Keynote Speaker Professor Diana Laurillard

Teaching as a design science? Really? Who would have thought of that?

Well, Professor Diana Laurillard who is the Chair of Learning and Digital Technologies at the London Knowledge Lab would have you know teaching is NOW a design science.

Being an avid observer of how teaching has evolved through the years, she says that teaching is still not yet treated (and let’s not even talk about respect!!) as a design profession. Like other design professionals – architects, engineers, programmers – teachers have to work out creative and evidence-based ways of improving what they do.

Throw in the rapid advances in the Internet, digital and mobile technologies. All these means that the learning community and educators today have unprecedented opportunities and tools to create web content, access games, learning and entertainment, network with their peers, and advance their quality of life.

Today more media-rich and media-centric content is available. Technology has the POTENTIAL to make the act/art/science of teaching RICHER and more ENGAGING for learners.

She says that we need technology to achieve the education reform we dream of. But it has to be done through the teaching community. An essential part of the open education movement will be “open teaching.” Learning-design tools and environments that enable them to develop new ways of teaching and learning afforded by digital technologies will help to achieve high quality teaching on a larger scale and harness it to a higher cause.

The key mission in teaching and learning is this: old ways may NOT be the best ways. Change is good and necessary.  The teaching profession does not have much of a choice; students expect technology to be used in the classroom, in learning. In fact, technology is the perquisite to learning and it can be used to gain and maintain attention.

Today’s (and tomorrow’s) student learners are more comfortable and confident with technology – she ways and we must CAPITALIZE on this. We must find ways to use, integrate, adapt, adopt technology, effectively, efficiently and instructionally. The academic profession must develop the capability to learn collaboratively and how to smartly exploit technology while simultaneously exploring and developing the pedagogies for the 21^st century!

So come on down to the symposium and hear them out and take away some key learning points. With those in hand, you can continue to take meaningful action to address the needs in your organization or institution.

Drop us a comment if you have thoughts to share on the above.