Openlearning Course
Mindful Emotion Coaching
Functionality:
-Scale: This class can be scaled to accommodate an unlimited number of learners, but there are minor concerns regarding the ability to create smaller communities of practice.
-Ease of Use: This class tool does have a user-friendly interface that does not require any training. It allows the user to break up larger sized activities into smaller parts using subpages. The material is presented clearly but with limited opportunity for personalization.
-Tech Support: The help and support feature works well by offering user support documentation. It also has the ability to communicate with a customer success advocate to solve problems and troubleshoot tasks.
-Hypermediality: This course has minor concerns because it allows for communication through text only. There is a discussion page at the end of each module and a live chat feature with current class users. The course does allow non-sequential engagement with material by allowing the user to move around throughout each module.
Accessibility:
-Accessibility Standards: The tool has some limited capacity to meet accessibility guidelines because it does not offer alternative text to images or audio to text transcripts.
-User-Focused Participation: This tool works well in addressing the needs of diverse users. The information is presented in a very simple format and at a slower pace with links to other websites and additional learning opportunities.
-Required Equipment: The required equipment is very basic. An electronic device with internet connection is all that is required for proper use of the tool.
-Cost of Use: All aspects of this tool are free of cost, and participants can receive a certificate upon completion.
Technical:
-Integration/Embedding within an LMS: This tool works well in that full functionality
can be accessed in any browser as long as the link to the webpage is provided.
-Desktop/Laptop Operating Systems: This learning tool can be effectively utilized with any standard up to date operating system.
-Browser: This learning tool can be effectively utilized with any standard up to date browser.
-Additional Downloads: No additional software downloads are required.
Mobile Design:
-Access: This learning tool has minor concerns in that its design does not take into consideration the constraints of a mobile device’s smaller screen size. Access to the chat and discussion features is difficult to locate on a mobile device.
-Functionality: Core features of the main tool are functional, but the chat and discussion features are not readily accessible resulting in limited impact during the use of the tool.
Offline Access: There are serious concerns regarding offline access because an internet connection is required to access the learning tool.
Privacy, Data Protection, and Rights:
-Sign Up/Sign In: The learning tool does require that you set up an external account with openlearning.com by providing an email address, first and last name, cookies, and usage data acknowledgement.
-Data Privacy and Ownership: There are minor concerns regarding data privacy and ownership because the privacy policy allows anyone with an OpenLearning account access to all discussion posts including data that is imported by the learner.
-Archiving, Saving, and Exporting Data: There are limitations to archiving and saving data because users cannot download or save information, and they must be logged in to access content. The learning tool does allow users to import data in the discussion section.
Social Presence:
– Collaboration: This learning tool works well in supporting a community of learning through both synchronous and asynchronous opportunities. Learners are allowed to go at their own pace through the material as well as post and reply to comments in all of the learning activities. Learners can also have live chats with other participants.
-User Accountability: There are serious concerns regarding user accountability. Discussion posts are encouraged, but there are no controls holding users accountable for their actions. Users can post anything in the discussions.
-Diffusion: OpenLearning is a widely known online learning platform which increases the likelihood that learners have basic technical competence while using various learning tools.
Teaching Presence:
-Facilitation: There are minor concerns regarding facilitation. The course has 4400+ students which limits the instructor’s ability to actively manage and monitor engagement and feedback. Feedback is seldom provided.
-Customization: There are minor concerns regarding customization as the tool only allows the learner to break up large activities using sub-pages.
-Learning Analytics: There are minor concerns here. . The instructor can monitor a learner’s performance on limited measures through quizzes and discussion posts which are easily accessed.
Cognitive Presence:
-Enhancement of Cognitive Tasks: There are serious concerns related to engagement in targeted cognitive tasks due to the lack of teaching presence required to establish and grow cognitive presence. This tool does not adequately facilitate discourse and involves no direct instruction.
-Higher Order Thinking: This tool may not engage all learners in higher order thinking skills. While the tool provides some useful information, there are no clear expectations related to critical discourse. The lack of teaching presence limits both moderating and shaping of discourse which are both necessary to establish a community of inquiry.
-Metacognitive Engagement: This tool reflects serious concerns regarding opportunities for receiving formative feedback. Of the five learning modules, there is only one quiz consisting of two true or false questions. The only feedback available is through discussion posts.
Mindful Emotion Coaching is a trauma-informed approach to wellness. This elearning tool is centered around regulating emotion and recognizing stressors. It is suitable for everyone and can be taken at any pace. It offers practical, thought-provoking information along with additional learning resources. Its constructivist approach provides materials to the learner in hopes of creating meaning from experience. This elearning tool is dependent on the intrinsic values of its learners.
I would suggest that this tool improve accessibility by making all material, keyboard accessible. This would allow the use of assistive technologies such as screen readers, sound icons, and braille output devices.
Improvements could be made to the mobile design that would allow better access to chat and discussions. I also recommend that only registered class participants have access to materials and discussions to improve data privacy/ownership.
I recommend limiting availability to a manageable number of learners in order to establish a teaching presence. This would allow the instructor to moderate and shape the direction of discourse resulting in a successful community of inquiry. Furthermore, I would recommend that each learner post an initial response and respond to at least one classmate on each learning module based on a provided rubric.
Engagement in cognitive tasks could be enhanced by conducting pre- assessment surveys to develop materials that tap into the learners’ natural curiosities. This would keep course content relevant and promote higher order thinking.
https://www.openlearning.com/courses/mindful-emotion-coaching/homepage/?cl=1