G’day
Well , here we are again, locked in lockdown. Not too bad where I am as we can take the dog around the Estuary and for a run on the beach. Sadly no cream doughnut (half each of course 
and hot chocolate after the walk. Never mind, there are so many epidemiologists appearing from the woodwork, that one of them is bound to be right about what happens next! It’s all a bit like solutions to climate change being driven by an
atmosfear of consequences if you don’t do as you are told
The daily Covid Political Podium Pantomime churns out the same stuff everyday. Updates should be 5 minutes long, not turn into a prolonged party political broadcast! Would be useful if the government had an actual PLAN in place for the future🤔 I won’t get started on the ridiculous lottery for MIQ spots.
Rant over
This pandemic is creating some interesting challenges for educators and students alike at all levels of the education system. I have been looking at a few approaches to ensuring that students get a reasonable learning experience during the restrictive periods.
Plans and a clear structure are what it’s all about, more specifically, Action plans rather than Strategic plans. Students and educators need to know: where to now, how , with whom , when, for how long and what are the expected outcomes and who is going to coordinate and be responsible for ensuring the whole process works effectively and efficiently.
Some years ago I developed my own approach to developing action plans (nothing revolutionary) and called it my ATOMS project: Action:Timeframe:Outcomes: Measurement: Supervision.
Almost akin to constructive alignment, except this is a learning experience alignment, something to hang your hat on:-)
A simple tabular form used to identify all the critical aspects of any particular learning experience; worked for me.
I always ensured there was time for learners to develop some skills and competence with the technology they were using or about to use; time well spent. Also ensured they learnt how to balance and manage their time (not enough of this is done in my experience) and encouraging feedback as a learning experience.
The garden? A forest of spring onions, potatoes getting more appealing everyday, beans up the pole and blueberries birdwatching. More to plant in the coming weeks as Spring takes hold. Hi Ho!
In this posting there are links to: Designing online courses, E-learning action plans, RNA videos, the 5E approach to learning, Online assessment, Open source taxonomy,Technology Enhanced Learning Publications, Conferences and the Odd one out.
Learn lots 
1.TEQSA advice; online assessment, open book exams, rubrics and more. Lots of useful resources here to explore and maybe apply to your own approach to managing online learning.
2. Designing Online Courses: A Primer. Always useful to get the insights of others and how they approach the design of online courses. Might provide you with some useful ideas
3. Enabling the 21st century learner – An e-learning action plan … Produced a long time ago. How does it fit with the changes in technology and environment we are now experiencing? Is the process still robust and usable? Have a read. It’s aimed at schools rather than Higher Education. However most of the approaches and principles apply at any level.
4.2021 Global Learning Landscape: Open source taxonomy for the future of education. Mapping the learning and talent innovation landscape.
Novel way of presenting a wide range of resources at different levels. Worth exploring
https://www.
5. RNA Videos. Just an aside but also a very useful resources, especially if you are interested in body structure and function and in the light of some Covid vaccines being crafted through mRNA use.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/
6. Tips for Designing an Online Learning Experience Using the 5Es Instructional Model. Sometimes it’s well worth standing back and evaluating alternative ways of creating and presenting resources and materials to your students. This is one way:
https://catlintucker.com/2020/
7. Learner Assessment in Online Courses: Best Practices & More: Some useful ideas and insights to complement what you do already.
https://www.learnworlds.com/
7. SCHOLARSHIP OF TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING (SOTEL) BOOT CAMP: For anyone interested in exploring reflective TEL practice research.
Interesting and useful presentations and resources about Technology Enhanced Learning; references are also worth exploring
SCHOLARSHIP OF TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING (SOTEL) BOOT CAMP
Publications
Pacific Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning:
An issue has been published.
https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pjtel/
Conferences
9th International Conference on Sustainability, Technology and Education 2021
15 – 17 December 2021, Virtual
http://www.sustainability-
* Important: Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this conference will be held online via Zoom.
Odd one out: Coronavirus is killing the couple: how to be immune. Excellent cartoons . Enjoy, ruminate and contemplate
https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/
Have a look at all the rest if you have plenty of time in lockdown or lockout
https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/
That’s it for this year, unless anything really exciting happens 🙂
Take care , stay safe, stay level
Richard
Richard Elliott
The Eternal Macademic
Auckland, New Zealand