This document provides an overview of a presentation about the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) project. The presentation introduces DLM as an interactive online tool for curriculum mapping that allows for sharing, reviews, linking multiple information sources, and facilitating communities. It outlines the structure and content of the presentation, including discussing what curriculum maps are, demonstrating the DLM technology, and providing an initial evaluation of the project through focus groups. The goal of DLM is to enhance curriculum design, delivery, and learning through interactive online curriculum mapping.

1. Project funded by
Dynamic Learning Maps
http://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk

2. John Peterson
(Project Officer)
Paul Horner
(Snr roject Officer)
Simon Cotterill
(PI & Project Manager)
Gordon Skelly
(Project Manager)
Tony McDonald
(Project Advisor)
Steve Ball
(Project Director)
About DLM
Funded as part of the JISC programme:
Transforming curriculum delivery through technology
Running from April 2009 to March 2011
Piloting in Medicine, Psychology & Speech Therapy

3. Overview
Intended Outcomes
• Understand the role of curriculum maps for different stakeholders
• Be able to identify key barriers and challenges to developing
curriculum maps
• Become familiar with ways in which technology can enhance
curriculum maps
Structure
• Overview (Intro / Rationale) 5 mins
• What are Curriculum Maps? What do they do? 10 mins
• Technologies / Demonstration 15 mins
• Evaluation 10 mins
• Discussion / Questions (throughout) 10 mins
http://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk

4. What's your preference for organising information?
A. I prefer visual maps (mind maps, concept maps etc).
B. I prefer hierarchical lists (text).
Please vote:

5. I'm interested in today’s session mostly in relation to:
A. curriculum delivery
B. curriculum design
C. both design & delivery
D. learning about the technical approach
E. All of the above
(added retrospectively!)
Please vote:

6. What's your / your institutions current use of curriculum maps ?
A. We have a paper-based curriculum map
B. We have an online curriculum map
C. We are or plan to develop an online curriculum map
D. No plan to use a curriculum map
Please vote:

7. Background: Communicating Complex Curricula
Modular courses: ‘Compartmentalisation’
Need to promote cross-modular learning

8. Background: Web 2.0 and changing expectations of learners
“The Net Generation has grown up with information technology.
The aptitudes, attitudes, expectations, and learning styles of Net
Gen students reflect the environment in which they were raised—
one that is decidedly different from that which existed when
faculty and administrators were growing up.”
Educating the Net Generation http://www.educause.edu/
“although young people demonstrate an ease and familiarity with
computers, they rely on the most basic search tools and do not
possess the critical and analytical skills to assess the information
that they find on the web. Higher education, therefore, continues
to have a unique role in providing learners with the higher-order
skills of evaluation, critical analysis and reflection, synthesis,
problem-solving, creativity and thinking across discipline
boundaries.”
Widespread uptake of social networking and other Web 2.0
= changing expectations and technical literacies of many learners
http://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk

9. Overview of Dynamic Learning maps
Interactive ‘Web 2.0
Sharing , rating and reviews
Harvesting multiple sources (‘Mashups’ )
Facilitating communities of interest
Curriculum Maps
Overview , Prior
learning, Current
& Future learning
Personal Learning
Personalised, sharing , reflective
notes and evidencing outcomes
Linking Learning
Resources
Curriculum & External
Resources

10. What are Curriculum Maps?
What do they do?
http://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk

11. Background: Curriculum Maps
A diagrammatic representation of
the curriculum.
Different ‘windows’ onto
the curriculum e.g.
• Intended outcomes
• Curriculum content
/subject areas
• Learning opportunities
• Assessment
• Learning resources
• People (students / staff)
Complexity
Labour intensive

12. Curriculum Maps: Potential role in Monitoring & QA
Declared
curriculum
Taught
curriculum
Learning &
development
‘Constructive Alignment’
(curriculum – T&L – assessment)
Better insight into learning
outside the curriculum
External resources Prior learning ‘Life-wide’ learning
Identify popular
external resources
(QA + peer review)
Map to other
Curricula
(widens learning
opportunities)
Identify ‘gaps’
in teaching
Identify
duplication
Monitor access & equality of
learning opportunities

