Choosing learning designs for eLearning settings
A long-time proponent of learning design, Ron??s presentation brought the discussion back to a pedagogical focus, with an emphasis on student activity and a constructivist pedagogy as the basis of effective learning design.

Gem??s from Ron Oliver??
Need to challenge our assumptions about why people undertake learning..
– seeking knowledge
– become better informed
– gain qualification
Definition of ??learning design??
– learning activities that seek specific outcomes??
– comprised of tasks, resources and supports.
– Focus on higher order thinking etc.
Key issue ?? if assessment requirements don??t promote higher order thinking then it won??t happen ?? ask ??how much of what happens in classrooms is simply ??busy time???
How do people learn?
– knowledge construction
– through practice, reflection
– working collaboratively
Ask ?? ??How do our teaching models relate to what we understand about how people learn??
Tension exists between knowledge acquisition vs learning that is experiential
Information access — organisaing information — processing information
Need to spend most of our time at the right hand end of this
Useful URL ?? http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/toolbox – contains lots of information relating to these ideas (NB series 7 has info on SCORM compliant RLOs)
What we know about effective learning designs:
– mush be task based
– form of the task is linked to intended outcomes
– product oriented
– few common understandings exist
– often missing from traditional instructional design
– often mistaken for teaching design
For more background on learning design refer to
A href=”http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au”>http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au