eLearning Strategic Planning Flow Chart

This flow chart provides a path to follow to help a school create links between their school vision, vision for eLearning, number and placement of devices (IT model) and their eLearning
strategic action plan.

e Learning Strategic Plan Guide

Strategic Planning for eLearning

One of the BEST resources for developing eLearning in a school has got to be Enabling eLearning  Whatever you need to know, it's here and it will provide a valuable resource for my professional inquiry.
To successfully develop eLearning capability and practice, leadership is the key!  This sounds obvious but many school leaders are unsure about how to provide leadership in eLearning across their school.  This video from Holy Cross School provides some useful ideas.

Effective Pedagogy

At the moment here's a lot of talk in New Zealand education about one to one devices, BYOD (bring your own device) LYOD (lease your own device), and having a MLE (modern learning environment).  I have discussions with educators about these every week.
However successful eLearning and eTeaching requires teachers to look at their own practice and make changes.  What was considered effective pedagogy (great teaching) in 1990 would probably be the opposite now.  In a 'digital classroom' you can't teach the way you've always taught and expect success.

Unpacking what effective pedagogy looks like is an interesting activity for teachers.  Working in groups they were asked to brainstorm their ideas and practices about:

5 Stages for effective teaching and meaningful learning

1. Learn about it. 

it is an unrealized or perceived need that is a motivator, not an “interest” or the merely novel. So, awaken in the learner’s the insight, “This is why I need to learn this.”   Remember that meaningful learning is knowledge that addresses a need, solves a problem, or satisfies. 

• Most helpful pedagogy: Lecture, explication, problem-posing.
• Teacher action: identify knowledge category (skill, information, concepts, principle, self-understanding, etc.). Lecture on concepts and principles (not information). Apply appropriate teaching taxonomy

2. Understand it.

Regardless of how important it is, merely receiving information is not sufficient to bring about meaningful learning. At appropriate intervals, test for comprehension and check for misunderstanding.

• Most helpful pedagogy: dialog, question and answer, self-assessment, test for misunderstanding.
• Teacher action: share information, provide sources of information or knowledge, test for comprehension, test for misunderstanding using appropriate assessment taxonomy.

3. Manipulate it. 

For knowledge to become meaningful, learners must be able to manipulate it. Manipulating information helps internalize knowledge by creating pathways for connecting with what is known, and, processing knowledge through multiple intelligences.

• Most helpful pedagogy: Interpret it, enhance it, diagram it, depict it, change it, deconstruct it, combine it, illustrate it, interpret it, model it.
• Teacher action: provide appropriate experiential learning activity.

4. Retain it. 

Meaningful learning is bringing about change to long-term memory–if the students can’t retain it, they haven’t learned it. Meaningful learning must be rehearsed in order for it to be retained and to achieve mastery.

• Most effective pedagogy: rehearsal, memorization and recall, association, application.
• Teacher action: Provide for rehearsal. Use transition induction and summary-review induction. Test for retention and accuracy of retention. Plan intervals for revisiting and rehearsing core concepts.

5. Use it.

Knowledge becomes meaningful when a learner can use (apply) it. The challenge for classroom learning is that knowledge must be applied in the context it must be used (avoid “pretend learning.”). Failure to follow this principle results in the tendency to “teach for the test” as evidence of application.  Find ways for students to apply what they are learning in the “real world,” outside the classroom.

• Most helpful classroom pedagogy: simulation, experimentation, application in context, projects.
• Teacher action: provide an application step. Provide feedback on application.

From a blog post by Israel Galindo is Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning at Columbia Theological Seminary

My inquiry into practice 2014

Experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience, i.e., "learning from experience".   For me in my job as an eLearning facilitator, this means developing my own practice and then reflecting on how it went.    First I need to ask myself 'what am I trying to achieve?'  There are many answers to this question - the job has many facets to it.  Some things I know well. other are new to me.  

During 2014 I want to think about why I do things they way I do i.e. the focus of my facilitation (workshops, leaders' meetings, staff meetings).  What do I think is important and why.  I hope that experiential learning will help me in this journey.

David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model (ELM)