Monday, May 17
9:00 AM-12:30 PM
UTC
Jintan

T1: Designing e-Learning Courses with Authentic Tasks

Tutorial ID: 29596
  1. aaa
    Jan Herrington
    Murdoch University
  2. aaa
    Thomas C Reeves
    University of Georgia
  3. Ron Oliver
    Edith Cowan University

Abstract: Although authentic approaches appear to be found more and more in e-learning learning environments in higher education as course management systems become more flexible, many teachers are still uncertain about how to design authentic learning environments. With advances in technology, there is increased potential for authentic tasks to be used as a basis for learning in both face-to-face and web-based courses, but high end technology and life like graphics are not necessary for such tasks to be truly engaging. Whereas traditionally, real life examples have primarily served as vehicles for practice of skills or processes, a more radical approach is to build a whole course of study around authentic activities or tasks. In this tutorial, participants will learn about the theory, research, and development initiatives that provide the foundations for this innovative approach, design complex and sustained tasks for online learning, and explore the implications of the approach for their own areas of interest.

Objectives

1. Participants in this tutorial will learn how to design e-learning courses based upon authentic tasks, using a tested model of ten dimensions of effective web-based learning environments, 2. Participants in this tutorial will learn how to evaluate e-learning courses based upon authentic activities, and 3. Participants will learn how to engage in design-based research to advance the field of e-learning environments for distance and flexible education in the post-secondary sector.

Topical Outline

The tutorial will include presentation and discussion of the theory of authentic tasks, followed by a more practical examination of related issues in higher education. Case studies will be presented, and a model for designing and evaluating e-learning courses based upon authentic activities will be presented. The following topics will be presented in this tutorial: • Exploring web-based learning and its affordances for more authentic approaches • Why content-based approaches do not work that well • Why authentic tasks work better • Ten characteristics of authentic tasks for web-based learning • Exemplars of web-based learning environments based upon authentic tasks • Exploration of a design strategy: Learning tasks, learning resources, learning supports • Discussion on how these approaches might work in participants’ own contexts and subject areas, advantages, problems, and possible scenarios • Evaluation and assessment strategies • A design-based research agenda The tutorial will include presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on activities.

Prerequisites

No pre-requisites required

Experience Level

Beginner

Qualifications

All three instructors are authors of the new book: A Guide to Authentic e-Learning (Routledge, 2010). Dr Jan Herrington is Professor of Education at Murdoch University in Perth Australia. Her research interests focus on the design of authentic learning environments, mobile learning and design research. She has written over 130 refereed articles, books, chapters and conference papers, and has won numerous grants including a Fulbright Scholarship. She was Keynote Speaker at E-Learn 2006 and is an Invited Speaker at Global Learn 2010. See: http://murdoch.academia.edu/JanHerrington Dr Thomas C Reeves is Professor Emeritus of Learning, Design, and Technology at The University of Georgia. He has developed and evaluated numerous interactive multimedia programs for both education and training. He has been an invited speaker in over 30 countries. He is a past president of the ADCIS, a former Fulbright Lecturer, and he was the editor of the Journal of Interactive Learning Research from 1997-2000. He has been a keynote speaker, invited speaker, and frequent tutorial instructor at many AACE conferences, and he co-chaired the 1997 ED-MEDIA conference and the E-Learn conferences in 2002 and 2006. In 2003, he was the first person to receive the AACE Fellowship Award. His URL is: http://it.coe.uga.edu/~treeves/ Ron Oliver is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching & Learning) at Edith Cowan University in Australia. Throughout his career he has used emerging technologies to engage and motivate his students, and has experience in the design, development, implementation and evaluation of technology-facilitated learning materials. His interests include authentic learning, task-based learning and the sharing and reuse of technology-facilitated learning activities. He has won many awards for his innovative teaching and research including an Australian Award for University Teaching (1997) and an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Fellowship (2006).
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