Already on Topic 4 out of 5 in this course and I´m starting to have separation anxiety! How can we continue this journey together???
Ever since I was a university student myself I have liked acronyms in learning, as it really helps me remember things.
Therefore, I found the ICEBERG seven design principles of designing for student retention in online courses by van Ameijde et al¹very attractive and useful in several ways. Although the ONL181 course is about Open Networked Learning I think it is useful in any type of course design, not the least when you have an outline of your course, and also in evaluating current courses you are directing. Having been doing and still doing curriculum work in our Medical school I felt I could relate to all of these principles. I will not reiterate the full principles here but rather very shortly describe its´ major content. So here´s the ICEBERG: Integrated – Do all parts of the course work together in a cohesive and meaningful way? (Constructive alignment between learning outcomes, assessments, activities and course materials? Collaborative – Are there meaningful opportunities for collaboration between the students, and are these activities well integrated with the study aims of the course? Engaging –  Is the curriculum engaging enough to draw students in and keep them interested and enthusiastic about the course, with relevant and up-to-date cases and readings? Are the teachers engagement visible to the students? Balanced: Is the workload in each part of the course evenly distributed and manageable to the students?  Is there built in student training in study, planning and organization skills? Economical: Are the students provided with a clear and concise path of learning aims including learning activities and learning documents, to avoid curriculum overload? Reflective: Are there learning activities that include student training in reflecting on their own learning and study progress and course time and tools to do this? Are there ways to give students feedback on their reflections? Gradual: Is the curriculum built on a gradually increased complexity and challenge, building on acquired knowledge, to gradually build up the confidence in the students?
During this course it has become increasingly clearer to me the specific challenges one face with keeping students in on an (most often) voluntary online course. I would think quitting is less stigmatizing as you do not need to meet your former peer students in campus. But also, you are more alone with your studies. If you are struggling, you are probably less likely to open up to your online peers compared to face-to-face meetings. In that respect, I think the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework model²is very relevant to online learning, in which the social presence is seen as important as cognitive presence and teaching presence. In my view and experience, the social presence in learning makes a major difference. When students can identify themselves with the others in the course, all working towards a common goal, in a trusting environment and feel comfortable to communicate and build interpersonal relationships, the learning involves emotional engagement, which I believe in itself promotes knowledge acquisition and retention. The CoI builds upon an ancient Indian parable referred to as “The blind men and the elephant”³, meaning that community learning allows the people involved to share their observations and experiences in order to better understand the situation before them. I think that is a beautiful metaphor of successful collaboration!

1. https://jpaap.napier.ac.uk/index.php/JPAAP/article/view/318/473(last visited 181123)
2. http://www.aupress.ca/books/120229/ebook/99Z_Vaughan_et_al_2013-Teaching_in_Blended_Learning_Environments.pdf(last visited 181123)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RmmYgG8VPg(last visited 181123)