The Teaching and Learning Lab (TLL) team includes expert practitioners with experience in classroom and online teaching, multi-modal course design, product and media development, and educational research. This expertise allows the TLL to support the holistic development of learning experiences and assets, from discovery to debrief. In our Staff Spotlight blog series, we are interviewing the TLL staff about the career trajectory that brought them to HGSE, and what they’ve been working on lately.
What is it about multimedia work generally that compels you...
One of the questions we ask prospective learning designers is, “If you get this job, how will you describe your new role to your friends and family?” The way a candidate answers this question can reveal much about their understanding of and approach to the work of learning design.
What does a learning designer do, exactly? What makes this role distinct from that of an instructor, program developer, learning technologist, or media producer? How does a person become a dedicated learning designer….and why might they want to do so? In this series of posts, I will explore these questions with the aim of helping both prospective designers and those who collaborate with designers to understand the work, approach, and skills of those in this role. Specifically, I will look at the most common roles and responsibilities of learning designers (also known as instructional designers), the attributes and competencies of effective learning designers, the art and science of learning design as a collaborative process, and developmental paths toward becoming a learning designer.... Read more about The Making of a Learning Designer: Part 1
Conversations about DiversityIn 2014, HGSE launched the Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity (FPD) initiative to foster and sustain community-wide conversations and learning experiences around the topics of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Most often the conversation centers around face-to-face learning environments through the lens of race and socioeconomic status (SES).... Read more about Online Learning: Accessibility and Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity
How can a course be planned in a short time frame while harnessing the creative power of a team? How do you develop a consistent experience across multiple courses planned by different faculty members? And how do you keep track of the multitude of ideas and to-dos that emerge out of highly creative, learner-driven lesson planning discussions?
These were some of the challenges the TLL tackled while planning the structure of Leading Learning...
Ask anyone who has taken an online course what they thought of the experience, and you are likely to hear words like “impersonal”, “boring”, “tedious”, “ineffective”, or “monotonous”. The modality has unfortunately earned itself a poor reputation due to a plethora of such examples. Unfortunately, the majority of online courses available today embody a passive approach to learning in that they provide lecture-style videos followed by multiple-choice quizzes with automated grading. This “talk and test” strategy is reflective of some of the least effective face-to-face classrooms, with the only potential advantage being that learners can access material in their own space and at their own pace.... Read more about Facing the Challenge to Design Quality Online Learning Experiences