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DEALERDistance Education And
Learning Repository
The First Draft Idea
Zlatan SabicSarajevo, July 1998
Soros Foundations Open Society Fund Bosnia and Herzegovina
MIT Center Sarajevo
Basic presumptionTo support educators by
interactive distance learning technologies
WE should NOT think of ways how educators SHOULD work,
but think instead how educators REALLY work
What are their PROBLEMS?
How can we help solve them?
Modern Educator’s Problems Need for rapid updates in curricula Curricula more complex Audiences more complex High preparation costs Multiple learning sites (class, home..) Technology innovations continuous Teaching cooperation needed to manage complexity
Need for rapid updates in curricula Knowledge and technology continuously
changing Innovative education demands continuous
change in course curricula Rapid updates critical PROBLEMS
– high costs for high quality updates – need high quality content– need rapid and timely access– need ‘digestible’ formats
Curricula more complex
Some critical technical content may be needed across several courses
PROBLEMS– core content may be difficult to parse
across multiple contexts – organization of core content within
different contexts
Audiences more complex Even if the content is located only in one
course, different audiences require different approaches
PROBLEMS– small changes in lessons produce
"versions" confusion– lessons need to be well-organized to
recognize small differences
High preparation costs
"Construction" of new courses based on existing and new material needs to be fast
PROBLEMS– too much time ‘removing’ the updatable
core lessons from needed context – problems with course scope and sequence
can become critical
Multiple learning sites
Teachers and students work on computers in classrooms and at home
Distance learning creates multiple course sites
PROBLEMS– Different learning environments may need
different approaches and materials
Technology innovations continuous It is hard to survive as modern and
successful educators without continuous adopting of new technologies
PROBLEMS– technology dependant teaching materials
are too time-expensive (need for structure and technology conversions)
– educator has to spend some time to learn the use of technology
Teaching cooperation
The most of the topics are too complex for only one educator
Cooperation synergy can be very "profitable" PROBLEMS
– cooperation coordination– again context dependance of lessons– incompatibility of formats (technology
dependance)
What to do?
Develop smaller units with more complex organization
Downsize lessons– make content loosely coupled with context– make content easy to access and update
More complex organization– use multiple criteria to classify modules– faster searches for appropriate lesson– design more rapid ways to update curriculum
Downsizing lessons
Small Can Be Beautiful !Small Can Be Beautiful !
A lesson can be constructed using
a Learning Module formata Learning Module format(comparable to 15 min.- 1 hour of instruction)
Each lesson can contain
commercial and/or professionally-created materials and/or commercial and/or professionally-created materials and/or digitized objectsdigitized objects
in hardcopy, on the Internet or on CD ROMin hardcopy, on the Internet or on CD ROM
Continuous innovation creates an instructional dilemma
Classification by topics (Project Scheduling Software)
– more appropriate in dynamic environment and for smaller lessons
– Topics updated often
Classification by courses (Project Mgt)– more appropriate in static environment and for
larger lessons
Example - Classic Hierarchy Classification by Courses Course: System Analysis and Design
– System Analysis Methodology Preliminary AnalysisProblem Detection
...– System Analysis Techniques Interview
...– System Design– Project Management– ...
Course: Strategic Use of Information Technologies– TPS, MIS, DSS Basic Concepts– System Analysis (partly)– Interview (in different context)– Group Technologies (partly Groupware lesson)– ...
Course: Short Seminar on MIS and Groupware– MIS Basic Concepts (partly TPS, MIS, DSS lesson)– Groupware (partly Group Technologies lesson)
too big
too big
too context sensitive
Example - Classic Hierarchy Classification by Topics Topic: System Analysis
– System Analysis Methodology ...– System Analysis Techniques ...– ...
Topic: System Design– Coding System– Database Normalization– ...
Topic: Project Management– Project Definition and Planning– Leading the Project– ...
Topic: Group Technologies– Group Work and Behaviour– Groupware– ...
•Instructional dilemma•too big and context
sensitive to be easily updated
•but if context is removed, instruction less useful
•in a dynamic environment hierarchical organization can become quite complicated (Gopher v. WWW)
Problems with classic hierarchy classification They have rigid classification relationships Unique not multiple search criteria Need for multiple connections creates
redundancy Unstable in dynamic environments such as
teaching team curricula design Continuous adjustment is expensive Matrix or Hypertext concept more flexible
Organizing Lessons
Learning Modules can be classified: Statically
– always on topic criteria– time independent
Dynamically– on course criteria– time dependant
1. Define topic(s)Generic topics
...Topic 2Topic 1 Topic 3
2. Learning modulessmall and somewhat context insensitive
...Topic 2Topic 1 Topic 3
...LeM 11
LeM 12
LeM 13
LeM 14
LeM 21
LeM 22
LeM 23
LeM 24
LeM 31
LeM 32
LeM 33
LeM 34
... ... ... Cla
ssif
icat
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by
Top
ics
Cla
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by
Top
ics
LIN
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3. Enhance context through choice and sequence
...Topic 2Topic 1 Topic 3
...LeM 11
LeM 12
LeM 13
LeM 14
LeM 21
LeM 22
LeM 23
LeM 24
LeM 31
LeM 32
LeM 33
LeM 34
... ... ... Cla
ssif
icat
ion
by
Top
ics
Cla
ssif
icat
ion
by
Top
ics
LIN
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R-N
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YL
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Course 1
Course 2
Course 3
...
Classification by CoursesClassification by CoursesLINEAR-NO HIERARCHYLINEAR-NO HIERARCHY
StaticDynamic
Small Modules + Matrix Structure Simple Flexible Low maintenance Technology independent Can be created dynamically,
step-by-step Can be created and used by more
than one educator
Creating Courses
Can be designed and updated quickly
Complex but not too complicated for users
Could be highly automated Easy to test
Learning Modulescould have two possible structures: Small context free module Another independent matrix structure:
Marketing Managemen
t
Practical Use of PC
Financial Managemen
tMarket
Marketing Communic.
MS Word
Basic Terms
...
...
Build Modules Using Digitized Objects Learning Module can be
– text on paper– HTML text– MS Word document– PowerPoint presentation
Can contain digitized multi-media objects
– Picture .GIF, .JPG, .TIF...– Excel graphs– Audio Clip .WAV, Video Clip .RM, ...
•Courses contain LM with instruction
•LM contain digitized objects
•for use the number of adopted standards must be small
System management
Need to organize teaching groups Small set of materials, use "paper" database
– very simple and effective
By computer database – simple to construct
– large scale of possible technologies (RDBMSs, ODBMSs, HTML+Java+CGI, macro languages, …)
In context of Soros DL Project Tri-level structures create the possibility for
immediate work on materials restructuring Structures are simple to communicate 1st level - unique materials and/or digitized
objects and limited context 2nd level- lessons with instruction and some
context 3rd level courses with rich context
Matrix structure for DEALER should be
the main principle in every segment of the
project:standards development, database development, materials restructuring,
communication, cooperation with other institutions (GLEN), ...
LEMON RepositoryLearning Modules
Network Repository
END
Zlatan SabicSarajevo, July 1998
Soros Foundations Open Society Fund Bosnia and Herzegovina
MIT Center Sarajevo