Page 45 - Reimagining Higher Education : Case Studies On Designing For Inclusion, Equity, And Access In The Buka Project
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J. Brunton & C. Beatty · Supporting Digital Learning Design at an Institutional Level
had an impact on educators as most moved their practices online despite having
little to no experience with online teaching pedagogy (Farrell et al., 2021). As
e ective online teaching pedagogically di ers from traditional teaching, it is
necessary to provide professional development and learning design support to
online educators (Ní Shé et al., 2019). This, in turn, can support online student
engagement and success (Coker, 2018), and highlights the necessity of a
university-level support unit to aid educators with digital learning design
approaches.
This resulted in the creation of the Digital Learning Design Unit (DLDU) in
DCU, which was particularly necessary as learning designers became the ‘first
responders’ to ‘emergency remote teaching’ resulting from the rapid move to
online teaching during the pandemic (Farrell, 2022).
Supporting Sta through the Pandemic: The Benefits of a Digital Learning
Design Unit
The role of the DLDU was to provide this digital learning design support to DCU
academics by providing technical skills and knowledge through consultations and
workshop sessions. These supports aimed to improve the design, development,
and delivery of online or blended modules. By focusing on learning design rather
than instructional design, a student-first approach is taken where focus is placed
on a positive learning experience rather than being curriculum-focused. The
methodology of these supports is informed by:
● The DCU Hybrid Learning Policy, which focuses on ensuring that some core
principles across modules and programmes, for example: having the VLE as
a one-stop-shop for assessments, learning content, and learning activity;
clear and consistent design of VLE courses; self-directed engagement; clear
communication; accessibility; collaboration and community;
● The ABC LD approach, which has been described in a subsection above. This
approach was taken to help sta identify opportunities for online/blended
learning, and to reflect on their module/programme design and delivery
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