Educator Instruction

  Self-determination theory (SDT) is a theory of motivation (and personal development) proposed by - Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, initially in their 1985 book (Intrinsic motivation and self-determination). It is applicable to a range of contexts within an individual's professional and personal life, and is extremely useful when applied to education and the process of teaching and learning. A foundational premise of this theory is that humans have an inherent desire to be curious, active and social, therefore the extent to which humans can, and are motivated to, pursue these inherent desires and goals is predicated on the environment they frequent and the extent to which three basic psychological needs are facilitated or thwarted, the needs being: Competence Relatedness Autonomy In teaching we should therefore create an environment where: Competence which involves feelings of mastery and a sense that we can succeed and grow, is provided through a structured environment, wit...

  Depending upon your past experiences the words continuing professional development (CPD) may conjure up a variety of thoughts and emotions, from memories of breakthroughs and intense learning experiences to severe boredom, frustration and feelings of time wasted. Having participated in and delivered many CPD sessions I have experienced all of these emotions and many more and so wanted to share 5 lessons I have learnt that could enhance any sessions you might be delivering. 1.        Understand the audience. Regardless of the session being to a large cohort or a small group, understanding who the audience are, why they are there, what experiences they are bringing to the session, what they want to take away, and any other needs they have is extremely useful. While this may be a challenge with a larger cohort, considering ways that a pre session ‘needs analysis' can be conducted is useful. This might be through a brief pre session questionnaire...

  Can I please get your attention…I want to talk about attention! I am currently working on some projects that involve reviewing and building online programmes that use video recordings as significant parts of the teaching. A key discussion point we have had is the question - what duration should the recordings be? The perceive wisdom is that attention spans are shrinking, and as such a 10-15 minute norm has developed as the ideal duration of a recording. Influenced by the TED talk approach (max 18 minutes for a talk) and the average YouTube video duration of 11.7 minutes, this perceived wisdom has taken hold. Personally I rarely if ever watch a YouTube recording at normal pace, I listen to audio books at 2x speed, and recently find myself wanting to speed up live TV programmes! However, I frequently watch video podcasts that are 2-3hrs in duration – I just don’t watch them in one go. So what does this mean for the duration of educational recordings? ·   ...

  Delivering sessions on HE Assessment and Feedback recently the hot topic of discussion - Generative AI. 18 months since ChatGPT hit the mainstream and the talk is still of how we can possibly detect when students have used generative AI to create an assessment submission. I don’t have the answer to that – does anyone? However some take away points: ·        Assessment needs to continue to evolve – with a continued emphasis on authentic assessment that requires higher level thinking ·        Increased utilisation of in person assessments/assessment components can mitigate the essay production capability of generative AI (but open up other resource challenges) ·        It is important to decide WHAT part generative AI CAN play in assessment. ·        Perhaps we need to reframe Generative AI and consider the possibilities not simply the challenges ...

In a recent CPD session I was articulating my view that an aspect of effective teaching is to be or aspire to be as close as you can to your 'authentic self' in the classroom. I have no empirical evidence to support this claim, in part because how do we measure authenticity of behaviour? However, I do have a deep belief that we have all at some point experienced the impact of an encounter, whether in a formal learning environment or in everyday life, with someone who is at ease with themselves and has a deep knowledge of their discipline - they are authentic.   A colleague politely challenged my claim, highlighting that we cannot ever be our real authentic self when teaching, as the professional standards and expectations as well as the performance aspect (whether the sage on the stage or guide on the side) requires us to act accordingly. While I agree that there is always an element of performance or putting on our game face , hence my caveat 'as close to..' I st...

At the time of writing we are just over 4 years from the initial lockdown (in the UK) of the covid-19 pandemic, a significant period in world history, that will have ramifications for decades to come. For anyone that was a teacher or learner during this period, they will no doubt reflect upon this experience as one that required a rapid adoption of new technology and approaches, and that involved challenges, confusion, frustration, breakthroughs and new learning about what is achievable through Digital Education. However, taking stock of where we are now requires a recognition that much of the optimism of a sunny upland where we might ‘embrace the opportunities for change and innovation that this dramatic event has afforded us.’ (Wieland & Kollias, 2020), has not necessarily been fulfilled. During some recent teaching workshops with HE lecturers, an informal poll identified that approximately 90% of those in attendance were teaching ‘mainly face to face’, having returned to the in ...

  Effective learning design is the goal of teachers and trainers, to optimise the learning experience, creating an engaging and rich learning environment. There are many components that contribute to effective learning design and therefore, following a systematic process can ensure a coherent learning plan and outcome. The following recommendations are my 8 top tips for effective learning design. 1. Purpose In order to plan effective learning, it is important to have a clear understanding of the Purpose of the learning experience, programme or intervention being delivered. Clarity of this purpose is an often overlooked aspect. For instance, it may seem obvious that you have some knowledge that you need your learners to obtain, and so construct a plan of how to transmit the knowledge from your head to theirs. However, having a clear understanding of how the learner will use and apply the knowledge, what its’ utility is and in what context it will be used, in addition to knowled...