Learning Design Representations to Document, Model, and Share Teaching Practice

Introduction

In the higher education sector today, more so than ever before, academics are presented with many choices in how they can design and deliver their courses. As the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching becomes mainstream, academics are faced with the challenge of making decisions on how best to integrate such technology within their teaching practice. In an environment where there is an increasing number of Internet tools available (e.g., blogs and wikis) and online educational resources to choose from (e.g., learning objects), this is a difficult task. Coupled with the constant focus in the sector on improving the quality of teaching and learning (e.g., Transcript, 2004) decisions on how to effectively integrate ICT to design pedagogically sound learning experiences can be quite overwhelming.

To add a further layer of complexity, the concept of a “university course” has broadened from a conventional model of synchronous teaching and learning activities (e.g., lectures and tutorials) to “unexplored dimensions” that include Internet based activities and the overall use of digital media to present, interact, and communicate in both synchronous and asynchronous modes (Botturi, 2006). Botturi has argued that the design of such courses to effectively integrate technologies is too complex for one person and requires the expertise of a teaching team. Unfortunately, unlike externally funded educational multimedia development projects where a team (composed of subject matter experts, instructional designers, programmers, and graphics artists led by a project manager) works together to craft a multimedia educational solution, the university teaching context is more individually focused where teachers are mostly required to fend for themselves in the design of their courses.

Thus, teachers need guidance and advice provided in an efficient and effective form to support them to create innovative pedagogy. But what form should this guidance take in order for it to be efficient and effective? There is a substantial body of literature that explains how contemporary learning theories can be implemented effectively in practice with the use of technology. The predominant form for this guidance is the text-based scholarly representation presented in journals, conference publications, and books where, through a range of descriptive and analytical case studies, lessons learned are documented and pedagogical design principles are distilled. The argument is mounting that this way of representing and disseminating guidance is difficult for practitioners to easily access and thus needs improvement (Goodyear, 2005; Oliver, 2006; Oliver & Littlejohn, 2006; Sharpe, Beetham, & Ravenscroft, 2004). Particularly in the area of e-learning, this issue needs to be addressed: “In the field of e-learning where there is pressure for rapid changes in response to emerging research, there is discussion on how we develop a more suitable and sophisticated discourse that is shared by researchers and practitioners, and which supports and promotes educational change” (Sharpe et al., 2004, p. 16). Oliver and Littlejohn (2006) have argued that the way practitioners currently document their practice is limited and there is a lack of examples in a form that practitioners can apply in their own teaching context. Botturi (2006, p. 267) concurred with respect to limited documentation and suggested that improvement in documentation is required: