This blog post is one part of the series “learning diary” for a course at my university.

Goals:

Besides the headline “Didaktical-methodological Design” an additional hint to a book was provided “Schulmeister, Ralf, Hypermedia Learning Systems”. Because of that I investigated a little bit about hyper media learning systems. For example what hyper media learning system means…

Turns out, hyper media is a word creation from hypertext and media. It describes systems where media content is linked to to other media content (in contrast to hypertext, where foot notes, citations and text is linked together). Our professor told us in the last lesson about an experiment she did with hyper media systems. This experiment more or less failed because everyone was taking the content sequentially instead of pseudo-random. So one of the features (highly connected content) of hyper media systems have not been used.

What have I learned:

I wasn’t that far off with the assumption what a hyper media learning system is. Actually we got showed what to consider when designing a hyper media learning system.

There are four basic categories to think about:

• Didaktical Models
• Didaktical Elements
• Methodological Scenarios
• Methodological Elements

(See how the categories match the title?)

We already saw two of the** didaktical models** in Didaktics of media: Constructionism vs. behaviorism (behaviorism and constructivism) but here we learned two more: Learning cycle and C5. For a Hyper media Learning system one has to choose from one of the models.

Learning Cycle is a three point learning model: Give the pupil a concept on the topic, let them construct their knowledge (from the concept for example, worksheets being used often) and have a dialogue afterwards to reflect on the topic.

C5 on the other hand consists of five points and is more an “advise and moderate” teaching method. The C5 method emphasizes working together: Three of the five ideas of C5 (Creation, Communication, Cooperation, Construction, Collaboration) need team work.

Regarding the didaktical elements of a hyper media learning system four sub-points are to consider:

• Principle: Should the learning system enable independent learning? Should it be adaptable (so a student can change the environment to his needs) or should it be adaptive (so it fits itself to your needs)? Does it need to be interactive? If so how interactive? Is navigating enough? Or is more complex interaction needed?
• Learning Content: What content should be presented? How is it structured and ordered? Hierarchical? Mesh? Sequential? Which medium? ->  “There is no best medium for content”
• Learning Strategy: Which paradigm should be used? Socratic dialogue (“I can’t teach you anything, but can help you find the questions”)? Instructional Paradigm (Small bits of information one after another. Like a tutorial)? Problem-Solving Paradigm (Give the students a problem, let them solve it and process the results)?

The funny thing is, there is no answer to the question how we do this online…

The next point to think is about the methodological scenario which is the format of the system. Should it be an

• online course without or with sparse interaction, an
• distance education (Mooc for example) or a
• teletutoring style (Like a class room but the pupil and teacher are connected via (video)-chat )? Or is
• Blended learning (combine different methods) an option?

The last part to think about when designing a hyper media learning system are the methodological elements. That is:

• Content: How does the student get the system? Online or via real world medium (CD, DVD, USB Stick)? Can he download it or is it online only?
• Communication: How is the communication handled? Mail, Forum, Chat? Do the students have to write a journal or give feedback?
• Convergence: How do the students work together? Is there a Wiki? Or a Blog? Is twitter usable for that? And how does this work if it is a offline course?

I’m not sure If I can design a hyper media learning system myself now, but at least I have an Idea what it takes to create one!

Update 13.11.2015: Updated the “What have I learned” section