Aha Design

Yes I am well into design now.
I have just submitted (2 days ago) my analysis discussion for 5601 and started doing the readings on Design.
I have also just about finished my Web site Design Critique for 5621.
It was a long hard weekend. I wish I could say that all of this has its own reward and it is totally compensates for the fact that I haven't even sat on a motorcycle all weekend but the truth is I feel kind of deprived at the moment.

However I have had some learning.

5601..
I have just finished reading a long article by Seimens (2005) Learning development cycle: Bridging learning design and modern knowledge needs. The learning module notes promised that the design phase is where the real fun would start in the course. I guess I could say that I agree. Reading this article I had numerous aha moments as I was able to connect with the theory in terms of my own teaching and learning experiences.

The Learning Development Cycles and its 4 domains; Transmission, Accretion, Aquisition, and Emergence all rang so true to me in considering my own experiences. Funnily enough a lot of the theory was directly related to web communities like Dubai4x4, thumpertalk etc. These sites provide informal models for Aquisition and to a lesser extems Emergency, Accretion and even Transmission. I can see that revisiting this material will be very helpful for me when I go to design tools to aid in blended learning modules such as the project I have planned for FET5601.

5621
The Web Design assignment that I just finished was a lot of work. One of the main learning points for me actually relates back to the other course. That is, the importance of networks and ecology in some learning. A large part of that assignment was to post to the web thoughts on the design of a group of 3 web sites according to (in my case, web standards). Posting publically does put some pressure on one to prepare properly, it also provides opportunities to learn unexpectedly and to develop social skills. The need to rely on others for part of the learning was underlined here.. In LDC theory I guess that would be seen as nodes in a network and ecology.