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amidoinitrite, education, learning and teaching, learning design, masters, Vomit

I satisfied the criteria for the “Digital learning expert credential” – five down, none to go!

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I’m at the tail end of my Masters of Professional Practice (Digital Learning), whereby I now only have to successfully complete 10 credentials. I’ve submitted the first batch of five to be assessed and have recently been advised that “the credential assessors have determined that you have satisfied the criteria for your Digital learning expert credential”, which is awesome. Five credentials down, none to go (in this batch).

Feedback from the Assessors

Assessor 1 feedback

“Rowan, as explained in the digital testimony, you have an advanced knowledge of what constitutes good learning design solutions. In your senior L&T advisory role you focus on sound pedagogy over technology to create flexible, engaging digital content. In the written Example 1 you discussed the design of an innovative mandatory undergraduate online module containing video content; this received positive feedback from stakeholders and met strategic goals around cultural safety in the university. Example 2 showcased your ability not only to lead best practice educational design (a “social experiment” digital course for healthcare workers), but also your skill as a “critical friend” to a less experienced colleague. Example 3 detailed another case of your support, skill and advice. The impact of the strategic initiative around FutureLearn micro credentials confirmed your advanced standing in digital learning generally. Congratulations on an excellent submission. I enjoyed assessing it.”

Assessor 2 feedback

“Hi Rowan, Thanks for your submissions, video testimony and written examples and responses. The evidence you have provided satisfies the criteria of Digital Learning – Expert. You demonstrate a high level of understanding and competence in all aspects of digital learning design, production and delivery. Your example of working with the SME for the Health Care professional digital learning suite shows your maturity and depth of understanding and skills in the digital learning space. Always keeping the end user in mind and not getting distracted by digital learning practices that may look fantastic and offer great flexibility but do not add to the end user experience. Across your career you have a broad experience of liaising with and gaining a deep understanding of the wide approaches and industries which adds to your “toolkit” as a digital learning expert. You also demonstrate the importance in evaluating and reporting on the success of the learning programs and the importance or independent assessment of the course to provide an feedback loop that truly helps to improve the digital learning programs you have developed for the various client you work with. Congratulations and best wishes for the future.”

amidoinitrite, education, elearning, learning and teaching, learning design, masters, Vomit

I satisfied the criteria for the “Digital learning – discipline specialisation credential” – four down, one to go!

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I’m at the tail end of my Masters of Professional Practice (Digital Learning), whereby I now only have to successfully complete 10 credentials. I’ve submitted the first batch of five to be assessed and have recently been advised that “the credential assessors have determined that you have satisfied the criteria for your Digital learning – discipline specialisation credential”, which is awesome. Four credentials down, one to go (in this batch).

 

Feedback from the Assessors

Assessor 1 feedback

“Congratulations Rowan! Your submission meets the requirements for this credential for digital learning at a discipline specialisation expert level. Thank you for introducing yourself and providing a brief overview of your role as a learning designer and for curating an impressive range of written and uploaded evidence. You articulated clearly how people who work with you agree you hold a multifaceted and deep understanding of the platforms, technologies, how learning takes place, and how best to foster that as a change agent in terms of teaching and learning practice as an digital learning/educational designer. It is clear from your examples that colleagues such as Craig Hassed, Richard Chambers, Dr Debbie Ling value and trust your digital learning expertise, and the MOOC reviews are greatly encouraging. Monash Mindfulness MOOC evidenced the breadth of your digital learning professional expertise in identifying and applying appropriate global trends and developments in best practice in an area of digital learning practice. With so many forays into MOOCS being talking heads, you demonstrated solid learning design and robust educational pedagogy to the digital learning environments. Your core focus and a point of differentiation was to create personalised feedback at scale and to also create a sense of community – something that can be quite challenging to achieve in the MOOC environment. Compassion Training for Health Care Workers evidenced the breadth of your digital learning expertise in providing significant contribution to the substantial improvement in digital learning outcomes. I can tell you are particularly proud of your work on these MOOCS, and that these were significant projects for your organisation to initiate. I am glad to hear you are considering further study and that completing these Deakin PPCs has given you an opportunity to reflect on the great work you do but do not always get a chance to capture or celebrate. I think as an education designer/learning/digital designer, it is easy to be the ‘meat in the sandwich’ squished between the technology choices you’re not allowed to make or have significant input into and the organisations executive, strategies and pet-projects. I’ve seen this a lot as an LD myself. I heartily encourage you to continue to gather evidence, ask colleagues to write a letter detailing how you assisted them, and study. Most of all, know that your work counts. Well done, Rowan!”