13. What should be on a curriculum map?
Example of different interpretations / implementations

14. Maps as a Metaphor
Where have I been?
Where am I now?
Where am I going?
Stakeholders
• Learners
• Teachers (incl. occasional teachers)
• Curriculum Managers
• Administrators
• External regulators
Reflection
Revision
Contextualisation
Preparation
What should the
students already know?
Where is topic X taught
in the curriculum ?
Career choices
Curriculum
choices
Where is my specialty
covered in the curriculum ?
http://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk
Synthesis /
Metacognition
Planning

15. Discussion
http://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk

16. Developing Dynamic Learning Maps
Demonstration

17. Overview of Dynamic Learning maps
Interactive ‘Web 2.0
Sharing , rating and reviews
Harvesting multiple sources (‘Mashups’ )
Facilitating communities of interest
Curriculum Maps
Overview , Prior
learning, Current
& Future learning
Personal Learning
Personalised, sharing , reflective
notes and evidencing outcomes
Linking Learning
Resources
Curriculum & External
Resources

18. e-
Learning
Technical approach
Curricula
databases
Library
databases
ePortfolio
/ blog
Repositories
External
Feeds
Learning
Resources
Life-long
Learning
Record
ID-MAPs
project
Student
Information
Systems
reflection
evidencing
discussion
adding resources,
rating & reviewing
Learning Maps
(topic-specific)
Curriculum map
Personal learning
Community
http://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk

19. DLMs and LEAP2A
HTTP GET Request
HTTP Response
- Leap2A XML
HTTP POST Request
- Leap2A XML
Dynamic
Learning
Maps
ePortfolio
https://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk/blog/category/eportfolio/
LEAP2A is used to connect Learning Maps to the learner’s ePortfolio
using a simple web service developed as part of the PIOP3 project.
This works in two ways – adding new records and retrieving those
records so that they can be accessed inside the Map.

20. DLMs and XCRI
https://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk/blog/category/next-xcri-project/
HTTP Request
Dynamic
Learning
Maps
Course
Database
HTTP Response
Our “NEXT” project looked at enhancing the support for XCRI-CAP
in the North East. An outcome of that project was embedding XCRI
feeds inside Learning Maps. This lets us show course related
information relating to specific parts of the curriculum.
We needed to extend the standard to better support competencies
in order to link the map to a course.

21. Making Connections

22. Initial interfaces & user preferences
Text-based interface
Mind-map style interface
Forthcoming focus groups:
explore options e.g. colour coding
terminology e.g. ‘nodes’ or topics

25. >1,000 external resources: 389 from 5 key sites (above)

26. Careers

29. Search

30. Challenges for Curriculum Mapping ♯1
Stage 5     
Stage 4     
Stage 3     
Stage 2     
Stage 1     
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Student journey
through the
curriculum
‘here and now’
teaching focus
Between major restructuring of the MBBS curriculum (aprox. every 5-7yrs):
 stable: units (modules), programme outcomes
 minor adjustments: sessions, cases, unit outcomes (responsive to evaluation / QA)
 more variation in assessment & differences in delivery by 4 ‘Base Units’ (stages 3 & 5)
The curriculum changes over time

31. Challenges for Curriculum Mapping ♯2
Stepped availability of study guides, cases and timetable data
Semester 2
Available
 
Semester 1
Available
   
Sept 2008 Jan 2009 Sept 2009 Jan 2010
i.e. a fully detailed / data-driven curriculum map for the current academic year
would not be available until Semester 2.
A partial map would be no good at all! (Needs to be a semi-persistent map but
drawing on latest information as it becomes available).
Resources (presentations etc) are uploaded into the VLE on a ‘just in time’ basis.

32. Challenges for Curriculum Mapping ♯3
MBBS study guide databases (baseline)
 designed to support complex curricula with large number of contributors
 using familiar Word documents (well formatted ‘portal documents’)
 these populate databases and structure the VLE when they are uploaded
 supports changing curriculum with views by multiple academic years
Module Database (baseline)
• outcomes are blocks of free text: variable formats and amount of detail
Fit for purpose, but raise challenges for online curriculum maps:
Key data is in the form of non-standardised text
 e.g. learning outcomes, core presentations / conditions etc.
 language is inconsistent between study guides (modified for context)
 hard to differentiate between unit-specific and programme outcomes & content
Codes used in VLE and timetable are not persistent
 e.g. ‘PPD2.15’ may referrer to completely different teaching sessions from
one academic year to the next
 Problematic as resources are linked to these non-persistent codes
Existing data may not be in a readily usable

