An E-Learning Design Model - Essay Example

An E-Learning Design Model Introduction According to Marling technology is becoming an important tool in modern learning. It provides a numberof advantages that may not be available with the traditional technologies. Technology can for instance be used to increase interaction and collaboration between the learners. With technology, it becomes easier for the learners to also be part of the knowledge creation and sharing of the same knowledge. This is why the online training platform is becoming more important, especially where the learner is a teacher. However, online learning platform is not a magic potion that will work wonders as soon as it is developed. For it to be successful careful and meticulous planning is important. The planning has to identify the learning needs and then identify the materials and resources that will be necessary for the online system to work in an effective way. Planning is also necessary for the identification of the system in term of the structure of the course in order to make sure that the best structure has been identified and chosen to make the course conducive for the very purpose it is intended for (Westen, 2013). Context The context of the learning model is educational. As a head of Arabic Language Teachers in one of the secondary schools in Saudi Arabia, I have faced many challenges in developing my professional skills regarding the curriculum and dealing with students. Therefore, I would like to design an e-learning community model to serve Arabic language teachers in Saudi Arabia. The significant aim of this e-learning community model is the professional development of teachers. The users are teachers who will be looking to use the system to achieve three main factors that are useful with regard to their profession. These are as follows; Gain knowledge Of course the main objective to be achieved it to help the teachers to gain more knowledge on the language of Arabic. The teachers will be seeking to make sure that they can use the platform in an easy and efficient way in gaining more knowledge that is relevant to their practice, which is teaching Arabic. The platform has therefore to be easy to use, intuitive and accessible at all times. Create knowledge The other thing that the platform wants to achieve is the ability to create knowledge. Since the users are teachers who already have a lot of knowledge, it would be better for the platform to help them to create knowledge that can be used by the other teachers to improve their practice. In other words, the system will also be a knowledge sharing tool which will be used to share the available knowledge. Share knowledge Of course, once the teachers have learnt and also created knowledge, it would be necessary for the same knowledge to be shared with the other users. There will be a requirement for the system so that it can support the knowledge sharing that will be a necessary part f the platform. The system will therefore act as a knowledge management system and should be therefore able to create a knowledge map which will be used by the users to get the knowledge they want when they need it. About the learning outcomes The users should be able to achieve following after going through the course Learn how to be better teachers on Arabic The teachers should learn some skills which will help them to be better in the profession of teaching the language. This will be achieved in two ways. First, it will be done by providing the teachers with more knowledge on the subject of Arabic as a language. This will be the primary knowledge delivered on the platform. Secondly, the platform will also deliver knowledge on how to teach the subject. This second part will deal with the pedagogy of the teaching Arabic. Be able to create knowledge As already identified, the platform will also need to be able to help the users to create knowledge. The users who will be using this platform are people who already have a wealth of knowledge and information that can be essential to others. These users have two types of knowledge. First they have the knowledge which they had to earn as the process of becoming a teacher. Secondly, they have the knowledge which they create as they go about the process of teaching. This is the knowledge the e-learning system will need to be able to capture and then disseminate to the community of users. Disseminate the knowledge According to McKenna (2012), most online learning platforms also act as knowledge management tools. The other aspect of the system will be to disseminate knowledge to the community of users. This will be the most important bit of the course. The online learning course will need to be able to deliver the knowledge it produces to the users so that this knowledge can then be fused into the community of users. Achieving motivations Of course, any learning platform must have a way to motivate the answers to use it to gain knowledge. This particular platform will use a number of strategies to motivate the users to learn. These will be as follows; Activities The course design will involve a number of activities which will be done in the process of learning. These will involve reading books. The learners will be asked t read certain books that have certain materials that are relevant to the course. The learners will be required to write a report and post it online where it will be reviewed by other learners. Reviewing peer materials Every learner will be required to review materials posted by their peers on the collaboration board. Since all the learners will be required to post their own material that they have learnt from the course on the collaboration board, requiring each learner to write a review of other learner’s materials will be necessary in order t