Activity: 10 minutes: Course Dimensions

This view has been developed as part of the Course Business Models work at the Open University and is still very much under development - the dimensions detailed may change in the future. More information about this view can be found on Grainne Conole's blog: http://www.e4innovation.com/

Purpose

Use this exercise to visually map an activity across a series of dimensions. It is worth noting that the units these aspects are measured in may be different and therefore non-comparable.

What you need

1. A blank Course Dimensions spider graph. (See embedded slide below. The slide can be downloaded from SlideShare)
2. An activity, module or course to experiment with. You might choose to use an existing one, or design a new activity just for the purpose

Task

For each aspect, and on a scale of 1-10, decide where to place your activity. Use a coloured pen to plot your course on the spidergram. Use your judgement about what units of measurement to use, and don’t get too hung-up about accuracy! What you are aiming to produce is a snapshot of your activity.

Respond

Consider the following questions and add you answers to the discussion below:

1. Who do you work with who might be interested in seeing this view?
2. How useful might it be to compare your chart someone else's? What might this comparison tell you?
3. (For support professions) How might this graph help you talk to course teams about the services, advice, resources and tools you offer?
4. Where in the course design process do you think course teams might find it useful to complete this activity? (5 mins)

This activity format is based on the e-tivity format developed by the Adelie Project Team working on the Carpe Diem project.