home

** Caroline G. N. Magunje: MGNCAR002 **
= Welcome  Wamkelekile   Welkom = = =

__ Introduction __
====I am a Postgraduate Diploma in Education(PGDE) student in Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. One of the courses in the programme, Online Learning Design (EDN5101s) requires me to create a prototype online interventon that is authentic and based on all the principles of a good online learning design.==== ====My intervention is focused on a Masters level course Advanced Research Design (EDN6015F). This course is a pre-requisite of the minor dissertation of the programme as the main aim of the course is to equip students with research skills.The course is offered in blended learning mode, were students meet in an intensive one week face to face session supported by online learning.The students in this programme are scattered all over Africa, however, as argued by Dabbagh (2005) e-learning enables reconceptualisation of distance learning as the deliberate organisation and coordination of distributed forms of interaction and learning to achieve shared goals. Though there is a lot of content to be covered in the one week face-to-face session authentic and comprehensive learning can still be achieved through online learning activities.==== ====A true model of e-learning would need to demonstrate on what learning principle the added value of the 'e' was operating (Mayes and de Freitas, 2007). An online task in this context seeks not only to maximise time during the face to face session, but also to enhance both cooperative and collaborative learning, thus adding value to the leaning process. The need to engage students and to equip them with the necessary skills in telephone interviews as a data collection tool, despite time constraints motivated me to design an online activity that would allow students to work outside normal class hours. The task aims to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge they would need to collect data through telephone interviews for their minor dissertation research project.==== ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍[|Online Prototype]‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ ====My e-portfolio is divided into four main sections: Exploration, Enactment, Evaluation and Reflection as adapted by Hodgkinson-Williams and Deacon for the EDN5101S course in 2011. The first three phases are adapted from Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland's (2005) Systematic Process of Online Learning Development shown in Figure 1 below. The last phase was added by Hodgikinson-Williams and Deacon.====

**Exploration**
====Dabbagh and Ritland (2005) noted that at this stage one would be investigating and documenting relevant information related to the instructional or training setting including individual and collective beliefs of all stakeholders in the training situation. Therefore, this section is going to cover the context of this intervention, the aspirations and requirements of the lecturers of the course including their objectives. It will also cover the demography and aspirations of students in the course. I am also going to explain the learning theories informing the online activity as well as explain the learning design model used for the activity.====

**__Enactment__**
====In the model Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland (2005) view the enactment phase as important for mapping information gathered in the exploration phase about learning processes, content, and context to existing pedagogical models. Thus the section will cover the pedagogic stategies in the learning design, the tools used and the affordances they provide as well as the development of the design.====

**‍Evaluation**
====This phase involves, determining the purpose, desired results, and methods of evaluation of the online leraning design incorparating formative evaluation and revision cycles that result in effective implementation and informative results (Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland, 2005).====

__**Self Evaluation**__
Whilst the creation of the prototype and this e-portfolio has been a challenging and exhilirating experience and I whole heartedly worked on the tasks, I feel I did my best on the Enactment phase. The congruence between the learning theories and pedagogical strategies adopted was clearly supported by different authors of the content I engaged with giving me the confidence that this is the best part of my efforts.

**__References __** Dabbagh, N., Bannan-Ritland (2005) Online Learning Concepts, Strategies and Application. New Jersey: Pearson Education: ‍Mayes, T. de Freitas, S. (2007) Learning and e-learning: The role of theory in Beetham H., Sharpe R. (eds) Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age: Designing and Delivering E-learning. New York: Routledge.‍‍‍‍