what does learning design mean for you?

[Yishay Mor]

This is a discussion thread for week 1's "brainstorming" activity:

http://www.olds.ac.uk/the-course/week-1/brainstorm

[Adam]

My learning style is usually practical, and I value having a concrete example to review and discuss, so would it be possible for someone to post an example learning design here to help inform the discussions in this thread? One possiblilty would be the LD for this OLDS-MOOC, since I am sure that the team must have this readily to hand?

[Ebba Ossiannilsson]

I like the brainstorming tasks , you can really see how knowledge is growing, but on some stage you have to decide how thigs come together or maybe is growing to far from the points However I dont like that mIndmeister is used as it cost money, it is just free fpr 30 days, and the course last for 9 weeks. I think this is really a barrier for motivation and learning, In free courses free material shuld be used, that is basic!!

[Itana Maria Gimenes]

Yes, it is true, is there any free tool? can we have the source to convert?

Itana

[Itana Maria Gimenes]

Hi,

Learning design is supposed to have many commons ideas with Computer Science where we apply design concepts and models to most subareas. For instance, I find it very similar to software design or business process design (workflow). So, regarding this aspect the understanding of  learning design is very straightforward. However, the targets learning and software are different. We say that software is intangible, but learning is much more. One has to have a profound knowledge of the subject you are designing a course in order to come out with good ideas. Here is where you need different pedagogical strategies to realize them into activities. Making this combination of activities, content, collaboration, reflection explicit is the key issue. 

OULDI, which the method I am familiar with, worked very nicely for me. Before I used to think of courses focusing on the content and the activities were designed on the fly based on previous experience. By learning what people do in distance education we get more conscious of what we should do face to face. I could post an example of design but I have to find out how to attach a file here.

I am interested to know the path of classical literature of learning design? Does anyone knows a good survey?

Cheers, Itana Gimenes

[Joshua Underwood]

I'd agree and I think people should feel free to use any other free mind mapping tool. There is a 'basic' free option for mindmeister but it isn't very obvious - see bottom left 'basic' under the free 30 day trials.

https://www.mindmeister.com/pricing

[Catherine El-Bez]

Hello everyone,

I need to go deeper in the different readings, but for me it seems to me that learning design must start first with a reflection on the learning outcomes, teaching method and assessment. Once you got the relationship between them. then we can begin to design a learning activity.
According to Biggs, (Constructive alignment) teaching method and assessment must be aligned on the learning outcomes:
Extract from his webiste : http://www.johnbiggs.com.au/constructive_alignment.html
<< In constructive alignment, we start with the outcomes we intend students to learn, and align teaching and assessment to those outcomes. >>

This figure summarises the relationship between these three concepts and learning design referred to as the “instructional triangle of learning designs

Reference of this image: http://labspace.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=426992

Catherine

[Vahid Masrour]

I would define Learning design as the planning i go through when i want to deliver training (when i have an Organizational Development hat on)

It inevitably begins with the question: What do i want my participants to be able to achieve by the time the workshop (or series of workshops) is done? This helps me set my expectations (amongst other things because a time frame is a very plausible constraint).

Once the above is said and chosen, it's time to pick/create activities that will get the participants where i/they want to go. For this, i use David Kolb's Learning cycle.

While in the inaugural presentation by Yishai Mor, at about 28:00 he goes onto "Tools" and wonders whereas there could ever be an ultimate Learning Design Tool (to rule them all) i would therefore like to propose my candidate for this: the Learning Cycle, proposed by David Kolb (see http://www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/ldu/sddu_multimedia/images/kolb_cycle.gif for a 1 picture explanation) and develloped by Anello & Hernandez at Nur University as part of the Moral Leadership framework. 

The learning styles component of Kolb's propositions i can do without, but the learning cycle, which forces the designer to include a variety of activities in the class design has worked wonderfully well for me over the past 15 years.

[Yishay Mor]

Hi Adam,

Check out: http://www.ld-grid.org/resources/learning-designs

[p003...@brookes.ac.uk]

Thanks Catherine - this is helpful - although I guess we could expand this model to include other aspects - e.g. level of learning, who the students are, what their context is (e.g. are they working or not?), etc. What does everyone think? Best regards, Jeff

[Will Pollard]

Ida Brandão has produced an amazing collection of definitions and models of learning design as a wiki:
http://oldsmooc1week1learningdesigndefinition.pbworks.com/w/page/62589007/Learning%20Design
I don’t know if she intends to open this up for everyone to edit - perhaps an alternative to our mindmap?

