CLOUDFIRST

Learning Design

Applying the Deakin Principles for
Premium Learning and Teaching

CloudFirst Learning Design aids teaching teams to design and develop online learning experiences and materials. CloudFirst templates, guidelines and self-paced resources are available to assist Deakin teaching teams to undertake the design process to provide students with learning experiences that will enable success.

The following learning design principles guide the development of all CloudFirst units:

Learning is scaffolded – at every level of design with a clear narrative sequence that communicates the relationship between activities, tasks and learning outcomes. This alignment creates a consistent and integrated learning pathway that fosters deep learner engagement.

Learning is activity focused – with clear calls to action and a mix of learning activities that lead to defined summative assessment tasks. Learners use active investigation to develop skills and knowledge and explore key concepts in authentic professional contexts.

Learning is feedback focused – with activities and assessments providing multiple opportunities for formative feedback from staff and peers so students can improve as required. Students have opportunities to evaluate their own and others’ work in order to develop evaluative judgement. Student learning progress and achievement is monitored and acted upon to maximise success and improve curriculum design.

Learning is social – with students welcomed into a respectful, vibrant learning community with multiple opportunities for dialogue and interaction with teaching staff and fellow learners. Learning resources and activity sequences are designed to highlight that the teacher guides and facilitates students learning that is both self-directed and collaborative with peers.

Learning is supported – by student services which enables participation and success, academic support services to develop underpinning knowledge and skills, and high-quality learning resources. Support includes creating inclusive experiences and environments that are designed to accommodate student diversity and create equivalent opportunities for academic success for all learners in rich online and onsite learning activities and spaces.

Frequently Asked Questions

CloudFirst Learning Design does not take a one size fits all approach, instead CloudFirst needs to be contextualised the to discipline and educational context. To guide teaching teams to contextualise CloudFirst, we have compiled a set of frequently asked questions.

What is CloudFirst?

At Deakin, all students’ learning experiences begin online. In CloudFirst, learning is reimagined and designed for the 21st century. The CloudFirst CoDesign Project upholds our promise to provide students with a brilliant education by purposefully designing online learning materials, and enhancing student interactions with peers and teachers to improve learning. Educational designers and digital resource developers from Deakin Learning Futures collaborate with faculty teaching and support staff to redesign, refresh and align existing unit content, considering disciplinary and educational contexts. Online learning experiences enable students to acquire knowledge and interact with peers; these are complemented by active and collaborative seminars, either online or onsite, in which teachers guide students to apply their knowledge and skills.

What evidence informs the CloudFirst CoDesign Project?

The CloudFirst Learning Design utilised in the CoDesign Project applies the Deakin Principles for Premium Learning and Teaching using a CloudFirst lens. The CoDesign Project draws on Diana Laurillard’s model of ‘conversational learning’ which privileges online learning relationships between students and their teachers, students and their learning resources, and students and their peers. It also synthesises current thinking and research in online, and active and collaborative learning. The CoDesign Project applies this evidence base to the Deakin context to ensure we deliver premium online and onsite learning experiences.

Why focus on the online experience even for located students?

At Deakin, all students’ learning experiences begin online, so by improving the online learning resources and experiences, we add significant value for all our students, thereby increasing student satisfaction and decreasing attrition.

How will a CloudFirst unit site be different?

CloudFirst unit sites are specifically designed for interaction between students and content, students and teachers, and students and their peers in the form of a sequenced online package. A CloudFirst unit site is also designed to provide a fully guided set of media-rich resources that students work through in preparation for active and collaborative face-to-face learning activities (either online or onsite).

What is a sequenced online package?

Online learning needs to be carefully designed in advance. Each step needs to feature explicit guidance by the teacher because the online learner doesn’t have the subtle informal cues (verbal and non-verbal) that are often exchanged between teacher and student spontaneously in an onsite classroom. An effective online learning package will incorporate multiple elements that work seamlessly to provide the student with a learning experience that they can navigate anytime without further direction or assistance from the teacher.

For example, instead of providing a decontextualised academic reading or the teacher launching straight into explaining a key topic, a sequenced online package may include:

    <liA short introductory video from the unit chair introducing the key ideas, principles or concepts. This will usually focus on why the idea is important in the disciplinary and/or professional context.
  • Introductory text that points to key elements of the reading or perhaps links two key readings. This might also include suggestions on reading strategies or particular areas to concentrate on. The topic might then be explored in more detail through a series of curated learning resources.
  • A ‘call to action’ that gives students the opportunity to apply their knowledge. Students may be asked to analyse and integrate what they have just learned through applying it to a scenario, or to find and comment on applicable case studies.
  • An opportunity to share ideas and perspectives on a discussion forum.
How do the elements of the sequenced online package support learning?

