Profile Information

Dominique-Alain JAN's profile picture

Mahara and Moodle advocate / Mahara French translator.

I am Director of ICT and a teacher of Economics at the Gymnase de Nyon - a further education college of 1400 students between 16-20 years old - in Canton de Vaud (Switzerland). Since 2007, in addition to my day-to-day teaching at the Gymnase, I have been lecturing on new technology and e-Learning methodology at the State's Teacher Training School (HEP) in Lausanne.

In my school, I am particularly active in alternative learning strategies and I have introduced a course about "Learning to learn". This is a programme given by three colleagues and myself, that helps students with a range of learning difficulties to discover and learn strategies for improving their way of learning and helping them to understand new methods of knowledge acquisition. Furthermore I have developed and I am maintaining our eLearning services on a Moodle platform with more than 45 lessons given in blended learning conditions (part in class, part distance learning).

Latest News about my Work

December 2015

  • End of my 7th session of my course MSMSC25 - "TIC dans l'enseignement des maths et des sciences". My students presented three different personal projects in Technology Enhanced Learning/Teaching. Was very impressed by the progress of one group of two "digital migrants" who presented the best project of the three.

October 2015

  • Paid a visit to the Vienna Teachers School for some research and interviews for my thesis. Very interesting visit to compare how teachers training is organised in Austria comparing to UK, Switzerland, France or Austrasia. Here some traces I left there.
  • Taking part to a Swiss national project on ePortfolios, targeting young unemployed people. My participation in this project includes the development of a training concept for jobs placement professionals. Aims are to update their knowledge about digital identiy, ePortfolio and present ways of acquiring soft and hard skill.

September 2015

  • Positive practitioners feedback after one year of consulting at the HES-SO École de santé in Fribourg. My mission was to help the pedagogical team to build a new syllabus embedding ePortfolios and web 2.0 technologies.

June 2015

  • Program committee of the 2015 edition of Mahara Hui and Moodlemoot francophone in Tours
  • Three papers delivered at the Mahara Hui and Moodlemoot FR in Tours

May 2015

  • Keynote speaker at the Mahara Hui NZ in Auckland (New Zealand)
  • Kenyote speaker at the Moodle-Mahara meetup in Adelaide (Australia)

Lastest News on my learning

I received my final pass results toward the Master of Art in Online and Distance Education with The Open University (UK)

Dominique-Alain JAN - MA ODE (Open)

Qualified with following results

H808 - The Elearning Professional (30 credits ECTS)

Dominique-Alain JAN - PG Cert ODE (Open)

Qualified with following results

H800 - Technology Enhanced Learning: practices and debates (60 credits ECTS)

Overall examinable score (OES): 82
Overall continuous assessment score (OCAS): 76

H810 - Accessible online learning: supporting disabled students (30 credits ECTS)

Overall examinable score (OES): 87
Overall continuous assessment score (OCAS): 77

H809 - Practice-based research in educational technology (30 credits ECTS)

Overall examinable score (OES): 85
Overall continuous assessment score (OCAS): 82

H807 - Innovation in elearning (30 credits ECTS)

Overall examinable score (OES): 82
Overall continuous assessment score (OCAS): 76

H800 - Technology Enhanced Learning: practices and debates (60 credits ECTS)

Overall examinable score (OES): 82
Overall continuous assessment score (OCAS): 76

H807 - Innovation in elearning (30 credits ECTA)

Overall examinable score (OES): 83
Overall continuous assessment score (OCAS): 71

40 -> Pass
85 -> Distinction

Education History

March 2012 - December 2016

Doctorate in Education

Master's Degree in Distance Education and e-Learning (MA) at The Open University

February 2009 - March 2011

February 2009 - Jully 2009

Qualified with a result of H800 - Technology Enhanced Learning: practices and debates (60 credits ECTA) Overall examinable score (OES): 82 Overall continuous assessment score (OCAS): 76 H807 - Innovation in elearning (30 credits ECTA) Overall examinable score (OES): 83 Overall continuous assessment score (OCAS): 71 40 -> Pass 85 -> Distinction

