How do you shift an entire Masters degree from blended, block-mode to asynchronous online over the course of one year?

ASCILITE LD SIG Presentation – Friday 19 August 2022 (12-1pm)

Presentation summary

How do you shift an entire Masters degree from blended, block-mode to asynchronous online over the course of one year?

That was the challenge posed to the academic teaching and learning design teams at UTS when the Masters of Education (Learning and Leadership) was redesigned and relaunched through 2020 and 2021. In this presentation, Course Director Amanda Lizier discusses the process the team followed, the zigs and zags along the way, and the lessons learned.

Based on our experience of developing and teaching the new subjects, and reflecting on student, industry, and stakeholder feedback throughout the process, we identified three key challenges:

• How can we present all content and activities for a subject in an accelerated, asynchronous, online format?
• How can we offer a high level of customisation for students?
• How can we provide research-inspired, integrated opportunities for students to learn at the cutting edge of pedagogy, technology and industry?

Working through these challenges provided many opportunities to reflect on our own practice as educators and as learning designers. In response to these challenges, this presentation will discuss three key lessons from our experience:

• Creating consistent learner experiences in asynchronous learning
• Supporting personalised and customised learning
• The importance of collective expertise within and beyond our team

Biography

Dr. Amanda Lizier

Researcher and Lecturer, Workplace and professional learning

University of Technology Sydney

It is commonly posited that the ways in which we work are changing rapidly and becoming more complex. What is less clear is what this means for learning. Amanda Lizier’s research explores what it means to work and learn in complex contexts. Of special interest is what “workplace learning” means when the notion of a “workplace” is multifaceted and where work happens across multiple sites. Informed by her extensive experience as a learning and development practitioner in the corporate sector, Amanda’s work and engagement aim to create a conduit between theory and practice, informing and improving workplace learning systems and practices.

As a highly regarded learning and development practitioner, Amanda has experience in all aspects of learning and development across an array of industries, particularly in learning and curriculum design. Her practical experience informs her work as a workplace and professional learning researcher and lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney. Amanda’s research uses complexity theory and practice approaches to understand the practices of work and learning in organisations. More recently, Amanda’s work has expanded to research leadership in higher education and work-integrated learning.