Academia - Martin Dougiamas

Home Page

Hi, I'm Martin Dougiamas.

My brainscan here contains links to all the main sections of this site.

Some of the more popular areas are my free software (especially Moodle and PhotoFrame) and my growing collection of photos. Relatives and friends are probably looking for photos of my kids: Tui and Tommy.

Another popular page is a paper on constructivism that I wrote a few years ago. My most recent paper is this one on creating Moodle.

I always like hearing from friends old and new, so feel free to get in touch.

Interesting papers available.

Whitepaper - Blended Learning

Blended Learning

Attention is now turning to the serious business of bringing rigour and structure to blending different methods of learning.

Some sceptics see blended learning as an old idea dressed up in new clothes. Others, who have a vested interest in defending traditional ways of doing things from the encroaching tide of online learning see it as 'a nice name for not changing very much' (Roger Schank).

However, blended learning is more than just a temporary stay of execution for the training departments. It represents a profound change of orientation for our whole concept of learning - moving us to a learner-centric approach that is sensitive to the real needs of both learners and the context in which learning takes place.

In this ground-breaking new 44-page white paper, Donald Clark, CEO of Epic Group plc, lays out a structure for achieving optimal blends, and identifies the components, criteria, models and tools to be used.

This is a model for corporate sector. Not much references included. This shows the scarcity of research on blended learning at HEI.

Specialist Diploma programme - e-Learning Instructional Designers

Singapore’s economy depends on a well-trained workforce. The Government has called upon industries and businesses to provide training for the workforce in order to remain competitive in the world market. Training of new staff and the re-training of existing staff in various industries will be important to companies to maintain competitiveness and to increase productivity.
For effective training, it is imperative that trainers be able to design and develop good training methodologies and materials, and to use multimedia technology to enhance the effectiveness of training. e-Learning is seen as an important vehicle to deliver many kinds of workplace training solutions, as well as to contribute to worker re-training efforts and lifelong-learning.
Additionally, e-learning by itself is an industry which has grown tremendously in the past couple years, and is forecast to further expand in the near future, both in Singapore and around the world. But with this industry expansion has come a sudden and increased demand for professionals who are capable of designing, developing, and managing e-learning systems focusing on adult learners.

To help meet this demand, NIE has created a Specialist Diploma programme to prepare professional e-Learning Instructional Designers.