make sure that the process is complete (Moore, 2011). These two activities will be necessary to make sure that the system is effective in helping the learner to be involved in the learning process as ell as the creation of the knowledge base of the system. It will also be a way to motivate the intended users to use the system for edifying their knowledge and also contributing to its knowledge base. The ADDIE model .The ADDIE model 1- Analyze The concept of needs analysis is found in many fields, with the best example found in the marketing activities of the business sector. The same concept has been adopted in the field of education. The analysis in my design will cover three important areas: A- The goals I want to achieve: • To connect teachers who might otherwise not have the opportunity to interact either frequently or at all. • To provide a shared context for members to communicate and share information, stories, and personal experiences in a way that builds understanding and insight. • To stimulate learning by serving as a vehicle for authentic communication, mentoring, coaching, and self-reflection. • To capture and diffuse existing knowledge to help the participants improve their practice. • To generate new knowledge to help teachers transform their practice to accommodate changes in needs and technologies. • The professional development of teachers through this community of practice. According to Schlager and Fusco (2003), a teachers’ community of practice can play supportive as well as direct roles in the teachers professional development. b- Learners’ needs: Each learner has individual weaknesses that can be strengthened through the learning environment. I will counsel a selected group of Arabic language teachers in my city, about exactly what they need and expect. I am attempting to think from a learner’s perspective about how teachers can capture new skills, tools, and technologies in teaching Arabic language. Teachers need a space where they can discuss their issues with the subject and the students. Therefore, giving advice and answering questions will occur in this community. c- Materials to be provided: Most of the materials and resources in this community are relevant to the subject and the teachers’ needs. However, I will pay attention to inequality in the capacities of the participants in providing these materials and learning programs. Because "formal training” supplements informal learning to build competencies" (Schlager & Fusco 2003), the community will offer both formal and informal learning opportunities. 2-Design According to Gould, Boies, and Lewis (1991), the early focus in the design process should be on understanding the needs of users. This means that I should concentrate on the needs of the members in designing the learning environment for the community of practice from the beginning. During this stage, I will decide on the requirements for designing a website and look at storyboards and graphic design. The user interface should be soft for the eyes, clear, and easy to use. Because not all the participants have computer knowledge, I will try to facilitate fast and easy access to the content. Also, the integration of design is very important. All aspects of the design should evolve in parallel, rather than in sequence (Gould, Boies & Lewis, 1991). Thus, I will use the suggestions and recommendations of a counseled group in each step in the design phase to enhance my product. Additionally, as Bernard (2000) states, “knowing the representative users mental model with respect to the structure of a site is obviously very important because it allows designers to construct the site according to users expectations, and thus, letting it be as intuitive as possible for the users”. 3-Develop The development phase will involve the conversion of the blueprint into an actual product. This will include the development of the online platform, then addition of the materials as web links to the internet and social networking as the evaluation materials and connecting it to the internet and social media. Once this is achieved, the implementation will then begin. 4-Implementation Implementation will be done through making the platform to go live in order for it to be used by the intended users. This will be done by observing the following issues; A- Invitation: The invitations will be divided into two phases: limited and public invitations. First, the limited invitations will be made at the creation level and include selected users from my city, as I mentioned before. Second, the public invitations will be made at the implementation level, where I will invite high school Arabic language teachers in Saudi Arabia to access the community through various means such as email addresses, social networks, visiting schools, and introducing the community at meetings of Arabic language teachers. Visitors to the community can also invite friends from their preferred social networks. B- Meaningful interaction: Meaningful interaction is recognized as a main element in stimulating learners motivation, as is the level of learner engagement in the process of knowledge achievement (Woo & Reeves, 2006). However, not all interaction is meaningful. The challenge is to engage the participants in this community of practice. Thus, the community should incorporate a number of options for learners. For example, I use a shared resource center for teachers to share classroom documents of different resource types. In this section, learners themselves become producers of learning materials. Moreover, they will introduce collaborative processes within the Community to encourage the free flow of ideas and exchange of information. 