I am constantly looking for ways to improve the training we provide within my organization. I have worked with my small section to look at instructor and student feedback to generate quite a lot of ideas for change. However, I have limited resources and my time is constrained by other duties as well, so sometimes determining what to focus on is difficult.
When we talk about change in distance education, I think of essentially every conversation that I have had with someone who has taken a distance education course in the early 2000s and because of their poor experience is convinced that distance learning can not be as good as face-to-face learning. Dron (2014) highlights how pedagogy and instructional media have evolved together, detailing reasons why some evolutions are successful and others are not.
Most of our learning takes place face-to-face, so in that way, our instructional system appears relatively soft as modifying a face-to-face lesson plan is far less time consuming than redesigning online learning (Chapman, 2010). However, the lack of instructor training, their reliance on PowerPoint and lack of subject matter expert time makes even modifications to our face-to-face learning challenging. Dron’s (2014) article is encouraging as it advocates breaking learning into small isolated chunks which we already do as modules. Focusing on changing one module is more manageable than making changes to an entire course. Some of the changes we are currently trialling within my directorate are new to the whole organization. “Allowing flowers to bloom requires new varieties to be at least partially sheltered from each other at first” (Dron, 2014, p. 247). We have implemented the changes in only a few courses, collecting student feedback and modifying the initiatives accordingly. For further changes, Dron (2014) advocates Bate’s ACTIONS model to help select technology. I will incorporate this into future options analysis to help determine what changes to tackle next!
What parts of Dron’s (2014) article did you feel are applicable to your work?
References:
Chapman, B. (2010). How long does it take to create learning? [Research Study]. Published by Chapman Alliance LLC. Retrieved from http://www.chapmanalliance.com/howlong/
Dron, J. (2014). Innovation and Change: Changing how we Change. In Zawacki-Richter, O. & T. Anderson (Eds.), Online distance education: Towards a research agenda. Athabasca (pp. 237-265). AB: AU Press.
Hi Lori, I also really appreciated the emphasis on parcellation in Dron’s article on innovation and change (2014). In addition to the practical advantage of easier implementation and adoption you outlined, I was especially drawn to the analogy to nature and evolution that allows “innovation [to] emerge and seep through the organization, without the bottlenecks and filtering of artificially imposed hierarchical layers (Seely Brown & Duguid, 2000 as cited by Dron, 2014). I advocate wherever I can for structures in institutions that allow both a bottom-up and top-down approach. While the top may systematize problem-solving based on research and follow iterative design approaches, the latter is costly from the top down. Allowing flexibility to experiment (mutate) and combine (breed) can lead to new design solutions that sink or swim.
Dron (2014) also mentions McLuhan’s suggestion (1964, p. 56) that humans are the “sex organs” of the machine world. Of course, humans, hopefully, have more volition and complex motivations than sex organs, so the analogy is not a perfect fit. Institutions can influence the thinking and motivations of their employees. You mentioned modules being a solution to the problems arising from lack of training. I believe parcellation of technologies and learning, permeable institutional structures, and investing in education for faculty will lead to a healthy population of ideas.
References
Dron, J. (2014). Innovation and Change: Changing how we Change. In Zawacki-Richter, O. & T. Anderson (Eds.), Online distance education: Towards a research agenda. Athabasca (pp. 237-265). AB: AU Press.
McLuhan, M. (1994). Understanding media: The extensions of man. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press
Hi Mary,
Thank you for sharing your perspective on the article! With respect to parcellation of learning, right now I am trying to use small parcels of learning from different sources to create short courses to assist instructors in achieving professional development related goals. Hopefully the approach will work!
Thank you again for taking the time to comment,
Lorri
Hi Lorri,
Dron (2014) spoke of his approach to learning, change, and innovation as a “continuous evolution towards a peak of fitness that forever moves as we approach it” (p. 261). That part of the article is what feels most applicable to my work! It’s a never-ending exercise in improvement, where you never quite arrive at the finish line because new challenges emerge as others are addressed. I try and embrace the journey.
I appreciate how you posed the question at the end of your blog. It enticed me as a reader to respond. I think I may try that for my blog!
Dron, J. (2014). Innovation and Change: Changing how we Change. In Zawacki-Richter, O. & T. Anderson (Eds.), Online distance education: Towards a research agenda.Athabasca, AB: AU Press.