THE JOY OF LEARNING
Designing an Engaging Online Learning Environment
Eva de Lera, Open University of Catalonia (UOC)
E-LEARN 2008 Global Conference
Las Vegas, NV - Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
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contents
• e-Learning at UOC
• our hypothesis
• our objectives
• how are we doing it?
• what’s next?
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e-Learning at UOC - overview
• Fully online, fully asynchronous
• Undergraduate, Graduate and PhD programs
• 55.000 students
• Faculty as mentors
• Environment (includes computers, phones, electronic
books, PDAs, etc.)
• Content/Educational Resources (opening them,
collective, internal/external, on and offline)
• Community (participations and interactions)
• Institution (community at large: student services, library
services, etc.)
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e-Learning at UOC - overview
About UOC’s students:
• learn and pass • a need to feel engaged
• night study • a need to belong
• stress • a need to feel as if
• family they are taking good
care of themselves
• community
• a need to feel as if
• work they’re “digital
• information overload natives” or on the
innovative trend
• change of contexts
• personal preferences
2 year research project
• motivation
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e-Learning at UOC - overview
Overall objectives:
• the student learns
• the student learns easily and fast
• the student is satisfied with the way he/she is learning (fun,
engaged)
• the student wishes to continue learning throughout his or
her life (long-life learning)
We want UOC’s students to say: “I love studying at UOC.”
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e-Learning at UOC - overview
• Interdisciplinary team (faculty, pedagogues, technologists,
psychologists, designers, etc.)
• User-centered design methodologies (student at the center)
UOC’s Campus design process
Iterative evaluation and assessment throughout the design
process
• qualitative methods
• quantitative methods
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our hypothesis
 We believe people will rather want the experience of
learning rather than the effectiveness, efficiency and
satisfaction of use of the learning environment.
• people buy brands more than they buy products
• they buy the brand experience more than other functional
aspects of a product
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Let’s bring in the joy!
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we need to design the e-learning experience
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how are we doing it?
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1. interoperable, accessible, flexible and customizable open
source online environment
M1 M2 M3 ... Mn
OKI Bus WebService
Moodle Gateway Sakai Gateway
Moodle Sakai
MM MM
MM MM
Moodle Modules Sakai Modules
The Campus Project
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2. automatic content transformation for and by all
The MyWay project
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3. integrating the affective and social dimension
contexts
needs
expectations
pleasure
feelings
physical
desires
social
intellectual
fun
aspirational interests
rational cognitive
aesthetics experience
The Joy of Learning project
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4. designing tools
The 10 Emotion Heuristics
“Beyond what they tell us”
Gathering objective
satisfaction data to
supplement other
information.
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4. designing tools to help “leak” into the institution
The Enjoy Guidelines
“A checklist for all”
Ensuring the affective
dimension is taken into
account in new designs and
developments.
Ensuring that the institution is
continuously updated about
the student’s needs.
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The 12 Enjoy Guidelines (a Polaroid of current learners)
1. Personalization – want customize, adapt, participative, have the option
to be active, make their own learning experience
2. Identity – need to relate with the institution’s values and beliefs
3. Brand – they came for the brand experience, must deliver on promise
4. Community – they are social, in and outside the classroom, must
embrace their community roles into the learning experience
5. Surprise – they enjoy the unexpected, a change in routine
6. Innovation – they need to feel as if their process is innovative and
highly valuable
7. Zen – they enjoy “suave” rides, cannot afford more stress
8. Search – they are about efficiency, and are impatient
9. Clarity – they like clear paths, good visualizations
10. ituation – they are the center, not the navigation menu
S
11. esthetics – need to recognize their own style, and be consistent
A
12. ecognition – need to feel confident, secure, avoiding learn ability
R
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3. integrating the affective dimension
Going from here…
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3. integrating the affective dimension
To here…
personalizing
(photos,
status, other)
integrating
external
elements
(gmail,
news, other)
customizing
environment
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what is next?
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what is next?
• rethink the learning experience, as it goes beyond
the classroom and into their lives (Google as an
online university? The next generation of learning is
already here)
• continuously reassess the needs, expectations and
affective dimension of the student population,
current and future (always staying current)
• develop instruments to help integrate the affective
and social dimension into the design process
• Develop actions and methodologies to help “leak” the
information into the institution
• evangelize the need for the Joy of Learning, return to
the pleasure and fun of learning in an institution
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Thank you for your attention
Eva de Lera, edelera@uoc.edu
Office of Learning Technologies
Open University of Catalonia (UOC)
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