Education Science : Mentoring and Training Teachers (Certificate) at Haute Ecole Pédagogique [HEP]– Lausanne / Switzerland

2004 - 2007

Master’s Degree in Science, Technology and Society (MA) at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne [EPFL]

1999 - 2000

Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine (ND) at The Can. College of Naturopathic Medecine

1996 - 1999

Certificate of Pedagogy for Teaching in College and High School : Biology (MA) at Séminaire pédagogique pour l'Enseignement Supérieur (SPES, now HEP) – Lausanne / Switzerland

1997 - 1998

Certificate of Pedagogy for Teaching in College and High School : Economics, Business and Law (MA) at Séminaire pédagogique pour l'Enseignement Supérieur (SPES, now HEP) – Lausanne / Switzerland

1996 - 1997

Naturopathic Medicine (BA) at Heilpraktiker Hochschule - Saarbrücken / Germany

1990 - 1996

Master’s Degree in Business Information Systems (MBI) (MA) at University of Lausanne / Switzerland : Faculty of Hautes Etudes Commerciales [HEC]

1992 - 1993

Politics and Commercial Studies – graduated “Cum laude” (BA) at University of Fribourg / Switzerland : Sciences Economiques et Sociales, and Lausanne HEC

1988 - 1992

Employment History

January 2008 - Present time

HEP is the State’s Teacher Training School in Lausanne (Switzerland), a postgraduate training of one to two years, for a Master’s Degree in Education Science My syllabus covers the historical and the diversifying usage of technology in teaching, and the practical and didactical change implied by the new technical developments in pedagogy. The students are trained in the use of new learning tools such as wikis, blogs, social networking, web 2.0 and e-Learning with different platforms (Dokeos, Moodle, eXe,…). This program is new at the HEP. I began with a first class of 14 students for the 2007 spring term and, due to its success with an average level of satisfaction of 80%, the course is now oversubscribed, with 37 students selecting it this term out of a maximum of 27 available places.

2005 - Present time

Moodle, Mahara and Open Badges advocate. My aim is to help institution in building successful eLearning projects. My clients are worldwide. I have already worked for companies, schools, secondary and tertiary education institutions and governments in France, Australia, New-Zeeland, Germany, Tunisia, Morocco, Finland and Switzerland. My framework a good Learning Design approach, putting the tools after the concepts, putting the Learning Outcomes first and the technology second.

August 2001 - Present time

The Gymnase de Nyon is a sixth form college of 1,400 students aged 16 to 20. I am responsible for mentoring new teachers during their probationary period. I am also in charge of the school’s web site and I am developing new tools in the e-learning field to help disabled students with distance learning. Since October 2007, I am leading our web Task Force to encourage, promote and manage the usage and the development of new web services, including Web 2.0 and community-driven applications. Since January 2007, I have been in charge of developing relations between our school and the EYP (European Youth Parliament) program. My team represented Switzerland at the EYP Easter 2007 session in Potsdam and did so again at Rotterdam in March 2008. In 2009, Rotterdam is the European Youth Capital, and my team will return there in January 2009 for a special EEYP session.

19 May 2009 - 10 August 2009

I will contribute to the design, development and implementation of an ePortfolio system, such as Mahara. This will involve helping the teachers to identify the learning outcomes to be integrated, establishing how the system will fit in with academic processes and how the technology will work within the virtual learning environment Moodle. The project must help students to identify their areas of strength and weakness, crediting them for prior learning and experience and meeting competencies that are proving difficult, with the idea of being incorporated in a postgraduate syllabus that emphasises professional learning and integrates authentic simulation. I will have also to take into account the continuing rising number of students and try to reduce the overall cost of the project.

