A methodology for e-learning scenario development: The UNITE approach

Abstract

In the framework of the FP6 project UNITE a number of e-Learning scenarios have been developed, covering different educational contexts, pedagogical concepts and subjects (environmental education, ICT, language learning, etc.), bridging thus the gap between formal and informal learning settings. All e-Learning scenarios have taken into consideration the diverse cultural and educational backgrounds of the school environments they would be implemented in. The scenarios follow a constructivist approach and promote the inductive and deductive way of learning, as pupils are encouraged to categorize, test structures and apply the knowledge obtained to new situations. These scenarios promote and support problem-based learning, where pupils can be creative, learn how to combine knowledge from different thematic areas, can think critically, analytically, and learn how to solve real problems. Besides pedagogy, scenarios highlight the strengths of UNITE platform itself enabling both in-school and out-of-school activities (also through m-learning). The scenario development process followed in UNITE has included a number of stages that are discussed in this paper. Namely the design of a scenario map based on which e-Learning scenarios emerge, an e-Learning scenario template to structure scenarios in a consistent manner, a number of scenario examples to serve as guides, two handbooks (namely Teacher's and Content Development) to aid teachers, as well as formative and summative evaluation. Teachers were actively involved from the early stages, by being consulted, providing feedback and input in many topics. The UNITE approach for scenario development is in fact a user centered approach

the teacher sets the learning objectives of his/her lesson, designs the learning activities, prepares the content that he/she needs, chooses the tools he/ she will use, defines the assessment strategy he/ she will follow, and designs the e-Learning scenario taking into consideration the needs of his/her class.