Learning, testing, and developing Adaptive Expertise: our learning design journey​ TELedvisors webinar

How do you change the thinking of educators used to teaching face-to-face to equip them for the online world?

The transition from established place-based, face-to-face learning to fully online delivery modes of professional learning to educational leaders across schools in Victoria allowed us to better understand entrenched patterns. As the learning design team at the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership, our learner feedback and needs analysis provided insights into a preference of educational leaders toward face-to-face delivery, where most highlighted the challenge of building relational trust in an online space. As a learning design team, we were also updating the design of courses to support the development of adaptive expertise in educational leaders.  

Adaptive expertise involves the transfer of advanced capabilities to solve complex problems across different contexts. Our understanding of adaptive expertise as a design team continues to develop; initially, it was highly theoretical and superficial. As a team, we went on different journeys with each course to test design approaches, to coach our subject matter experts and content development teams on effective strategies to support adaptive expertise.  Each approach varied in degrees of success. As a team, we collaboratively reflected, critiqued, and learnt from our experiences. Through the development of our individual adaptive expertise, we have been able to engage in continuous improvement, and personal growth.  

Currently, our approach to support the development of adaptive expertise, in a range of flexible modes, is through the use of an adapted task classification based on the Open University’s Activity classifications approach. 

Our working theory of improvement is that the use of a balanced mix of different tasks across the classifications, in line with Universal Design for Learning, will better support the development of adaptive expertise. In addition, using the task classification provides structured language and definitions to describe learning experiences, monitor the quality of content, as well as modelling the approach in our platform in a way that is visible so learners can incorporate it into their own teaching practice.

As a work in progress, our journey is already yielding positive results. Subject matter experts and content developers have noted the improved clarity of conversations, individuals are glad that we can be explicit about our design methodology, as it provides insight into the quality of content we are looking for. The classification also informs our quality monitoring and evaluation approaches in a way that involves a shared language. Internally, we are seeing improved team cohesion, where both learning designers, digital experience designer and digital learning project officers have a shared understanding and language to provide feedback and monitor expectations.  

Participants of this online seminar will get to reflect on their own learning design approaches and will be exposed to strategies to support the development of complex skills related to higher order thinking and professional identity.

Featuring Lis Conde Hernandez and Sheryl Maher, learning designers in the Learning, Development and Innovation Unit of the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership (Education and Training Victoria)

Our presenters:
Dr Lis Conde

Lis Conde is the Senior Learning Designer at the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership and plays an intrinsic role in the development of professional learning to support school leaders across Victoria. Lis’ expertise in the education sector stems from 10 years of experience as a trainer, and 9 years of experience as an Instructional/Learning Designer.

She is dedicated to creating access to high-quality education and her global mindset has led her to pursue innovative learning modalities for implementation across three different continents.

Lis’  PhD was focused on providing professional development to university lecturers in order to support effective use of educational technology in their teaching practices. Her specialty is helping university educators develop, implement and evaluate active learning methods in an online setting.

Dr Sheryl Maher