August 1996 - July 2001

This Secondary School is a High School of 1,200 pupils aged 12 to 16. As the Head of Department for Computer Science and Biology, I was responsible for designing the curriculum for both subjects and managing the Science Laboratories. I was also responsible for developing, maintaining and supporting the school’s computing network of 150 users (predominantly Macintosh but also some PC’s running Windows). I left when I was invited to create a CD-Rom for the DFJ (Federal Department for Teaching) on the subject of “Education à la citoyenneté” (Education for citizenship).

August 1996 - July 2005

Eracom is a Graphic Arts College of 200 students. I was in charge of different courses including Sociological changes in the technical sphere, Web design for Technical and Medical sites, and Computer- User Interactions. I was responsible for a group of 10 teachers creating Web Based Learning material and developed the e-Learning platform for the school. We were running Ganesha, Moodle, eTeach and WebCT platform to serve 300 users. I left because the e-Learning project was set for a limited period of time. I still visit the school as a Federal Expert, assessing the terminal examinations each year.

1994 - 1997

Immunosa SA is a laboratory specializing in blood analyses I was in charge of staff training and responsible for implementing the ISO (International Standards Organisation) 9002 quality criteria. In my position I had to develop and monitor the ISO 9002 quality system and ensure that it was adhered to by staff. I was first employed on a temporary basis through an independent consultancy, and after six months I was offered a full employment contract. I left when the owners of the company changed and decided to relocate the laboratory to another part of Switzerland and to lower their standards in the quality control.

August 1994 - January 1995

Macif are one of the biggest mutuality insurance firms in France, specialising in car insurance and small businesses insurance. As a consultant I was given a period of time to analyze the effects of changing from mainframe computers to a system of microcomputers, focusing particularly on potential effects on relationships within the company. My report became tbasis of company policy in this field for three years after I left Macif.

August 1988 - January 1990

As a junior consultant, I have been involved in the development of Apple’s software HyperCard, the ancestor of many actual multimedia development tools. I was incorporated in the French translation team for the product and I also worked on user-computer interface solutions. Back in Switzerland, I continued as a part time consultant for Apple, and was in charge of training the Swiss re- sellers, writing the training syllabus and creating the marketing documentation about Hypercard.

Books and Publications

2013-01-03

As an expert I took part to the redaction of this document for the French Minister of Education. This document contains a set of recommendation for tertiary education institutions who must implement an ePortfolio in the near future.

April 2009

The World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning, designed to bring together the world's leading mobile learning researchers, developers and activists in an environment that will stimulate increased deployment of mobile learning and accelerate enhanced innovation. mLearn was the first conference on Mobile Learning and is widely recognized as one of the most prestigious international conferences in the field

7-8 April 2009

at Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK Three presentations and papers, in English, about e-learning, Moodle and Mahara: “About World Economic Forum : an example of blended learning with students of 18”; “Playing with the Roles”; “Mahara, an e-Portfolio experience”.

Professional Memberships

International Association for Mobile Learning

December 2008 - Present time

Association Suisse des Officiers de Protection ABC

2001 - Present time

Association Professionnelle Suisse des Heilpraktikers

October 1999 - November 2007

Association des Praticiens en Thérapie Naturelle (APTN)

March 1999 - Present time

Association Professionnelle Suisse des Heilpraktikers

October 1999 - November 2007

Association des Praticiens en Thérapie Naturelle (APTN)

March 1999 - Present time

2008 - Present time

ALT is a professional and scholarly association which seeks to bring together those with an interest in the use of learning technology. We have over 200 organisations and over 500 individuals in membership

Contact Information

Postal address Rte de Vevey 23
Town Forel (Lavaux)
Country Switzerland
Mobile phone +41 79 240 70 10

Postal address in UK

21F Sheen Lane

SW14 8HY Mortlake

Interests

  • e-learning in business and education
  • Technology
  • Education
  • Sociology