Definitely agree with this. Several diagrams remind me of Plan - Do - Check / Study - Act which comes from quality ideas. See the cloud http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/2455   Deming and Dewey both have a base in pragmatism.

I hope there will be more on "design science". The words are used in management but I'm not sure it means the same.

Will the video on YouTube be Creative Commons? If so the remix button will show up.  

[Will Pollard]

[Darren Gash]

Hi Ebba, you can still use it for free after 30 days afaiaa - the restriction is you can create up to 3 mindmaps yourself, however this shouldn't affect your access to other mindmaps that have been set up with universal access, as per the learning design brainstorm.

On Monday, 14 January 2013 18:22:38 UTC, Ebba Ossiannilsson wrote:

[Lindsay Jordan]

I agree with Catherine (and John Biggs!)... to an extent. I've used the following learning activity with teachers at various different stages of their careers (from GTAs to course directors) and most people have found it very useful as a structure for designing learning - whether that's a single workshop or a Masters unit: http://prezi.com/wx6vngjqs-pj/learning-teaching-in-art-design-2012-designing-for-learning/. I usually give people up to an hour for this activity, working in groups of 3-4. It works best if the group chooses an interdisciplinary topic, for example an Introduction to Academic Writing, or Documenting Creative Processes. At the end of the session, when each group presents the course they've designed, each participant in the room is given the role of either a teacher on the course or a student thinking of enrolling on the course, and they have to ask questions of the presenters accordingly.

An alternative perspective on learning design that I've enjoyed engaging with is Eisner's thinking on what he calls the 'artistry' of learning design and educational evaluation (http://www.infed.org/thinkers/eisner.htm). While nothing Eisner says is hugely contradictory of Biggs' approach, the way he says it is a nice antidote to the more scientific feel of constructive alignment... and I work with Art & Design teachers so it's good to have it in the toolkit ;)

[Carolina Kuhn H]

Pufffff!!! A lot of information, lots of views, lots of theory. 

I have been thinking on how to define Learning Design? It is indeed about designing something. And designing is creating something particular for a particular use or purpose. It is an object to be created (A learning episode) intended to accomplish certain goals (Learning as it best) to be used in a particular context or environment (virtual, face2face, etc) and it has to satisfy some standards or specifications (the one of the government  the institution, the boss, etc).

 So designing is investing time and creative thinking to create a learning sequence for a particular public in a particular context. There are important things to take into account. As if I am designing a table I need to think of what would be the function of this table and following this I will conceive the best form or shape to accomplish the function. The idea of a good design is to help the users to perform the intended task, to be a tool for the user to perform the task as best as possible and with the best outcomes as possible. There is much more to say, but there is so much said that keeping interventions short is best for me

[Nathalie Ferret]

Well, I don’t believe that I can bring new insights on this matter. Everyone said, more or less, my point of view of what Learning Design means to me, and I feel the need of more reading and deeper reflection, but, nevertheless…and because the time is short…

Learning Design, is one of the many responsibilities of the teacher practice and also one of the most difficult (together with assessment) but pleasing one. It supposes, of course, grasp understanding of curriculum, mastery of the learning contents, knowing the organization, the social environment and the learner’s characteristics-profile, following and application of teaching-learning methods (within a pedagogical approach) and skills, appropriating the right tools, having creativity, among others.

In other words, it can be seen as a process of planning, creating and applying learning activities.

Whatever the use of “instructional design”, “course design” or “learning design” terms, it seems that the focus is on Design. It may be the better term to apply to this part of “learning-teachering” and to lead us rethinking pedagogy for this digital era. But, I have a silly question: within this network society, ciberculture,…is there much difference between teacher’s and marketing designer’s activity, for example?

Best regards

Nathalie

[Kelly Edmonds]

To simplify learning design, I start with the concept of design - this gets me excited as it implies creativity. I see myself as an artist with a blank canvas, and the task of creating a learning experience and environment for another/others.

From there I focus on learning, considering the many theories others have posted in this discussion.More so, I reflect on the topic and task at hand, and determine how best to create the experience and environment (i.e. practical, reflective, social, etc.)

I also consider the parameters of the learning piece, such as institutional/client needs, restraints, their view of learning

Finally, I return to design and consider and choose the artifacts, tools, resources, platforms, etc to begin the design. I like to work with the stakeholders during the design process to ensure it meets their needs.

