Learning used to be primarily behavioral. Students learned primarily via repetition and practice, with an Instructor standing in front of the class. Over the past 50 years, educators have moved from an "Instructivist Approach" to designing models that ensure the learning task is aligned with the content, context and learner needs. A great Instructor must be a good designer and a context expert to create learning experiences that meet the unique needs of 21st-century learners.
In line with this, the School of Education under the Faculty of Social Sciences and Leisure Management, Taylor's University Seed Grant, led by the Lecturer Dr. Vinothini Vasodavan as the Principal Investigator, has conducted a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) session titled “The 3Es Instructional Design Model (Effective, Engaging and Efficient): Redesigning Learning Tasks Using Collaborative Tools”. The invited Guest Trainers were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dorothy DeWitt from the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Technology, Universiti Malaya and Dr. Umawathy Techanamurthy from the Engineering Education Department, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. They are both the experts in instructional design, curriculum and instruction.
This CDP's goal was to empower Taylor's University academics to redesign learning strategies by incorporating an evidence-based design model to ensure that products and experiences are efficient, effective, appealing, engaging and inspiring to the learners. 14 academics from various schools in Taylor's University attended this 2-day CPD training. The CPD training emphasized Shift 9: Globalized Online Learning, which focuses on creating high-quality content to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. In addition, the academics explored the National e-Learning Policy 2.0 (Dasar e-Pembelajaran Negara, or DePAN 2.0) for the first time, specifically on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK).
During the CPD session, academics were given hands-on experience with various types of educational technology such as Flipgrid, Microsoft Sway, Blendspace, Jamboard and many others, to cultivate 21st-century skills among academics and students. By the end of the workshop, each academic was able to redesign their learning task by developing a lesson plan that incorporated 21st-century abilities using an eclectic instructional design paradigm. They also identified the mutually reinforcing linkages between technology, content and pedagogy for effective technology-assisted instruction.
All CPD participants were also given the opportunity to attend a follow-up session to encourage the exchange of good teaching practices among colleagues and to gather evidence by developing an e-portfolio to showcase their innovative teaching and learning techniques.