Assessor 2 feedback

“Dear Rowan – You have submitted strong evidence to support your leadership with digital learning. As a Digital Advisor, Learning and Teaching, you apply digital learning skills and knowledge. Both examples provide evidence of your ability to partner with subject matter experts and you have structured your responses to the criteria very well. In your first example, you show how you used your skills to support a partnership with FutureLearn to boost your university’s digital education strategy. Your role as an educational designer had responsibility for the design, development and ongoing delivery of a series of MOOCs. Your work demonstrated the feasibility of creating an experiential and personal learning experience for everyone, everywhere, at scale. Both MOOC’s, MIND and MINDLIFE continue to run in the “always on” format. Your second example shows how you supported the scaling of a compassion training program into an online environment to meet increased demand. Your goal was to design a learning experience providing consumable tools and techniques to practice and apply. As an educational designer you were responsible for scoping and scheduling the design and development of a four-week course for healthcare workers. Your success is evidenced by the award of the 2022 MNHS Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Education. In both examples, you have shown your leadership and have used a range of digital learning technologies and techniques to develop engaging learning environments I like your reflections that further study would enhance your skills through the creation of space to allow you to take time to reflect on your experiences and provide great personal benefit.– Well done.”

amidoinitrite, education, elearning, learning and teaching, learning design, masters

I satisfied the criteria for the “Digital Literacy credential” – three down, two to go!

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I’m at the tail end of my Masters of Professional Practice (Digital Learning), whereby I now only have to successfully complete 10 credentials. I’ve submitted the first batch of five to be assessed and have recently been advised that “the credential assessors have determined that you have satisfied the criteria for your Digital Literacy credential”, which is awesome. Three credentials down, two to go (in this batch).

Feedback from the Assessors

Assessor 1 feedback

“Congratulations Rowan, your submission meets the requirements for this credential in Digital Learning. As you outline throughout your submission, your role means that you are working in a range of ways to use – and to enhance and promote the use – of digital technologies to optimise organisational and operational outcomes. You illustrate this work with reference to your work in increasing accessibility (example 3), in developing productivity tools (example 2), and in researching learner engagements with MOOCS – and in hence considering how these findings re learner engagement might further refine design practices in the future (examples 1 and 4). You further note that you were project lead for at least some of this work. This work, as well as your focus on ensuring design meets accessibility standards, thus illustrate how you strive to make sure appropriate policies and standards are being adhered to. Well done. Just note that for future credentials, it would be helpful if you wrote more consistently in the first person. This would make it easer to identify exactly where your contributions lie in projects, and to then map these contributions against the requirements of the credential.”

Assessor 2 feedback

“Congratulations Rowan, your submission meets the requirements for this credential for digital literacy – expert. Thank you for your package of evidence, written submissions and video testimony, and thank you for providing some contextual background regarding your role as Senior Advisor Digital Learning designing digital learning experiences. You work within the constraints of ITS-procured technologies for the organisation whilst working to supporting best practices digital learning and teaching practices. Your work on researching leaner motivations best confirmed your ability to analyse and evaluate benefits from the use of digital technologies. This related to the work you were doing in your professional practice – working with Monash’s external partner (FutureLearn). In addition to learner motivations and applying the learning from that to current business models, you were also looking for new opportunities to extend revenue streams such as micro-credentials. Your work initiating and contributing to improving accessibility in example #3 best confirms your ability to use appropriate practices, polices and standard in the use of digital information. Meaningful work in this area is not without its challenges but you are well placed as Digital Learning Advisor/Learning Designer to go beyond the alt-text push to incorporate Auslan, texts, interactive elements and other WACAG 2.1 AA standards into learning and teaching at Monash. Example #2 productivity tools – consisted of 10 double PNG screen-shots which were too small to read in their presentation and which pixelated when magnified. The inability to read the screen-shots rendered this evidence problematic. I’m relieved you got to speak to this evidence in the last video. Great work in a highly prescriptive work environment, Rowan. Well done!”

amidoinitrite, education, elearning, learning and teaching, learning design, masters, production

I satisfied the criteria for the “Critical Thinking Expert credential”- two down, three to go!

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I’m at the tail end of my Masters of Professional Practice (Digital Learning), whereby I now only have to successfully complete 10 credentials. I’ve submitted the first batch of five to be assessed and have recently been advised that “the credential assessors have determined that you have satisfied the criteria for your Critical Thinking credential”, which is awesome. Two credentials down, three to go (in this batch).

Feedback from the Assessors

Assessor 1 feedback

“In your video testimony you talk about evaluating all available evidence and speculating about decisions based on that evidence but being able and ready to evolve over time as the situation evolves. It sets a solid foundation and establishes your skills in this area which are further shown through your written material and supporting uploads. Your FutureLearn example and your role within shows how you are able to produce insights from data, analyse and present clear outcomes. Identification of trends, relationships all based on sound, clear judgement. Your example around the development of the Compassion Training for Healthcare Workers course and your project lead role is an excellent vehicle in showing your skills relating to evaluation, procedure choice and dealing with complex issues and tasks to distil them down to a manageable size. It is clear from your submission you meet the criteria for this credential – congratulations.”