[Grainne Conole]

Learning design is an approach to designing learning activities and interventions. Learning design as a research field has developed a range of resources and tools to help practitioners create more effective learning activities that are pedagogically informed and make good use of technologies. 

Gráinne

On Monday, 14 January 2013 00:56:11 UTC, Yishay Mor wrote:

[Daniel Livingstone]

More questions than answers...

Is Learning Design a specific approach to designing learning activities and interventions? Or does it simply refer to the conscious and deliberate design of learning activities? 

From Yishay's LD-Grid link, there are a set of tools for designing learning activities, but presumably we can work with any tools to create new designs - so it is not necessarily a technology driven process.

[Adam]

Thanks Yishay - that was really helpful. I'll spend some time comparing the various representations of the same activity (a session for school children on 'healthy eating'). From a first browse through I was struck by the contrast between the neatness of the diagrams ("this is how it works") and the messy reality of the Design Narrative ("this is how it really worked the first time we used it in a challenging school situation"). There is a military saying that no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy and perhaps the same is true of learning designs and learners! I suspect that as we approach the end of the first week here that you understand this all too well :-) Still, adapt, improvise and press on...

Adam

[kjoh...@seattleacademy.org]

Online Learning Design for me would generally consist of:

1. defining the essentials questions or topic of study (and boundaries if applicable)
2. setting up structures for interaction between participants
3. setting up structures for sharing work
3. guidance and tasks with the least amount of restriction and maximum amount of choice
4. some regular synchronous events (two maybe to accommodate time zones)
5. also, incorporating some element of surprise ( I know this is vague) keeps people engaged

[João Henriques]

In my opinion, the learning design is a plan which defines a process that aims the learning and crosses through various processes. It starts with the definition of the learning objectives, followed by the creation of tools that will allow interveners to interact, exchange information, and who can guide them so that they can achieve the goals, the next step involves a process of evaluation and , then, the entire model should be analyzed and must make the corrections that we find convenient.

[Ricardo Carvalho]

Teaching is changing. I think that's clear for everyone. What could we make to make my lessons more successefuly? Probably our ansewer is somewere around the way that we teach and how do we teach. Isn't this our learning design?

 

Regards

Ricardo

 

Segunda-feira, 14 de Janeiro de 2013 0:56:11 UTC, Yishay Mor escreveu:

[João Henriques]

The success of his teaching is the goal of any teacher, all learning designs must seek to achieve that goal

Regards

João

[DLS]

Something I think is very important in all this is keeping things fairly simple. I don't mean simple as in our ambitions for our teaching should be simple, but rather we shouldn't over-complicate the process of design. I've seen some learning designs and programmes/software which are so complicated as to render the subject/content of the design almost unintelligible  When I see these designs I wonder who they are for - the designer/teacher, the students, or more likely to satisfy some inspection authority...

[Bronwyn Hegarty]

Hi Kelly
Your explanation resonates with the approach that I use as well. However, the definitions so far are teacher centric because it is the teacher who is designing the learning. I think we probably need to throw away the theories and the models - even though Ida has done a fabulous job of collating them on the wiki - and begin afresh using a learner-centric model - even the Arcs model by John Keller that Ida states is more learner-centred is teacher led. This would mean moving to a constructivist/connectivist framework, and leaving cognitive/behaviourist approaches behind. I think the role of teachers is to teach critical thinking, scaffold metacognition and to guide students in how to be self-directed and self-regulated learners - our role is to guide the students to develop their own strategies for learning, and to manage information - access, filter, evaluate and create - and in doing so they will develop the content they need to reach their learning goals. So I am a fan of learning design whereby students take the reins and the teacher facilitates the process. What do you think? Bronwyn Hegarty

[LesC]

For me Learning Design is principally about form and function as it is in other areas of design. We produce models, prototypes, testing routines, field trial our products, review, redesign -  just the same as any other designer. We also need to be sure that there is an identifiable, receptive market for our product. We also need to check out the competition and if we can get away with it, improve on their designs without breaching any copyright. We need to be aware of new technologies and materials and "manufacturing" processes.

.. and if we can produce something that is also beautiful and a timeless classic, then all the better.

[Mark Nichols]

I'm reluctant to sign up for a trial that requires my credit card, so will try to find a storm among my cloudy thoughts here!