5-Evaluate Evaluation of the system will also be necessary. This will only be done once the system has gone live. The evaluation will be necessary because in order to determine how successful the system is in terms of passing information, I will consider two aspects: A- Self-evaluation: Neale at el. (2004) point out that although it is possible to collect data, it can be hard to expect when and where the interaction of most interests is going to happen. Therefore, the learning process, materials, activities, and learners’ requirements will require more assessment. Additionally, evaluation of whether the goals have been met is required. B- Feedback from participants: Although there will be feedback in the early design stage from a limited group to determine the users’ expectations and needs, seeking opinions from all members is important because they can assess whether or not the community offers valuable reflection on their profession. They can measure the effectiveness of all learning events. Brown and Voltz (2005) highlight that experience can shift to knowledge via reflection, which is improved by timely and suitable criticism. C-learners Assessment How to assess the learners Like any other course, assessment is necessary in order to guarantee that there is a way to determine how the learners are benefitting from the learning environment (Gibson, 2013). The assessment will be done using assessment questions. These assessment questions will however have to be drafted in a way that they are not monotonous. The course will use a repository of assessment questions which will then be chosen randomly for every learner using a software algorithm. A repository of questions will be necessary to make sure that the learners cannot predict which questions will be given to them (Mathews, 2011). This will be useful in making the questions more challenging and therefore make the learner to want to learn more diligently. The learners will need to be assessed so as to guarantee that they are learning from the system. This will be done by the use of online tests. These online tests will be done after every lesson. Also evaluating the system in terms of whether it has met the initial intentions. Any deviations whether positive or negative will be identified and analyzed in order to help in making the system even better. E Learning System Model Justification for the system components User login The user login will be a login screen. This will be important for the system in order to make sure that every user is individually managed. It also provides for security of the system since only those with login credentials will be able to login. The importance of this is that the system is able to manage each user individually in terms of all the activities, such as how they are progressing, their posts on the discussion board etc. User database This will contain the information about the users such as their personal details. At the same time, as the users continue with the course, the database will record other details such as their scores and their progress. This will be used for individual assessment. Knowledge base This will provide the knowledge the learners will be seeking. As already established, the knowledge will fall into two categories. The first category will be the knowledge about Arabic while the second category will be about the pedagogy of teaching Arabic. The learners can add to this knowledge base as they go about the process of learning. Discussion space This is a collaborative tool and it will help in making it possible for users to share their knowledge, use peer reviews to review each other’s knowledge etc. It will be used as a tool to add to the knowledgebase of the system. Test database As discussed, the users have to be tested. The test database will provide a wide range of test questions which will be used for testing and assessing the learners. The importance of the test database is that it can include numerous questions which mean that each individual learner can have their own question, thus reducing h risk of cheating during tests. Test algorithm The test algorithm will be used to select question for individual user from the test database. The algorithm will randomly select the question and this will be important in two ways. First, it will mean that the users cannot foretell which questions they are going to get. Secondly, it will mean that each individual user will get his or her set of questions, which can minimize cheating. Shared resource centre The shared resource centre will be necessary as a complement to the system in order to help the users to share their knowledge and experiences. This is because the users of the system are teachers who already have knowledge and continue to create even more knowledge. Link with social media This will be a very important part of the implementation of the system. The initial users can share with their friends though social media and this will be a good an easy way to market the system. References Gibson, O. (2013). Assessin Online Learnign Systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Levy, Y. (2006). Assessing the Value of E-learning Systems. New York, NY: Idea Group Inc (IGI). Liebowitz, J. (2010). Knowledge Management and E-Learning. New York, NY: CRC Press. Marling, O. (2010). Modern technology and Knolegde Mangement. New York, NY: Pearson Books . Mathews, P. (2011). Desingin Online CVoures and Testin Techniques. New Yrok, NY: Guille Books. McKenna, P. (2012). Online Learnign Systems and KNolegde Management . New York, NY: pearson Books. Moore, M. (2011). Distance Education: A Systems View of Online Learning. London, UK: Cengage Learning. Schwartz, D. (2006). Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management. New York City, NY: Idea Group Inc (IGI). Westen, P. (2013). Online Learnign Platforms . London, UK: Cengane Learning. Read More