Academic Goals

Doctorate in Education

My Last Tweets RSS

Last updated on 30 June 2022, 11:01

MAODE: My work in Progress RSS

Activities, Reflection, Essays during my OU Master of Art in Online and Distance Education training and EdD Research

A conference from Helen Barrett on ePortfolio and Social networks

Published on 1311862155

Browsing the web I found this Helen Barrett’s talk of ePortfolio. Helen Barret is presented as the grandmother of ePorfolio, and according with all the work and researches she dedicated to ePortfolios in the last 20 years, I agree with this claim. In this 19 minutes conference extract she is speaking about students ownership and […]

D844 Block One– Exercice 2 Question 3: What do the two models have in common?

Published on 1308235523

According to Hammersley and Atkinson (2007) the two competing philosophical positions in ethnography: positivism and naturalism, have in common that they both try to maintain a detached position of the researcher, and they both consider social interactions or phenomena as objects. They should be seen as complementary each other instead of  rival methods. References Hammersley, […]

D844 Block One–Exercice 2 Question 2: What differing philosophical positions have underlain qualitative and quantitative research?

Published on 1308234633

What differing philosophical positions have underlain qualitative and quantitative research? (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007, p. 4-10) Hammersley and Atkinson speak about a clash between two competing philosophical positions: positivism and naturalism (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007, p. 4). They consider the major tenets of  ‘positivism’ as the following : experiment results must be quantitavely measurable events […]

D844 Block One–Exercice 2 Question 1: What is ethnography, according to Hammersley and Atkison?

Published on 1308231446

What is ethnography, according to Hammersley and Atkinson (2007, p. 1-5) Hammersley an Atkison, claim that ethnography comes from nineteenth-century Western anthropology. Ethnography was primarily ‘a descriptive account of a community or culture, usually one located outside the West’ (ibid, p 1). Mainly ethnography in the twentieth-century means writing about the experiences and observations (data) […]

D844 Block One–Exercice 1: What is ethnography?

Published on 1308145548

In D884, the OU’s course named “Ethnography”, the fist question of module one is: “What is ethnography”. Through the reading of a few articles’ and books’ extract the course guide invites the student to build a representation of what is ethnography with their own words. The common grip among the plethora of definitions and concepts […]

MoodleMoot FR a commencé

Published on 1277727743

Voici le stream des Tweet envoyés lors du MoodleMoot FR 2010 à Troyes Mahoodle ! Pourquoi il ne faut pas attendre Moodle 2.0 ?

Using wiki with students as a notebook for ICT learning

Published on 1265201842

Executive summary In this report I will explain what is a wiki and how I use it in my ICT course with my students as a participative notebook. I will point out the different outcomes and drawbacks I have noticed after two years of practice. Finally I will provide some recommendations for using wikis with […]

H808-Core Activity 8-11: Creating a podcast

Published on 1262468142

Here is the transcript of my podcast created for Activity 8-11 in the H808 course by the Open University. If time is money, podcasts are expensive. ———— Transcript ———— Hello I am Dominique-Alain JAN, a student in the H808 Open University course called “The elearning professional”. For the purpose of activity 8-11, I am delivering […]

H808 Core Activity 6-4: Reflecting on the group dimension of professional practice

Published on 1260291386

In this activity we had to work in a group, chosen by our tutor, with the aim of making a presentation. The information we received was as follows : —- begin paste  —– You can organise your group in any way you choose; for example, by choosing a coordinator, identifying who has the necessary technical […]

H808 Core Activity 2-5: Criteria for reflective writing

Published on 1256835782

In some courses, notably in nursing, teaching and other humanities learning, students are requested, encouraged or made to create and/or provide pieces of reflexive writing about their learning process. Starting such a task is not necessarily easy for everyone and writing about personal things, to look inside our personal thoughts, may seem to be for […]
Last updated on 29 March 2024, 0:02