(E) Learning: people and content
A University teacher called Cath Ellis posted her 10 Commandments of e-learning on a blog. Clive Shepherd (a free lance e-learning specialist working for companies) picked up on that post and put forward his 10 principles. Cath is working from a model of e-learning that is discussion based, Clive (deliberately) took a contrasting view based on presenting content.
The table below compares the two lists (my headings). Please read the originals, each commandment has a paragraph of context. Each post distils a lot of experience.
| People | Content |
| Cath Ellis | Clive Shepherd |
| Put the pedagogy (not the technology) first | Structure into modules. |
| Be aware of workloads and work patterns (yours and theirs) | Keep each module to one main idea |
| Balance risks with safety | Hook the learner in |
| Balance obligations with rewards | Build on the learner’s prior knowledge |
| Make ethics a priority | Present your idea clearly and simply |
| Model good practice | Eliminate all unnecessary detail |
| Make expectations clear | Put the idea into context using demonstrations, examples, cases and stories |
| Establish patterns and stick to them | Encourage the learner to work with the idea |
| Keep spaces available for students to use and shape to their own needs | Assess knowledge if you must |
| Use/develop protocols | Bridge to the next step |
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I think I’ll be using a table like this (but with more of the context in each of the commandments) to explore models of e-learning in the Technology Supported Learning module next year. The two contrasting views make multiple connections with educational ‘theory’ but start from the role of the facilitator | author and the learners | participants.
Nice, thanks. I picked up on this when scanning Clive Shepherd’s ‘twits’. I’m assuming permission to reuse (in full, with attribution) because these are public blogs.