Teachers’ remix

In this talk, Morten Bülow will present the first step in a research project aiming at gaining more insight into the processes of creating educational materials through collaborative design space. Additionally, it focuses on the possibilities of and challenges involved in creating valuable and meaningful educational materials drawing on teachers’ remix practices.

The purpose is to inquire into how teachers' collaborative interaction with educational tools may inform ongoing improvement of the courses and materials, which may be included in design of contextualized learning paths. 

Taking existing theories and knowledge as a starting point, we designed a triangulated methodology using a combination of questionnaires, interviews and user behaviour data focusing on the use of the CourseBuilder as a collaborative space. The talk centres on the possibilities and barriers of developing a collaborative design space that enable (re)design of digital educational materials, taking into account teachers’ interest in:

1) designing their own teaching materials

2) working professionally with the redesign and remixing of materials from many different sources, and

3) adapting them to the many contexts in which materials of this type are included.

In prior research, several factors promoting adoption of virtual collaboration are mentioned such as teachers’ digital skills, professional development through courses, allocated time and integration of tools that allow teachers to enter into re-design networks with colleagues.

At all the institutions participating in our study, there is a supportive environment regarding the use of CourseBuilder. Although the necessary factors for a successful collaborative environment are present, somehow there seems to be a missing link in the fulfilment of CourseBuilder as collaborative design space.