Assignment Code: MES-134/TMA/2023

Course Code: MES-134

Assignment Name: Design, Development and Delivery of Courseware

Year: 2023

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

a) Describe the concept of learning design.

Ans) A learning design is a description of how teaching and learning happen in a unit of learning, such as a course. It shows the activities that students do to learn and the activities that teachers do to help them learn. In contrast to an ID, which is all about giving instructions, a learning design is all about learning. So, a learning design does not make instructions; it makes learning. This puts the focus on the learner. It shows what the learner's role is and what "activities" they will do to learn. We have read that Gagne's nine events can be used as a guide to make "instructions." In the same way, a learning design provides a framework for designing "learning" that includes things like "learning tasks," "resources," and "teacher support." We can use these parts to talk about the things that learners will do to learn. Like an ID, a learning design can be based on one or more learning approaches. It can also be committed to one or more theoretical perspectives.

Activities that teach children how to relate a stimulus to a reaction, such as learning the names of state capitals or the symbols of elements, are good examples of what can be included in this type of instruction. Or it could be used to process information that is necessary for learning, such as comparing things, locating similarities and contrasts, and so on. It is also possible to use it for determining how phenomena such as the deterioration of the environment are connected to urbanisation. A learning design, on the other hand, concentrates on the role of the learner, whereas an instructional design concentrates on the role of the instructor. The transition from identification design to learning design has occurred as a result of new approaches to learning that prioritise learning over teaching and recognise the importance of learners actively participating in their own education. The advancement of technology is another factor that helps encourage the move toward learning. The transmission of instructional content that has been designed by instructors is supported by technologies of the past.

For instance, users can receive knowledge that was developed by instructors through the use of print, radio, audio, and video players (learners). These technologies prevent users, often known as learners, from creating their own content. The teachers use a behaviourist approach to teaching in which they strive to mould their students' responses by providing them with carefully crafted instructional inputs. The usage of discussion groups, discussion forums in online courses, chats with instructors, and other similar activities that are made possible by advances in technology make it possible to accept learner-generated content. Therefore, learning design arose as an alternative method to ID with the emphasis on learning; nevertheless, in order to use it, we need to use technologies that allow interactivity while providing courseware.

b) Describe the approaches to media use for developing courseware.

Ans) Course materials are made and given out through print and audio-visual media. Delivery through the web is also becoming more common. Even though courseware can be delivered through different media, it is up to the institution to decide which medium or combination of media to use. Because of this, an institution usually has a policy about how to use media. In an ideal world, the main criteria for choosing a medium should be how well it can teach and how it fits with the content. But making courseware for print media requires less time, money, technical equipment, and other resources than making courseware for audio and video media. Print is easy for further learners to get to. So, these things are also taken into account by the institution when deciding its "approach" to media use, especially when it gives instructions through more than one medium. The different ways to use media are:

1. Supplementary Media Approach: The most significant form is the printed word. The information that has already been presented in the form of print-based self-learning material (SLM) is demonstrated and expanded upon via audio and video programming. Therefore, audio and video media are utilised in the process of teaching in the capacity of an auxiliary aid. The students who don't have access to audio-visual programmes won't miss out on the "essential material" if this method is used, which is the premise that behind it. IGNOU and a few other open universities in India operate their campuses in the same manner.

2. Complementary Media Approach: The information can be learned through the use of the print medium, and the audio-visual media present content that supplements what can be learned through the use of the print medium. Movies, for instance, are used to demonstrate how children should be instructed in addition to the written explanations of the pedagogies that are used for the instruction of language to children in the basic level. This is done so as to supplement the written explanations of the pedagogies that are utilised for the instruction of language to children in the basic level.

3. Integrated Media Approach: It's kind of like the complementary media approach, but in this case, the audio and video parts provide cross-references and more information to add to what the print medium already has. In one part of the print, for example, it says, "Now listen to the audio programme and then read the next section." You may learn from a video, "You've seen how we should talk to kids, now read about it." The integrated media approach works when students get print and audio/video programmes as part of a whole package that helps them learn in more than one way.

4. Independent Media Approach: In this particular instance, the content of audio, video, printed, and web-based material is independent of one another, and the content of one medium is not related to that of another media. This is the case for all four types of material. For example, you may use a series of radio or television programmes that you've recorded as the principal educational resource for a class that you teach.

c) What are the Benefits of RLOs? Describe the criteria you will consider while selecting RLOs.

Ans) Benefits and criteria for selecting RLOs as follows:

Benefits of RLOs

A knowledge society is a networked society where people work together to create and share knowledge, which is made easier by technology. This kind of thinking is in line with the idea behind RLO, which is to share knowledge instead of spending time and other resources over and over again on making resources that already exist. Boyle says that it costs a lot to make good eLearning resources. RLOs save time and money that would have been used to make new ones. Because of this, RLOs are used in training programmes in education, the military, the business world, and other places. In education, RLOs can be used to enhance or add to what is being taught in person. This is called "blended learning." RLOs can help a lot with online courses that are used for distance learning. We can add RLO to the LMS that is used to offer the course and plug in the new eLearning content. RLOs can be used in a course, but they can also be repurposed, formatted in a similar way, and put together with other RLOs to make a course.  RLOs save money and broaden teaching perspectives. A teacher can use RLOs to discuss her country's teens' issues and other cultures' perspectives. Different viewpoints improve debates. We have discussed RLOs' benefits. Should we let others modify our content? We should share our expertise and work together rather than compete now. Share it.

Reuse strengthens knowledge. Students benefit from not having to take a full course to learn about one topic. A student may just seek digestive system information. RLOs are cheaper than physiology courses. RLOs help pupils without good libraries, online journals and books, or good teachers. According to Wiley, RLOs allow good teachers to help more students by making them more accessible. Making RLOs, especially using distributed writing technologies, can assist teachers. New instructors can learn from experienced teachers, and the team can learn from each other.  Institutions and logistics may prevent RLO use again. The content developed is not stored in approved, accessible content repositories; it takes a long time to create, upload, and maintain metadata and/or SCORM content packages; and so on.

Criteria for Selecting RLO

Since the teacher knows a lot about the subject, they should make sure the information is true. Second, Koh says that RLOs can be less effective if they don't have a clear educational goal. This makes it clear that RLOs should only be added to a course if they help the course meet its goals. Third, RLOs that only have learners read text or watch videos are based on behaviourism and are teacher-centered because learners only get information. Bannan-Ritland, Dabbagh, and Murphy, on the other hand, say that both the course in which RLOs are used and the RLOs themselves should help students learn in a meaningful way. RLOs that include activities that get learners to think, and act make learning an active and meaningful process and use pedagogies that focus on the learner. For example, RLOs that offer simulations and educational games require learners to make decisions. RLOs that require learners to investigate real problems, like ground water levels dropping, pollution, and so on, get learners involved in problem solving. Fourth, multimedia is a great way to learn because it uses more than one sense to teach. Because of this, RLOs with multimedia are better. Fifth, it should be easy to move around in the RLO content. Sixth RLOs need to be able to work with different kinds of devices so that learners can use them on different kinds of devices.