seminar
Designing Customisable Reusable Learning Objects: The Interactive Graphing Object
Considerable research has indicated the importance of having a sound pedagogical framework in place for the creation of reusable learning objects (RLOs) which can support student learning, particularly higher order thinking skills. This seminar will describe the evolution of a RLO that has been in use for eight years - the Interactive Graphing Object (IGO). Previous research indicated that careful design facilitated higher levels of student engagement and deeper approaches to learning than more conventional static displays or animations of graphs.
The IGO is a customisable reusable learning object (RLO) that supports active approaches to learning by students as they attempt to develop a deeper understanding of concepts that can be expressed graphically. The IGO facilitates authoring, feedback and publishing of questions about concepts that are best expressed graphically to the web by academics with limited or no html knowledge or experience. The IGO is a learning object that can be used in two ways. These are as:
* a question template for the development of interactive questions involving graphical forms of knowledge; and
* a learning object for use in specific subjects to either test student understanding of graphical representations or as a concept development tool to provide an iterative approach to the development of individual understanding.
While the IGO can be customized by the individual academic to develop more interactive questions and tasks, a second potential use involves the sharing of individual questions with the wider academic community in a variety of content domains and academic levels.
The seminar will discuss the pedagogical design and development of the IGO, and provide examples of how it might be used in a number of academic domains.
The IGO has been developed with funding from the LEARNet production fund (http://learnet.hku.hk/about.htm) and will be available free for use in Hong Kong educational institutions later this year.
Dr David M. Kennedy works in the Department of Information and Applied Technology at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Prior to moving to Hong Kong he was an Educational Designer at Monash University in Australia in the Centre for Learning and Teaching Support (CeLTS). His primary task at Monash was working with individual and groups of academics, and software development teams to develop more flexible learning environments that incorporate appropriate technology in pedagogically sound ways..
His doctoral studies (The University of Melbourne) explored the design, development and evaluation of computer-based learning tools. Since moving to Hong Kong his research efforts have been broadened to include the use of visual representations in teaching and learning, the implications for using more constructivist learning environments in pre-service teacher education and the design, development and evaluation of generic reusable learning objects (GRLOs). He has published in the areas of computer-based cognitive tools, reusable learning objects, pedagogical frameworks for the development of multimedia, issues of communication in software development teams, and evaluation of innovations involving technology.
Qualifications:
BSc., DipEd (UWA), MSc (Curtin), PhD (Melb)