This week I was messing around with the pedagogical patterns collector (see here) to see what the predefined patterns were in the system (and applied some to my Blended Intro to mLearning course. I didn't think that the Patterns would be good for a MOOC environment, but I also didn't have much time to mess around in creating a MOOC-appropriate Patterns and associated TLA (teaching learning activities).  So here are two samples of what the machine gave me back based on my inputs (see end of blog post)

All things considered, the PPC was an easy and interesting tool to use. It reminded me a lot of the Absorb, Do, Connect sequence of activities that Horton talks about, something I picked up when I was an Intstructional Design student.

SAMPLE 1: Apply research based based approach in the practice under study

TLA 1 - Introduction

• Students read through the introductory material explaining the role of research based approaches to Mobile Learning Project Design (independent , group size: 1, Read, Watch etc. -  10 minutes)

TLA 2 - Eliciting preliminary conceptions about research based approach

• Students answer a series of questions about the value and the role of research based approaches to Mobile Learning Project Design (independent , group size: 1, Practice -  10 minutes)
• Students produce a short written response to questions about the advantages and issues when adopting research based approaches to the Mobile Learning Project Design (independent , group size: 1, Produce -  15 minutes)

TLA 3 - Drafting a Research Study

• Students write the design of research study relating to Mobile Learning Project Design - following a written outline that includes Question to be investigated:Approach to investigation (method):Issues to consider: (independent , group size: 1, Produce -  10 minutes)

TLA 4 - Produce a plan for conducting your study

• Using the Academic Journals, Books on mLearning, Exploration of Mobile Apps, and Technology Whitepapers produce a plan that can be used to conduct your research study. Once you have finished share it with others. (independent , group size: 1, Practice -  15 minutes)

TLA 5 - Eliciting post-activity conceptions about research based approach

• Students answer a series of questions about the value and the role of research based approaches to Mobile Learning Project Design (independent , group size: 1, Practice -  10 minutes)
• Students produce a short written response to questions about the advantages and issues when adopting research based approaches to Mobile Learning Project Design (independent , group size: 1, Produce -  15 minutes)

TLA 6 - Reflection through survey

• Students spend 5 or so minutes responding to the survey questions below.
• - What did you learn from this activity?- Which phase of creating a research study did you find most difficult?
• - Why did you find that phase harder?
• - What sort of support could have been offered to make devising, designing and developing a research study easier in this lesson?
• - I was able to develop a research study in this lesson.
• - Academic Journals, Books on mLearning, Exploration of Mobile Apps, and Technology Whitepapers enabled me to more quickly and easily develop a research study than if I did not have this system.
• - As a result of this lesson I am more likely to adopt research based approaches to Mobile Learning Project Design
• - Any other comments: (independent , group size: 1, Produce -  10 minutes)

SAMPLE 2: Relate Theoretical Knowledge to Practice

TLA 1 - Briefing

• Teacher introduces the importance of focusing on usage patterns and motivation for mLearning, as one of the general principles of Mobile Instructional Design for students to focus on in their data collection task (Read/Watch/Listen - 10 minutes)

TLA 2 - Planning Data Collection

• Students are grouped into small teams and plan data collection on Mobile Instructional Design (Collaborate - 20 minutes)

TLA 3 - Collecting data

• The data collection is conducted with one or more members of the team live user observation, video recordings of mLearning, user app usage patterns analysis and so on to collect data about usage patterns and motivation for mLearning in Mobile Instructional Design (Practice - 45 minutes)

TLA 4 - Analysing data and presenting data as evidence

• The teams select the best examples of evidence in the recorded data and share them with the rest of the group, providing an explanatory summary for each piece of evidence (Collaborate - 15 minutes)
• All class members explore the collected materials (30 minutes)

TLA 5 - Reflecting on practice using evidence

• The teacher uses the collected materials as stimuli to facilitate a discussion amongst the whole group about the links between students' own Mobile Instructional Design and the general principles of Mobile Instructional Design (Discuss - 45 minutes)