Reflections

Dalziel presents an article on the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) within which he suggests that “the main elements [of learning design] tend to include greater focus on “context” dimensions of e-learning (rather than simply “content”) and greater recognition of the role of “multi-learner” (rather than just single learner) environments”.

What I take from this is that the reason to be experimenting with learning design is to promote a constructivist (depending on the activities involved, perhaps also constructionist) and collaborative environment in which students may be engaged in their learning in the classroom.

This article opened my eyes a little to the intentions (the learning ”science”?) behind LAMS.  When I experimented with LAMS myself I perceived it as an interesting way of allowing students to explore and reflect upon an interesting aspect of learning, probably more from home.

I now see that the intention is probably not to relegate LAMS sequences to small and discrete homework tasks but to develop large sequences designed to be integrated within classrooms over larger lengths of time and dealing with broad concepts. 

My learning partner and I had designed a LAMS sequence to be completed in a short period of time, possibly as homework in the form of: Conundrum > Students Initial Ideas > Further Issues Raised > Mathematical Proof > Student Reflection.  Rather than limiting our task to this rather paradoxical point of interest (whether 0.99999 . . . = 1) we had the opportunity to take a more wholistic approach, as Madhu and Tania showed in their outstanding LAMS sequence demonstrated in the lecture.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed using the software, and found the drag and drop interface quite easy to use after some initial messing around!!