Learning design means for me an intentional and subject-centred activity designed to transform a learner, such that the learner becomes a conversant and able thinker about that subject. Learning design must be elegant, challenging, horizon-broadening, purposeful, and logical. Elegant, but not simplistic; challenging, but not difficult; horizon-broadening but not aimless; purposeful but not limited; logical but not predictable. People who have benefited from learning design don't just know more, they think differently. Knowing more is almost incidental, because those benefiting from learning design have become more. They haven't just read about the subject, watched videos about it or had online discussion about it; they've conversed with it. They know the subject, not just as a series of concepts but almost like a familiar friend. There's a poetic subtlety about it... anyone can string words together, but there's only one Wordsworth. Anyone can 'design a course' but only an artistic few can design learning.

Possibly more mist than storm, and I'm conscious that I've injected much of my own appreciation of education here... reminds me much of what I've read by Parker Palmer, Diana Laurillard, Paul Ramsden, and others whose work has inspired and changed me.

[Bronwyn Hegarty]

This discussion about defining learning design has really got the steam rising for me. I realised as I trolled through the readings that so far, the definitions of learning design are all teacher centric because the teacher is always in charge of designing the learning. I think we probably need to throw away the established theories and the models - even though Ida has done a fabulous job of collating them on the wiki - and begin afresh using a truly learner-centric model - even the Arcs model by John Keller that Ida states is more learner-centred is teacher-led. This would mean moving to a constructivist/connectivist framework, and leaving cognitive/behaviourist approaches behind.

I think the role of teachers is to mentor and to teach critical thinking, scaffold metacognition and to guide students in how to be self-directed and self-regulated learners - our role is to guide students to develop their own strategies for learning, and to obtain and manage the information they need - access, filter, evaluate and create - and in doing so they will develop the knowledge they need to reach their learning goals. Teachers are thereby freed up from hours of designing and developing content and activities, and can support student learning more effectively through mentoring. I have some ideas for the ideal learning design approach, please read more on my blog.
Bronwyn Hegarty

[Marie Arndt]

Learning design for me may sound simplistic, but it means to me the detailed organisation and presentation of course content, online or otherwise, ie delivery. We tend to use it mostly for online delivery but it is really the same thing as planning a F2F course, but with different requirements due to the online format. Generally, I find that learning design online appeals to the creative side of me, as I have the added advantage of utilising IT tools, although I'm not a techy person. May think of more later.

[Roderick Sims]

Hi Grainne,

The discussions here seem to either generalise or specify Learning Design. My take is that it is a multi-faceted approach that involves process, pedagogy and politics! The model I have developed is specifically for online, but for me the key is focusing on the student and what they should or can do with the knowledge they gain through participating in course activities. So much to say, so little time (right now!)

[Roderick Sims]

Hi Bronwyn,

How strange. I would argue and strongly advocate that learning design is NOT about " the detailed organisation and presentation of course content, online or otherwise, ie delivery.". In fact, learning design is the very opposite - it is about learning activities and students' application of knowledge.

Perhaps you mean something else by "course content" - but for me those words are synonymous with subject matter.

So many interesting perspectives on what one might think a more general topic.

Rod

[Bronwyn Hegarty]

Hi Rod
I think you have got my name mixed up with Marie Arndt's post. My take on learning design was pretty much opposite to hers - as you will see when you check out my previous posts. :) Bronwyn

[Bronwyn Hegarty]

I get you Mark, in the mist. :)  So if that is the case, that "only an artistic few can design learning" are student's actually capable of designing their learning - if we are to believe the guff I have been spreading in my posts and on my blog about individualized learning design? Surely each learner with the aid of an innovative mentor (and perhaps they are hard to find) can create a symphony of beauty for them-self?  But where are they to get these creative ideas from?

As mentioned in the article by Bennett et al. (2011), it is hoped that "support tools will enable teachers to adopt new and effective educational designs by exposing teachers to new pedagogical ideas and support their design processes" (p. 152). However, unless teachers have autonomy in what and how they teach then they are unlikely to be in a position to make design decisions, and hence unlikely to be able to access design support tools, since the pre-conditions to do so do not exist. The message of the research is that the design challenges that teachers face need to be further understood before appropriate support tools and strategies can be provided for learning design.

