My journey from learning TEL to online content creation …
a journey within a journey
I was motivated to write on this platform two months after I had begun my Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) course at the Open University in February 2021. The stimulation and the engagement I encountered while studying TEL encouraged me to blog about what I learned about TEL. Then I made a conscious choice to promote the benefits of the TEL for learners and the educators on this platform. My TEL course came to a completion in October 2021 with my last assignment, and I can now happily say I have passed my course. When I received my paper Certificate in the post, I felt overwhelmed.
Now I like to proceed to the next stage in my journey, applying TEL to my research and developing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), drawing on my newly acquired knowledge. While I am working towards this aim, I would like to continue sharing my experiences on this platform in the coming months and years.
MOOC preparation
I informed you about the MOOC I designed as part of my assessment in my last blog. I have now decided to put this assignment into a reality by making it a fully-fledged, up-and-running MOOC. There are several steps I have identified that I will follow to create my first MOOC:
1. Complete the design of my MOOC
2. Get feedback from colleagues
3. Incorporate the feedback
4. Pilot test MOOC
5. Find a suitable publisher
6. Promote my MOOC
Content Creation Strategy
Secondly, I am interested in exploring if and how TEL models, educational technology, and related pedagogies could be utilised to imbed one of the basic principles of liberal democracy: the rule of law. This is a research area I have been working on for the past three years, and if you like to know more about it, you can check my blogs on substack.com.
In short, my goal is to explore the best TEL model that I could utilise to imbed the protection of the rule of law onto my target audience and enhance their knowledge about the benefits of living in a country that fully upholds and protects the rule of law. By extension, I would like to contribute to knowledge creation on the rule of law.
Now that I am aware of what options are available to me as far as TEL models are concerned. More or less, I know what I will do for the first part of the research, which is to test and decide which form of TEL is best suitable for the study’s objective.
In contrast, what I found striking is my lack of expert knowledge of content creation or the principles of content creation or how best to create content online, for that matter. And this is where both of my projects interconnect. This means I need to challenge my skill set to produce content for my projects that would grab the audience’s interest, tell a relatable story to the readers, and retain the consumers’ attention if you like.
Ultimately whichever TEL model I choose to draw on, the content and the narrative is the game-changer. So what is essential for me and you as well, if you are in a similar situation, is to think about the content and narrative of the message you want to deliver to your target audience and its purpose, tone, style and format.
Since I like to approach different generations, I need to develop a more sophisticated strategy. It may sound a bit extreme, but I am looking into the best practices in content creation, not just in academia but also in Marketing. I have now registered for a free course, ‘Content Strategy Course’ on HubSpot. I will tell you more about it in the coming months.
And other things …
