My presentation at the Jisc student experience experts group Birmingham 29 March 2017.

1. Adventures in Agile
curriculum design
Jisc student experience experts group
Birmingham 29 March 2017

2. 2
Matthew Moran
BA PhD
Programme Director and Head of
Technology-enhanced Learning
Matthew.Moran@open.ac.uk
@moran_matthew
www.linkedin.com/in/moranmatthew1/

3. 3
EXPERIMENTATION

4. 4

5. staff
275
new modules
175+
maintenance
modules
450+
corporate &
commercial
150+
25+MOOCs
WHO: D&P TEAM
Translation
Commissioning
Technology
Enhanced Learning
plus strategic projects
plus external suppliers
Open Media &
Informal Learning
Library
Services
£14.1m budget
Strategy, Planning & Resources Academic
Learning & Teaching Innovation (LTI)
Development
& Production
We help to provide life-changing learning
by collaborating to create, deliver, maintain and support innovative
course content for students across multiple formats and channels
20Graphics
& Artwork
30Interactive
Media & Testing
89Editors
17Student
Helpdesk
36Media Assistants
& Co-ordinators
26Video
& Audio
20Warehouse
& Distribution
6Materials
Procurement
200,000,000+words 1,000,000+images
7,000+videos10,000+audios1,000+interactives
3,000+online items
1,300+
157,000+packages
40,000+helpdesk calls
Editorial Digital Learning Media V&A
Distribution & HelpdeskMedia Operations & Resources
words &
images
rich
media
integration
into
websites
& books
dispatch
& support
WHAT: PER YEAR
LTI DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION
books
(1M+ copies, inc. buy-ins)
18Online
Services
v2.0
24 March 17
4Resource
Management

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7. Can we use Agile principles and
methods in course design to
improve system performance and
enhance learner experience?
7

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ADDIE

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Characteristics of ‘the new methodology’
of Agile instructional design:
●Adaptive rather than predictive
(welcome change, even late on in design)
●User centred not process obsessed.
(Fowler, 2003)

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Agile principles promote teamwork among
designers, and enhance quality of outputs.
(Sweeney, 2010)
Agile principles achieve quicker delivery,
satisfaction of stakeholder needs, greater
development team collaboration and innovation.
(Shor, 2012)

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Experiments in Agile learning design
and course production using:
• Agile principles only
• Agile practices and tools (standups, Kanban,
prioritisation, reviews, retrospectives)
• Specific Agile methods including Scrum, DSDM
• Hybrid waterfall-Agile methods.

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16. Breakthroughs
16
• Agile builds happy teams
• Enhances quality of outputs
• Prioritises learner requirements and experience
• Improved retention and progression data
• Speed to market
• Indications of efficiency gains (and cost savings).

17. Breakdowns
17
• Unhappy teams – anxiety, conflict, storming
• Culture shock for the uninitiated
• Learning curve risks to quality, learner experience
• What works for one team doesn't necessarily
transfer or scale
• Management expectations that Agile is magic
bullet (quicker, cheaper, better).

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Takeaways
• Define performance improvement objectives
• Don't try to be a purist – take what's useful for
your goals
• Embed Agile values and beliefs before methods
• Start small, build confidence, scale up slowly
• Done is better than perfect
• Don't neglect review and retrospectives –
learning and continuous improvement.

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EXPERIMENTATION

20. 20
Matthew Moran
BA PhD MBA MAODE (pending)
Programme Director and Head of
Technology-enhanced Learning
Matthew.Moran@open.ac.uk
@moran_matthew
www.linkedin.com/in/moranmatthew1/