Assessor 2 feedback

“Rowan, your evidence here confirms that you have highly advanced critical thinking skills which are crucial to you in your senior design role. In the digital testimony you explained the need to be able to identify, evaluate and clarify information to make appropriate decisions. The written testimony highlighted the sound critical thinking strategies you use. In Example 1, the online Compassion Training course for healthcare workers, you collaborated with a colleague to research and identify the needs of the cohort. As project lead you used this information to inform the development of an obviously effective bespoke course for delivery on your university’s LMS. Example 2 demonstrated your analytical skills in the research paper you completed as part of your Masters degree. While this project per se was not available as evidence, the supervisor’s report confirmed your ability to address current educational issues in a critical and divergent manner. An excellent submission. Thank you!”

amidoinitrite, education, elearning, learning and teaching, masters, production

I satisfied the criteria for the “Communication Expert credential” – one down, four to go!

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I’m at the tail end of my Masters of Professional Practice (Digital Learning), whereby I now only have to successfully complete 10 credentials. I’ve submitted the first batch of five to be assessed and have recently been advised that “the credential assessors have determined that you have satisfied the criteria for your Communication Expert credential”, which is awesome. One credential down, four to go (in this batch).

Feedback from the Assessors

Assessor 1 feedback

“Rowan, congratulations on this successful submission for the Communication Expert credential. You have explained how your years of experience in education and education technology communicating to a range of audiences have developed continuing expertise in effective communication have led to your ability to present, represent, and promote a communicative culture. The first example documents how you directed the redesign of Indigenous Australian Voices cultural safety module. The high level briefing document informed concise critical details of the redesign and its alignment to client and stakeholder strategic requirements. The delivery of the project itself was important to effectively guide new students and introduce and promote a positively communicative culture at the university. The second showcases a separate team initiative to work with university stakeholders, but the third more effectively highlights your own capability to communicate with meaning to diverse stakeholders and represent the organisation as you detail your own actions to lead and co-deliver PD working group series meetings. Excellent work! Thanks for this interesting submission and all the best.”

Assessor 2 feedback

“Dear Rowan, Your role in designing and delivering learning experiences inherently requires your ability to know how to massage and communicate information in a digestible format so that students (or stakeholder) can develop or learn the module. Your written testimony demonstrates your involvement in promoting effective communication whilst representing your organisation with authority and credibility. One such example is through the showcases where you have the opportunity to speak about the organisations value proposition, but most importantly congratulate and celebrate the professional development of your peers (which would certainly inspire & encourage the attendees of the showcase). In addition, you are able to consolidate the complexities of re-designing a module into a one page document so that you can articulate the project to all stakeholders in an easily understandable & concise format. This demonstrates your ability to give and receive clear instructions as well as prepare influential reports. Well done on successfully fulfilling the Communication-Expert credential.”

My submission

What was so unique about my role was the breadth of stakeholders that I’d engage with and ultimately would need to effectively communicate with across a diverse range of contexts and modalities as an individual and as part of a fully functioning high performance team. For example, I may have had to engage with senior academics or directors of centres and institutes within the organisation, while another I may have had to engage with peers within my working group, present showcases to internal prospective clients or external education partners (of my organisation), help facilitate enrolment of participants in a online course we were delivering, or even communicate with applicants as part of my organisations recruitment drive. I hope these examples and subsequent reflection on each demonstrates my capacity to communicate effectively at an expert level.

Example #1: Indigenous Australian Voices – briefing document

As a team situated within a larger central portfolio, it’s not uncommon for us to be asked by our extended portfolio colleagues to support the production of their projects – partially or in full, the level of support required can vary greatly, much like the project scope. At the start of 2022, I was approached about leading a piece of work related to video production support as part of a proposed redesign of the first take on a “cultural safety module”, a compulsory online module designed especially for undergraduate students new to university life. The goal of the module is to provide students with an opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia and fully understand the university’s values. From our pre-production workshops and meetings with the project leads (client) from the university’s Indigenous peoples and communities unit, it soon became apparent that the module needed more than a touch-up to the video content – a complete redesign on the module was required, from a technical and instructional perspective. This observation was echoed by the client’s desire to do more while ensuring the module best reflects the goals and priorities specified in the university’s 10 year strategic plan.

