eLearning - Critical Success Factors

1. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development Tim Hall EMRC-Educational Media ResearchUniversity of Limerick timothy.hall@ul.ie +353-61-202294

2. My Background • Involvement in: • CE & Post –experiential Learning • EU and International Projects • eLearning • EMRC-Educational Media Research

3. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • What is curriculum development? • Is it different in eLearning than for a traditional face-to face approach?

4. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • What is it ? • Define appropriate learning objectives • Establish useful learning experiences • Organise learning experiences to maximise cumulative effect • Evaluate the process and revise to improve effectiveness (Tyler 1949)

5. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • What is it? • A continuum from macro to micro • Schools curriculum • Curriculum for a degree programme • The Syllabus for a course (module) • A Lecture plan • In our context the content and style of an eLearning course

6. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development Is it different? Resource commitment • Recent IFETS survey of procatitioners found that the development time for eLearning was in excess of 110 times delivery time • For face-to-face its less than 10 times • This implies a much more “careful” process must be adopted

7. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • What’s involved? • People • Needs Analysis/Required Outcome • Methodology • Management & Resource Provision

8. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • People: Consider fully the needs of a wide constituancy • Owners (University, company) • Development Team • Teachers/Tutors • Students/Learners • Customers (Society, Parents, employers)

9. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • People: Development Team • Manager & administartive support • Subject matter experts • Instructional designers • Content authors (words & media) • Delivery and support system expert • Assessors/Testers

10. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • Needs Analysis/Required Outcome • There are many reasons why an eLearning solution is contemplated. It may be: • The most appropriate • Expedient • Required • Expectation of value for resources expended is essential

11. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development Methodology: Initial factors The proposed curriculum must be suitable for an eLearning delivery The proposed learning style must be appropriate and understood by the designers An appropriate ICT environment must be available Learners/Teachers must have access and be familiar with eLearning [A strategy must be evolved to accommodate any of these factors that are missing]

12. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development Methdology: Development A team activity where the skills and experience of the team members are contributed through a carfully designed and managed process Or An individual process where a subject matter expert works within an east to use environment

13. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development Methodology: Structure & Opportunity An opportunity to review existing learning methodology and exploit one which eLearning does well A clear framework for the instructional design stage must be established linking good design of presentation and navigation to appropriate good practice in ODL authoring

14. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development Management & Resource Provision Curriculum design for eLearning must take place in a supportive institutional framework where the immediate and on-going resource commitment is understood

15. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • Curriculum design in an eLearning environment thus becomes a much more “professional” activity than here-to-fore

16. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • But [a very big but] in most of the above I have assumed a conventional approach to teaching and learning with a lecturer/teacher/instructor lead process based on a traditional curriculum and syllabus. • I don’t “teach” like that, do you? • What about other more learner centred approaches? Collaborative learning? Self-directed learning? Self-organised learning? Ubiquitous learning?

17. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • Do we have to start over? No, rarely are we working outside some formalised framework: • The people are the same • The learning needs are the same • The required resources and ICT support are the same • The learning environment still needs to be structured and the learning process facilitated and managed • A required curriculum is still being followed

18. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • So what’s different? • Content is being discovered, ordered, generated, digested and synthesized largely by the learners themselves • The teacher becomes a moderator, mentor, tutor • A much more rewarding process for all involved

19. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development Curriculum design is still the foundation, a macro factor that acts as a link between the intimate eWorld of the student(s)/teacher interaction and the outside pressures of assessors, the university/school, education authorities, society As formal learning content disappears curriculum and learning approach remain as tangible confirmation that the prescribed learning is taking place

20. eLearning - Critical Success Factors Curriculum Development • Curriculum development acts as a link between society, teachers, learners and resource providers. • It is essentially a team effort • It assumes a supportive and well resources environment