In February 2011 we used an Open-space approach to investigate, visualise and test designs for possible online distance learning courses. Working with a group of students, administrators, teachers and communications experts, we:

1. created imaginary but realistic profiles of potential students (drawn on A1 paper, each with a photo of the student);
2. posted the student profiles onto the wall of the Rehearsal Room;
   
3. presented a "pitch" for our imaginary student (and debated how realistic it is);
   
4. created matching profiles illustrating how each student would be changed by the course;
5. posted each profile onto the wall to the right of the initial profiles;
6. presented a "pitch" for how they would change (and debated the claims);
7. we then created a detailled narrative or timeline for the course on the floor of the room, illustrating what events and resources would be required to get the students to their desired outcomes;
8. finally, two of the real students did a walk-through of the timeline, explaining it to camera;
9. the walk-through was edited using Screenflow on an iMac, to combine footage of the timeline and the students describing it, this was posted online for all of the workshop participants to view and to respond to;
10. the profiles (before and after) where photographed and posted into an online gallery.
    

The video is shown below, followed by photos of the profiles and the workshop.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Who are you?
3. How OSL and technology are intertwined
4. What is a learning ecology?
5. A systematic and creative method
6. OSL for designing a learning ecology
7. Case Studies
   1. Designing a Learning Ecology
   2. Live Archiving
      
   3. Telepresent Tehran
      
   4. Unpinning Video Editing
   5. Theory Roulette
   6. Mantle of the Designer
   7. 3 Spaces Experiment
   8. Cosmocampus
      
8. A wiki of technologies