Online learning is a complex cognitive process and each of these elements address a different part of that learning process. Packaging these elements together in a similar way in repeated modules provides a familiar rhythm with a supportive structure that motivates and engages students in learning.

The following table unpacks these elements further:

PACKAGED ELEMENT CONTRIBUTION TO LEARNING PURPOSE
Short Video
  • sets the tone by providing students with a sense that the teacher is personable and guides their learning through to the completion of the unit
  • offers an alternative to text-based delivery that promotes student engagement, as online learners don’t tend to watch long videos through to completion
  • focuses on the relevance and purpose of the learning rather than the concept itself because students will be more motivated to learn if they have a disciplinary or professional context for the topic
  • introduces ‘Big Questions’ that pique interest and highlight content relevance, and provides a lens through which students engage with readings and resources in a purposeful way
 Builds educator presence; sets student expectations; engages and motivates students to acquire knowledge
Introductory text
  • introduces the student to a key topic
  • complements the video without repeating the same information but refers to key points made in the video
  • provides a brief introduction to the topic or focuses on a key aspect of the topic
  • draws links between this topic and previous or upcoming topics and assessment tasks
 Guides exploration and focuses learning for acquisition of knowledge
Call to action
  • prompts students to engage in active and collaborative learning for deeper understanding
  • enables students to extend and consolidate what they have learned and apply it to an authentic learning task
  • anticipates student diversity by allowing students to participate in a variety of ways (eg. investigation, collaboration, discussion, application, production, reflection)
  • enables students to practice disciplinary ways of thinking (eg. decision making, discussing, reflecting) through application of knowledge to case studies and scenarios of real world professional settings and contexts
  • consists of micro-activities that model and build towards major assessment tasks where students would complete similar applied tasks
 Application of knowledge
Discussion forum
  • gives the opportunity to build the learning community, socialise and discuss what learnings through collaboration with peers
  • allows students articulate their emerging understandings and try-out new ways of thinking
  • develop relationships with other learners and overcome the sense of isolation which some online learners feel
  • discuss their learnings as part of a ‘call to action’ and work towards an assessment piece
 Social exchange and builds learning community; receive feedback on learning and makes learning visible to teachers and themselves
How does CloudFirst Learning Design motivate students to learn?

Research shows that motivation is a key part of the learning process, not just a precursor. The structure of the learning experience plays a key role in helping students to develop this motivation. While self-motivation is key to student success, the spark for lighting this passion is often provided by educators who draw on their expertise and experience to tell the story of the content, to set tasks and explain the ’why’ behind them. The emphasis on narrative in CloudFirst Learning Design provides the avenue for educators to do this.

What is the benefit of guiding students to read and research?

There is value to learning independent research skills, but these need to be introduced in a guided manner, along with incremental development of digital literacies critical to succeeding in online learning. Often students will engage with a reading or a task more effectively if they have context, which is gained by being primed with a sense of what it is they are looking for and how it fits with the overall goals of the unit and/or their whole course.

Why is 'call to action' important?

Adding a ‘call to action’ enables students to participate actively in their learning. By using a variety of activity types, students can apply their learning in a range of different ways. These activities help students consolidate and integrate new ideas, concepts and skills. There is also significant evidence pointing to the importance of learning in ‘bite-sized chunks’ to reduce cognitive overload and applying what is being learned incrementally as the student progresses through their course. A ‘call to action’ invites students to produce and share their work as an ongoing dialogue, allowing visibility of learning to students and teachers, and formative feedback opportunities that can be used to develop skills in evaluative judgement and improve their own learning.

How can discussions be a valuable learning experience?

Discussions allow students to express their point of views and critically engage with the views of others. These discussions make learning visible and challenge and extend student thinking. For discussions to be a valuable learning experience, scaffolding is required. This can be done by helping students to understand:

  • The value of forming a learning community – provide a space for learners to introduce themselves and highlight how peer-learning can occur in a supportive and inclusive learning community
  • Why they are discussing a particular topic – be explicit in terms of what learning outcome/s or assessment/s the discussion could focus on
  • What they are being asked to do – provide an example of the type of contribution you are after, you may need to assign roles or prompts to commence the discussion
  • How long they should spend on the discussion – be clear about what your expectations are. Students are more likely to undertake a task if they know how much time they are expected to commit.