So if teachers are going to mentor students to design their own learning experiences, then I would expect that teachers need to be highly skilled in learning design. Would you agree? But how can this occur? Bron

Reference
Sue Bennett , Lisa Thomas , Shirley Agostinho , Lori Lockyer , Jennifer Jones & Barry Harper (2011): Understanding the design context for Australian university teachers:
implications for the future of learning design, Learning, Media and Technology, 36:2, 151-167
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2011.553622

[Mark Nichols]

Hiya Bron,

I meant the comment "only an artistic few can design learning" with a deliberate sense of the qualitative nature of learning experiences. Not all learning opportunities are equal! Perhaps I ought to have italicised it and contrasted: "...anyone can design learning, but only an artistic few can design learning". Sort of, "anyone can make a car. Only Lamborghini can make a car". 

You asked if I think that student are "actually capable of designing their learning"... sure, once they have the requisite perspective or framework with which to do so. Personally at undergraduate levels I reckon that having 'students designing their own learning' is a bit of a cop-out. Otherwise what is formal learning for? We could design opportunities for students to explore learning independently, but that's different (and still reliant on learning design) as you catch in your question:

So if teachers are going to mentor students to design their own learning experiences, then I would expect that teachers need to be highly skilled in learning design. Would you agree? But how can this occur? Bron

"How can this occur?" I reckon it occurs whenever a teacher understands the subject and seeks to give the subject its voice (a la Palmer). It's not being 'teacher-centred', 'student-centred' or 'learning-centred', but being 'subject-centred', introducing the subject not as a detached collection of knowledge but as a living, breathing, dynamic personality worthy of respect. It's about seeing the student as someone who needs to meet the subject, be changed by it, converse with it, experience it. It's about believing deeply in the value of education, deep learning, perspective transformation, authentic design. It's not necessarily about 'content', 'multimedia', 'learning objects', 'online presence' or even 'online'. I reckon http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2007/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/narayanan.pdf is a shining example.

[Joshua Underwood]

Hi Bronwyn,

Can feel your steam rising :-) I had decided to take a break today but felt drawn in byt this thread. I kind of agree with you and kind of don't. Certainly, I can see why you feel much of this sounds not learner-centred and that reminds me of Stephen Downes 'call it teaching design' comment. I'd agree that what you talk about on your blog is also a kind of learning design and one that appeals to me. I think though that the amount and kind of structure, planning, initiative and even framing of expected/provisional outcomes coming from learners or teachers is something that can be and should be dynamic and negotiated. I think that the pedagogic strategy of (distributed) scaffolding is very useful here, though I know that many will also see that as a teacher-centric approach. Personally, I don't and very much by into Leo Van Lier's interpretation of scaffolding in Action-based teaching, autonomy and identity. 

For what it's worth my take on learning design in my journal this week was - "My learning design practice involves: thinking out and implementing environments and trajectories of interactions that I believe are likely to engage others and lead to useful learning; attempting to enact and help others enact these trajectories; being open and responsive to emerging opportunities; allowing others to take control. All of that in a creative & rigorous way of course ;-) and with an eye to making it easy to evaluate and modify the designs and re-use and adapt them.

Of course that is an ideal. I always operate under constraints including lack of time, skill, knowledge, competence, motivation and that’s not to mention external constraints introduce by learners and other stakeholders, and of course nothing ever goes quite as expected and I make lots of mistakes, but I try to learn from them…." 

[Marie Arndt]

Hi Grainne,

Succinct and to the point; just as I remember your comments while I was doing the MAODE.

Kind regards, Marie

[Susanne Winchester]

Learning Design has two aspects- the product on the one hand, i.e. the change the learning/teaching should bring out, and the process, i.e. which steps need to be taken to reach the product. I agree with others, that it is a cyclic process, starting with an observation or a feeling that something should be addressed or changed. Find the issue/problem to be addressed, deconstruct it and plan learning activities for each stage of the learning process.  I agree with Bronwyn – the teacher is the creator of content and content organisation, the guide through the many pathways through the content and generally facilitates the learning by creating varied learning experiences that enrich the learner. There should be sufficient choice and a general fostering of critical thinking in students to empower and encourage autonomy. Offering choices forces students to make decisions about their own learning. This is even more important in designing open courses as it is just impossible to base design on students’ particular needs. . Instead careful observation is required of the designer. Kelly Edmonds mentioned that she likes to include the stakeholders in the design process but I wonder if this is feasible. MOOCs are only open to those who manage to get online – but is the openness restricted further? Assumptions have to be made about the digital literacy of the “consumer”. Can MOOCs be inclusive?  

