Higher Education Learning Framework (HELF) 2.0 Project
How applicable is the Higher Education Learning Framework now in the digital learning space?
The Higher Education Learning Framework (HELF) and its seven principles of learning were developed around face-to-face delivery, just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden pivot to online delivery of learning. While online learning is not a new form of education delivery, this mode of delivery was new to many educators who found themselves doing the best they could with the resources and tools available within existing infrastructure to support face-to-face delivery and supplementary activities and support.
There is a need to better understand how novice and experienced online educators can be supported to design and deliver online teaching and learning. The HELF 2.0 will draw on:
- Insights from experts in higher education and form the foundations for a set of online learning and teaching principles.
- Existing foundational research and new information from the pandemic to synthesize existing research, knowledge, and frameworks in the evolving landscape of online learning to support teacher readiness.
- Rigorous research and the 25+ year history of practice in educational technology in higher education.
Through a review of the literature and a series of interviews with leading scholars in the area, this project will provide a solid foundation for considering how online learning can be best facilitated into the post-COVID future.
Objectives
While the original iteration of the HELF is not explicitly targeted towards face-to-face teaching and learning, it was constructed when face-to-face delivery was the dominant delivery method in many higher education institutions. The resulting principles of learning are possibly biased towards a face-to-face mode of delivery. This raises some questions and concerns:
- How applicable is the HELF now in the digital learning space?
- Can the seven principles of learning in their current form be implemented into online education?
- Is there a greater or lesser focus on aspects of each principle in an online delivery of education?
This research project aims to address these questions through multiple voices (expert, educator, student) to revise the HELF with an online teaching and learning focus.
