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This paper covers videos created and used in different learning patterns. The videos are grouped according to the teaching or learning activities in which they are used. One group of videos are used by the teacher for one-way communication, including: online lectures, experts interacting with one another, instruction videos and introduction videos. Further videos are teacher-student interactive videos, including: feedback on student deliveries, student productions and interactive videos. Examples from different courses at different faculties at The University of Copenhagen of different types of videos (screencasts, pencasts and different kinds of camera recordings, from quick-and-dirty videos made by teachers at their own computer to professionally produced studio recordings) as well as audio files are presented with links, as an empirical basis for the discussion. The paper is very practically oriented and looks at e.g. which course design and teaching situation is suitable for which type of video; at which point is an audio file preferable to a video file; and how to produce videos easily and without specialized equipment, if you don’t have access to (or time for) professional assistance. In the article, we also point out how a small amount of tips & tricks regarding planning, design and presentation technique can improve recordings made by teachers themselves. We argue that the way to work with audio and video is to start by analyzing the pedagogical needs, in this way adapting the type and use of audio and video to the pedagogical context.

Online learning communities are a foundational element of online and blended learning. Many learning activities in online and blended learning courses require students to collaborate and work together with their peers. In order for these learning activities to be successful it is important that participants are engaged socially and emotionally in their online interaction to create a sense of community and cohesion, corresponding to what constitutes Social Presence in the Community of Inquiry Framework model. As teachers, we therefore focus on creating learning designs that facilitate the development of online learning communities. In this article, we examine the development of online learning communities in online discussion forums. We map a selection of discussion threads from three university-level courses using the NodeXL software, and discuss the implications of e.g. structure, facilitation and group size on the online learning community that emerges. We find that the framework for participation in discussions (e.g. level of guidance and role of facilitators) affects the degree of connectivity within the online learning community and the prevalence of “social” posting, which has implications for strengthening the community and student-to-student support throughout the course.

”Design patterns” were originally proposed in architecture and later in software engineering as a methodology to sketch and share solutions to recurring design problems. In recent years ”pedagogical design patterns” have been introduced as a way to sketch and share good practices in teaching and learning; specifically in the context of technology-enhanced learning (e-learning). Several attempts have been made to establish a framework for describing and sharing such e-learning patterns, but so far they have had limited success. At a series of workshops in a competence-development project for teachers at the University of Copenhagen a new and simpler pedagogical design pattern framework was developed for interfaculty sharing of experiences and enhancing communities of practice in relation to online and blended learning across the university. In this study, the new pedagogical design pattern framework is applied to describe the learning design in four online and blended learning courses within different academic disciplines: Classical Greek, Biostatistics, Environmental Management in Europe, and Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation. Future perspectives for using the framework for developing new E-learning patterns for online and blended learning courses are discussed.

This paper covers videos created and used in different learning patterns. The videos are grouped according to the teaching or learning activities in which they are used. One group of videos are used by the teacher for one-way communication, including: online lectures, experts interacting with one another, instruction videos and introduction videos. Further videos are teacher-student interactive videos, including: feedback on student deliveries, student productions and interactive videos. Examples from different courses at different faculties at The University of Copenhagen of different types of videos (screencasts, pencasts and different kinds of camera recordings, from quick-and-dirty videos made by teachers at their own computer to professionally produced studio recordings) as well as audio files are presented with links, as an empirical basis for the discussion. The paper is very practically oriented and looks at e.g. which course design and teaching situation is suitable for which type of video; at which point is an audio file preferable to a video file; and how to produce videos easily and without specialized equipment, if you don’t have access to (or time for) professional assistance. In the article, we also point out how a small amount of tips & tricks regarding planning, design and presentation technique can improve recordings made by teachers themselves. We argue that the way to work with audio and video is to start by analyzing the pedagogical needs, in this way adapting the type and use of audio and video to the pedagogical context.

This paper explores the application of learning designs featuring formalised and structured technology enhanced peer learning. These include student produced learning elements, peer review discussions and peer assessment in the BSc/MSc level summer course Restoration of European Ecosystems and Freshwaters (REEF), the Master thesis preparation seminars for the Master of Public Health (MPH) and the MOOC course Global Environmental Management (GEM). The application of student produced learning elements and peer review discussions is investigated by analyzing quotes from course evaluations and performing focus group interviews. The application of peer assessment is investigated by analyzing the agreement of peer assessment between students assessing the same assignment. Our analyses confirm previous research on the value of peer learning and peer assessment and we argue that there could also be a huge benefit from developing learning design patterns that facilitate informal peer learning and reinforce knowledge sharing practices.

Although research suggests that project collaboration supports deep learning, facilitators frequently face participation and engagement challenges – particularly in 100% online courses and/or courses with students from diverse geographical/cultural backgrounds. We present our experiences with learning designs featuring online project collaboration by examining student evaluation of the group work component in the course ‘Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation’ and reviewing specific process reports from the course ‘Environmental Management in the Tropics’. For the CCIAM we discern positive trends over the 2009-2012 period with ‘collaborative dynamics’, ‘organisation/coordination’, ‘burden sharing’ and practical knowledge’ showing significant improvements following revision. We provide experience from revising the CCIAM course (responding to evaluations) - and reflect on the results that such revisions engender. Determining specific factors that contribute to improvements in student evaluations are not always clear but we offer suggestions for facilitating online project collaboration to circumnavigate the four above-mentioned major issues identified on the CCIAM course: these suggestions are peer assessment, mandatory participation, and grading (as a contribution to the overall final grade). For EMiT ‘communication’ showed the strongest issue-signal – with organization/coordination ‘cultural issues’ and ‘learning outcomes’ also indicating issue-relevance.. We propose that learning designs for online project collaboration can be improved via teacher-facilitated interventions without undermining the socialisation pathways that students can find motivating and that promote online team building.

Online learning communities are a foundational element of online and blended learning. Many learning activities in online and blended learning courses require students to collaborate and work together with their peers. In order for these learning activities to be successful it is important that participants are engaged socially and emotionally in their online interaction to create a sense of community and cohesion, corresponding to what constitutes Social Presence in the Community of Inquiry Framework model. As teachers, we therefore focus on creating learning designs that facilitate the development of online learning communities. In this article, we examine the development of online learning communities in online discussion forums. We map a selection of discussion threads from three university-level courses using the NodeXL software, and discuss the implications of e.g. structure, facilitation and group size on the online learning community that emerges. We find that the framework for participation in discussions (e.g. level of guidance and role of facilitators) affects the degree of connectivity within the online learning community and the prevalence of “social” posting, which has implications for strengthening the community and student-to-student support throughout the course.