33. Getting the right balance
Automation Specificity & Granularity
Initially reliant on manually making
connections (curriculum & community)
Maintenance cost as
curriculum changes
Search – High volume
of results
mixed
relevance
Saturation (too many
Connections – ‘hairball’)
e.g. MBBS: 60+ learning outcomes
per module. High-level outcomes
present in virtually every module.
Refine relevance
scoring
Data on connected topics
used to improve future
automation/specificity
(related keywords / strength of
connections)

34. Recap: Summary of DLM
Interactive ‘Web 2.0
Sharing , rating and reviews
Harvesting multiple sources (‘Mashups’ )
Facilitating communities of interest
Curriculum Maps
Overview , Prior
learning, Current
& Future learning
Personal Learning
Personalised, sharing , reflective
notes and evidencing outcomes
Linking Learning
Resources
Curriculum & External
Resources

35. Initial Evaluation
http://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk

36. Initial Focus Group
(following viewing concept demonstrator)
Informal focus group: year 4 medical students:
• Very keen on concept
• Would need training, especially for those less confident with IT
• Could it be used as additional feedback from students to lecturers?
 “This idea has engaged me from
the outset and has potential, I believe,
to revolutionise the MBBS course (as
well as other courses) in many ways.”
 From a students point of view, one could
be much clearer on ‘the big picture’, as you
have a curriculum map laid out in front of
you, it is simpler and easier to find out
curriculum content, learning outcomes and
formal resources, all linked together, and also
seeing how similar topics are interlinked
throughout the course.”
“It seems a really good idea but it
important that we get training on how
to use it.”

37. Evaluation: Focus Groups December 2009
Focus Group: Psychology (n=2)
Focus Groups: Speech Therapy BSc (9), MSc (7)
Staff Meeting: Speech Therapy ~15
Module Choices
Liked concept / layout
Perceived duplication
Importance of
personal preferences
Visual vs. Text Views
Integration with
Blackboard?

38. 49%51%
Tree based lists
Mind maps
Phase 1 MBBS feedback I prefer ?

39. The map will help me better understand the
MBBS curriculum?
18%
30%
25%
15%
7%
3%
1%

40. It is easy to use?
8%
32%
38%
8%
11%
3%
2%

41. The map would benefit my learning?
13%
33% 34%
12%
3%
1%
3%

42. I understand the concept of Learning Maps?
30%
32%
20%
8%
6%
0%
5%

43. Knowing how a teaching session relates to the
rest of the curriculum is important to me?
26%
41%
10%
15%
3% 3%
1%

44. Having the map will be useful for preparation
before a teaching session?
15%
22%
19%
18%
7%
9%
10%

45. Having the map will be useful for reviewing and
reflecting after a session?
22%
31%
27%
9%
3% 3%
4%

46. Having the map will be useful for revision?
40%
39%
12%
4%
0% 0%
4%

47. It would be useful to add notes and reflections to
teaching sessions and other parts of the map?
37%
18% 18%
12%
3%
6%
5%

48. I only want information and resources provided by
teaching staff ?
7%
12%
7%
10%
19%
25%
18%

49. I frequently supplement my learning with external
resources on the web ?
34%
18%
19%
6% 6%
9%
7%

50. How often would you envisage using the map
(once complete) ?
11%
48%
32%
10%

51. • Current status
• >750 people have accessed DLM
• Initial student input, focus groups
• Input from curriculum leaders & support staff
• Ongoing populating the curriculum maps
• Integration with learning and teaching environments
• Larger-scale Piloting / Evaluation 2010/11
• Medicine
• Psychology
• Speech Therapy (Jan 2011)
• Public Demonstrator (soon)
• Looking to Pilot in other contexts
Next steps

52. Recap: Summary of DLM
Interactive ‘Web 2.0
Sharing , rating and reviews
Harvesting multiple sources (‘Mashups’ )
Facilitating communities of interest
Curriculum Maps
Overview , Prior
learning, Current
& Future learning
Personal Learning
Personalised, sharing , reflective
notes and evidencing outcomes
Linking Learning
Resources
Curriculum & External
Resources

53. Project funded by
Further information:
http://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk
Thank You