Sharing Learning Design with LAMS: The Learning Activity

Management System

James DalzielProfessor of Learning Technology and Director,

Macquarie E-Learning Centre Of Excellence (MELCOE)Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

& Director, LAMS Foundationjames@melcoe.mq.edu.au

www.melcoe.mq.edu.au

Presentation at MIT, March 12th, 2008, Cambridge, USA

Overview

• Learning Design• LAMS• LAMS V2.1 - Branching• Open Education• A Vision for Educators of the Future

What is Learning Design?

• Learning Design is a new approach to describing the teaching and learning process in a structured way

• Typically describes sequences of student activities (scaffolding of content + collaboration)– A sequence applies to a class/week/topic (not whole unit)

• Focus on sharing and re-using good sequences

• Often implemented online with technology– But becoming a general framework for face to face and online

What is Learning Design?

• Learning Design is particularly useful for pedagogical approaches that have a structured process, eg:– Problem Based Learning, Role Plays, Inquiry Based Learning

• Learning Design focuses on how educators structure activities to foster student learning– Equal adoption in both K-12 schools and universities

• Learning Design systems can integrate with CMSs– For students, link(s) from course area to the relevant

sequence– Lecturer single-sign-on and easy authoring and launching

Learning Design Example: LAMS

• LAMS is the world’s leading software for Learning Design– 1000s of educators, 80+ countries, translated into 25 languages– Demo accounts available at http://demo.lamscommunity.org/

• Visual “drag and drop” approach to designing activities– Helps educators to visualise teaching and learning processes

• LAMS Sequences can be shared, re-used and adapted– LAMS Community (www.lamscommunity.org)– Approximately 2900 members, 86 countries, 220 shared

sequences downloaded 6900 times, 3500 discussion postings

• Freely available as open source software– Integrated with CMSs: Sakai, Blackboard, WebCT, Moodle, etc

LAMS Demonstration

“What are the qualities of an effective teacher?”Step 1: Answer question, then reflect on answers from other studentsStep 2: Vote on a list of qualities, consider collated votesStep 3: Discuss responses to Steps 1 & 2Step 4: Read an expert’s view on the topicStep 5: Discuss expert’s view compare to class viewStep 6: Personal reflection (or essay if assessment) on initial question, based on initial views, class discussion & expert view

Can be run face to face with no technology, or fully online, or a mixDemonstration: Authoring this sequence, then Preview Learner view

Example 2: Role play “Adopting Interactive Whiteboards in schools”

LAMS V2: Authoring view of “Qualities of an Effective Teacher”

LAMS V2: Adopting Interactive Whiteboards in schools – Role play

LAMS Community – View of various communities & forums

LAMS Community – Repository Summary

LAMS Community – Detailed view of individual sequence

New LAMS Features

• Introducing LAMS V2.1:– Branching

• Teacher allocated• Group-based• Tool-output based (MCQ & Forum so far, more to come)

– Sequences in optional• Student choice of one or more sequences

• “Branching” is always teacher or system driven (ie, automatic from the student’s perspective); optional sequences allows for student choice in “branching”

Key concept before we start: Properties bar in Authoring (click on it to open)

So… this is the LAMS V2 (not 2.1) approach – ie, no branching

LAMS 2.1: Interactive Whiteboards – Role play: Role tasks replaced by Branching

LAMS 2.1: Interactive Whiteboards – Role play: Inside branching for role tasks

LAMS 2.1: Interactive Whiteboards – Role play: Naming of branches

LAMS 2.1: Interactive Whiteboards – Role play: Setting up role groups

LAMS 2.1: Interactive Whiteboards – Role play: Naming role groups

LAMS 2.1: Interactive Whiteboards – Role play: Branching type = groups

LAMS 2.1: Interactive Whiteboards – Role play: Mapping groups to branches

So… after launching the Role Play sequence in Monitor, a Learner can now access it…

Interactive Whiteboards – Role play: Student view of Forum (private for Pro Teacher role)

LAMS 2.1: Alternative branching approach: Teacher choice instead of group-based

LAMS 2.1: Alternative branching approach: Launch in monitor, then allocate to branches

LAMS 2.1: Teacher allocating students to branches by hand in Monitor

LAMS 2.1: Alternative branching approach: Student view of Branch 2 (“con” teacher)

LAMS 2.1: Alternative branching: Tool-output based branching based on Vote (using MCQ)

Imagine using Vote to create new “yes” and “no” subgroups for extra resources & forum

LAMS 2.1: Tool-output branching: Creating conditions from tool outputs

LAMS 2.1: Tool-output branching: … then mapping conditions to Branches

Branching summary

• Three types of branching– Group-based– Teacher choice– Tool output (& conditions)

• Can have multiple groups, multiple branching activities, multiple sub-groups applied to one branch, “skip” option for branching (no task for some learners)– Tool outputs can be Boolean (either/or) or Scores– Current tools are MCQ and Forum; more to come

• “Vote” example was (mis) use of MCQ (for now)

LAMS 2.1: New Optional *Sequences* feature (under optional; properties for settings)

LAMS 2.1: New Optional Sequences - allows students to choose 1 or more sequences

Pedagogical uses of new features

• Can assign different students to different topics– Each group investigates a different aspect of a phenomenon, then

reports findings back to the whole class

• Can use Branching with Tool Output (and Skip) to provide remediation tasks for only some students (eg, quiz score < X, then do branch remediation activities; otherwise skip branch)

• Can allow students to choose from different optional sequences (according to topic, skill, thoroughness, etc)

• Can seek student opinion (eg, Role Play Vote), then create group tasks that respond to different opinions

Open Education

• Open Education is about sharing education content and systems without restrictions (eg, Cape Town Declaration – www.capetowndeclaration.org)– Free of cost, but more importantly…– Freedom to share, adapt and improve

• LAMS exhibits the principles of open education at several levels:– LAMS software freely available as Open Source Software– LAMS sequences freely shared under Creative Commons– Is LAMS the “Open Teaching” part of “Open Education”?

First page of the manuscript of Bach's lute suite in G Minor. Wikipedia.org

Date of manuscript unknown. Held in Florence, Italy. Photo by Asiir 17:00, 13 February 2007, Wikipedia.org

Discussion

Further LAMS Information

• Introduction to LAMS – walkthroughs, videos, case studieshttp://cd.lamsfoundation.org/

• General demonstration accounts for LAMShttp://demo.lamscommunity.org/

• General information about LAMS http://www.lamsfoundation.org/

• LAMS Communityhttp://www.lamscommunity.org/

• Qualities of an Effective Teacher – download sequence from http://www.lamscommunity.org/dotlrn/clubs/educationalcommunity/lamsresearchdevelopment/lams-seq//sequence?seq%5fid=256078

• Adoption of Interactive Whiteboards in schools Role Play – download sequence from http://lamscommunity.org/lamscentral/sequence?seq_id=376440

• Animated “mock-ups” for Pedagogic Planner concepthttp://saturn.melcoe.mq.edu.au/jly/Ped_planner.htmhttp://saturn.melcoe.mq.edu.au/jly/Ped_plannerv2.htm