Prior to this program, my professional development focus has been on the delivery of course material – i.e., developing the skills required to use the Moodle LMS (and other technologies) as a means of instruction. My DL school is currently using Moodle version 2.7.2, which is far superior to the very clunky Moodle version 1.9, which we used in the beginning. However, now I realize that the technology we use isn't as important as how we use it for meaningful interaction with the course content, or for student to student and student to teacher interaction.
My learning goals for the OLTD program revolve around the question: What can I do to improve engagement and success for students in my online courses. In particular, how can I improve the interactions, content and course design to better meet the needs and learning styles of specific groups of learners? For example, at the DL school where I teach, many of my students are from First Nations communities around Northern British Columbia. Much of the traditional correspondence course material was heavily text-based. But now, visual and auditory lessons and interactive learning opportunities are widely used in online courses. Consequently, as a practitioner, I need to examine how I can best meet the varied needs of my students, considering the various learning styles and multiple intelligences. These needs should be reflected in the tools and technologies I choose to use for course development, with special consideration paid to the interactions that are developed around these tools. Moreover, I need to determine whether the learner perceives the images, icons, and media used in my courses with neutrality or bias (with respect to culture, gender, etc.).
It is my hope that OLTD will help me to become more deliberate and skillful at designing courses and learning activities that engage students and contribute towards their educational success. What this learning design model will evolve to be, and whether it will morph into a form of 'blended learning' (blended learning is already occurring to a limited extent), is yet to be seen. Often the view changes along the way...