”
The 27th Annual Distance Learning and Teaching Conference at Madison-Wisconsin this August was a diverse and varied programme attended by some 900 distance educators from all sectors, from K-12 to professional education. My contribution was a half-day DiAL-e Workshop with Kevin Burden (University of Hull) attended by some 24 people. The workshop went relatively well but …
Continue reading “DiAL-e and SOLE at Distance Education Conference Madison-Wisconsin 2011”
The 45 minute ‘Information Session’ session on Thursday (4th August) at the 27th Annual Distance Education Conference at Madison-Wisconsin produced a tweet from @lookstein “simon atkinson shares his flexible model for student-owned learning engagement – very valuable (and entertaining!)” so at least one person was interested! The session was attended by some 50-70 people on …
Continue reading “US Interest in the SOLE model & toolkit”
The 45 minute ‘Information Session’ session on Thursday (4th August) at the 27th Annual Distance Education Conference at Madison-Wisconsin produced a tweet from @lookstein “simon atkinson shares his flexible model for student-owned learning engagement – very valuable (and entertaining!)” so at least one person was interested! The session was attended by some 50-70 people on …
Continue reading “US Interest in the SOLE model & toolkit”
Release of the SOLE Toolkit