Given the scope change for the piece of work and the importance of the module, it was crucial that the proposed changes were clearly and concisely documented and made readily shareable with key stakeholders. The goal was to communicate all this in a ‘one-pager’ – a document that clearly and succinctly explains why we’re doing it, what we’re (not) delivering, and when. This document was then issued to all stakeholders to increase their awareness and understanding of the change of scope and provide opportunities for them to provide input and feedback. Although it was a high-level document, it served as a literal and figurative guide for our decision making.

The outcome was the enhancement brief. A single page high-level document that specifies an overview of the project, its goal, the proposed changes, allowances, and the deliverables – the urgent format is best suited to stakeholders with limited time and capacity to make their way through multi-page documentation. Although it was a high-level document, it served as a literal and figurative guide for our decision making, and eventual build-out and release of the enhanced cultural safety module for students for Semester 2, 2022.

My contribution to the enhancement brief was to work closely with the client to ensure: 1) the proposed changes align with the university’s initiatives to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, staff and culture, 2) clearly define the proposed changes and their positive impacts, 3) specify allowances, and 4) set deliverables, milestones and due dates. A colleague wrote the copy, which I then proofed and recommended slight changes where needed. As the project lead, I then distributed the completed enhancement to the project stakeholders for consideration prior to development of the compulsory online module.

The stakeholders involved in the enhancement of the Indigenous Australian Voices module and were issued the enhancement brief include head of centre from Monash Centre for Professional Development, the academic director of Monash Online Education and the director of the William Cooper Institute, under direction of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education).

Example #2: CPD MOE showcases

Throughout 2022, the Monash Centre for Professional Development and Monash Online Education (CPD MOE) presented a limited series of showcases to stakeholders within the university to demonstrate our capability to produce high-quality learning designed especially for working professionals and to invite the stakeholders to work with us.

The goal of the showcases was to demonstrate our capacity as a paid-for production service for educators within the university to help them produce their professional development offerings. The showcases were intentionally formatted to personalise the people and processes the stakeholders would engage with along our production pipeline, if they chose to work with us.

My role at the showcases was to speak about our value proposition: what’s different about what we do, how we design our learning for our ‘end users’, and how we’ll work with the educators to design and develop their professional development course, and also to reassure them. My colleagues spoke in more detail about educational design concepts, the application of technology, course administration and management and certification, and more – another colleague acted as an emcee providing colour commentary and context, if required. Every team member had their moment to shine.

The operational aspects of the series of showcases required input and involvement from everyone in our centre, including the Head of centre. Showcase attendees ranged from Deans of faculty, senior management and heads of centres or institutes from within the university – we pitched our services to anyone who wanted to produce professional development.

Example #3: Presentation – PD Working Group Meeting

The PD Working Group Meeting was a series of meetings for stakeholders directly involved in the design, development and delivery of professional development by Monash Centre for Professional Development and Monash Online Education (CPD MOE) – each meeting featured updates, reporting and celebrations of success. In March 2022, I gave a presentation on our recently launched Compassion training for healthcare workers course with lead educator Debbie Ling. Since then, the course has run a total of five times throughout 2022, with plans for it to run again in 2023. It was also awarded the 2022 MNHS Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Education in the category of ‘Excellence in Education – Industry and Community Education Programs (Team)’, which we’re incredibly proud of.

The goal of the presentation was to showcase the launch of Debbie’s professional development, celebrate its popularity with the healthcare professional cohort as well as discuss the highly productive partnership that I shared with Debbie.

Debbie spoke about her lived professional experience in healthcare and compassion as well the identified need for this type of training for healthcare workers, while I spoke about how we teamed-up on the design, development and delivery of the course. In particular, I spoke about how we worked closely to design a learning experience that gives healthcare workers bitesize tools and techniques they can then go away and practise – right from the start of the project we wanted the course to be practical and useful. I also spoke about understanding the time-poor healthcare professional cohort and how it informed the way we designed the course and shaped its content, particularly the:

  • use of video – we wanted to intentionally shift the presentation of learning away from the ‘academic on a pedestal’ to an approach of still being the expert but being relatable, real and encouraging.
  • fridge magnets – downloadable materials and end of week summaries, which in this course we called ‘the essentials’ are designed to be printable and ready to use as a quick reference, much like a “fridge magnet” or “post-it note” stuck on your monitor that’s immediately available when you need it.
  • making it social – we designed for opportunities for participant reflection and discussion – we gently invited participants to “Tell us how you went” and “Reflect and connect” with others.
  • bonus beats – carefully curated high quality related links were gently offered to participants where they could “Find out more”, if it was of interest to them. These were not just isolated links, but contained a brief explanation
  • practising in public – the course is all about developing skills that can then be applied to a professional practice so we designed for many opportunities to practise compassion exercises as listening and reflective activities.

Each meeting featured different presenters, but generally stakeholders that attended these events were directly involved in the professional development activities of CPD MOE.