It has been fifteen years since I was introduced to teaching in higher education, a vocation I have lived to enjoy. My first encounter with classroom business was an assignment to teach a computer math class, which was also a practical interview. The teaching mode was as we know it: mortar and brick with some low-level technology: a whiteboard and a marker. Occasionally, a project would be used if another class did not book it. To some extent, I do not enjoy routine staff that does not present new challenges, and that is how I conducted my classes, giving learners activities that would break away from routine activities. With no knowledge of digital pedagogy, my class of 25 learners had a weekly presentation where students presented their findings from the weekly field activity. Later on, I became interested in eLearning, which I started searching for via Google, and in 2016, I enrolled in my first online learning course, Instructional Designing for Blended Learning, provided by opelearning.com. My next challenge in the same year was learning about Learning Management Systems, specifically Moodle, and several online courses. Later, I joined The Open University to pursue a Master of Arts in Online and Distance Education as a Commonwealth scholar. Today, I work as an instructional design and content development officer on the Uganda eLearning Initiative-CSTS-MasterCard Foundation project. I support institutions of higher learning in the eastern region of Uganda in adopting the use of technology to support learning. The task involves instructional design training, content development, technology evaluation, and deployment, including the operationalization of the eLearning studios.
Core area 1: Operational issues
An understanding of the constraints and benefits of different technologies
As a technology-enhanced learning educator, I emphasize incorporating pedagogy in selecting and using technology for learning. During training, I have always asked educators, 'What do you want to achieve pedagogically?' I also ask myself this question when handling tasks that provide educational technology solutions. The notion that technology is automated to deliver solutions in auto-drive is what I have had to debunk often. Coupled with the conspiracy that technology devours the teacher's job, the procedures I lay during training have proved to participants that the teacher still has a role in facilitating learning effectively. For example, in Uganda, learning technology teams across educational institutions predominantly use Moodle as a learning management system (LMS). In training, the participants are introduced to moderating student discussions (synchronous or asynchronous), providing timely feedback, Assessing assignments, reviewing peer assessments, updating content, and evaluating learning objectives. All these involve the active presence of the teacher, demystifying the notion that technology is savage to educators' practice and livelihood.
The primary evaluation procedure of any given technology is the approach to proven learning systems. For example, Besides being an open source, the choice of Moodle Learning Management System is driven by the ability to provide varying activities that engage a learner in a learner-centered environment. This is achieved by deploying activities such as Discussion forums, quizzes, and Assignments, among others. Recently, we were discussing possible ways to bring agriculture fieldwork to the classroom. As a learning technologist and an instruction design personnel, I proposed using imagery virtual tour objects integrated into the LMS using H5P resources. It turned out to be not only cost-effective but also available and accessible to learners.
The LMS, unlike eight years ago, can allow integrations such as Zoom or BigBlueButton to enhance the student experience with online or blended learning.