[Jane Nkosi]

Hi Ricardo,

You are quite right that the teaching landscape is changing. As I was reading the different definitions of learning design I kept coming back to the question of making the learner learn better. Learning design should bring to bear, the way learners learn. I think the 8 questions proposed by Hobson George are central to the learning design process.

Jane

[Bronwyn Hegarty]

Hello Joshua and Mark
Yes Stephen Downes does see the ideas in the learning design declaration as teacher led - thanks for that link. It is a paradox, because for all my spouting about mentoring and learner-centredness, if I imposed my views on students that they must design their own learning then I am still imposing my ideas, as a teacher, on them...and since moist of my students are teachers, they want flexibility in how they learn.

As you say negotiation of what the students actually want is probably more important than anything. However, as Mark Nichols has mentioned in his post, the students actually want value for money, and for many of them content, and lots of it is what they are after. And they want to learn in a manner that suits them. So I do agree with you Mark, the teacher is there as the subject expert, so I guess learning design is about how we convey that subject to the stakeholders who want value for money since they have to pay for obtaining that knowledge.

But you can bet that I will do my best to inform the teachers in my care about the various options open to them, and that it is not just about the content. I feel strongly about that. Now I am off to complete my week one reflections, more confused than when I started. Ha ha. Bron

[Cristina Neto]

Learning design.... Isn't it the way we prepare our classes? The materials we choose for that particular class or for a particular student. It's not relevant wether we use technology or not. It is always the way we, teachers, choose to conduct our class in order to our students to be successful. If we choose to use some kind of technology, we should use whatever is appropriate for the purpose we established.

In online education, the difference lies in the fact that we use technological tools and resources, but still to promote succes in our students. However, we are living diferent times and we deal with the "net generation" students who have easily available huge amounts of information, which they should know how to use. That's what we must teach them, besides the task of promoting cooperative learning as a tool to build new knowledge.

Very rough description?

[Karen Ferreira-Meyers]

To me learning design is slightly different from teaching design. As facilitators we may have certain materials, scenario and plans in place but that doesn't necessarily allow for optimal learning. I think that when we look at learning design in particular, perhaps it is the learners who should put more input than the facilitators? What are your thoughts?

--
 
 

--
Dr. K. Ferreira-Meyers
Coordinator Linguistics and Modern Languages/Literature
Institute of Distance Education
University of Swaziland
Private Bag 4, Kwaluseni, Swaziland
Tel: +268 76656166
Office number: +268 25170262
Email: karenferr...@gmail.com, ferr...@realnet.co.sz, kme...@uniswa.sz

[Anthea Wilson]

As others have already said, I like the idea of learning design, because I feel it gives scope for creativity as well as the application of design principles. It means that whatever it is you are delivering has been thought out according to its purpose and its audience and the learning context. There is probably an infinite variety of learning designs when you consider the infinite variations in purpose, learners and contexts. You can design for individuals and groups large and small. The larger the group, the more the design needs to cater for a range of needs. In designing distance education at the OU, I am sometimes aware of designing for an imaginary audience, before they even materialise.

[Ida Rodgers]

On Sunday, January 13, 2013 7:56:11 PM UTC-5, Yishay Mor wrote:

This is a discussion thread for week 1's "brainstorming" activity:

http://www.olds.ac.uk/the-course/week-1/brainstorm

Term: learning design (for online course materials)

My initial thought about its meaning: Learning design is a philosophical approach for creating learning materials. For example, a constructivist approach to a course glossary would make online interactive objects so that students could self-study, preferably by locating three sources, and self-testing with automatic feedback. An instructivist approach would be a simple, alphabetical list of terms and definitions for students to memorize. I prefer the constructionist's approach, but in practice I find myself conforming to what I believe are the department's instructivists' goals for the courses I teach. I am not sure how to rectify this. 

[Cathy Anderson]

Great posts on  learning design.  I posted some thoughts on my blog http://www.cathyandersonblog.com/?page_id=708  this morning just reading other people's posts and thoughts.  A lot of work and energy here. 

[terry.m...@jiscadvance.ac.uk]

There are other free ones available - suggest xmind and freemind. http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/techdis/technologymatters/enablingtech/FOSS/planningtools

 

On Monday, January 14, 2013 11:00:54 PM UTC, Joshua Underwood wrote:

I'd agree and I think people should feel free to use any other free mind mapping tool. There is a 'basic' free option for mindmeister but it isn't very obvious - see bottom left 'basic' under the free 30 day trials.

https://www.mindmeister.com/pricing

On Monday, 14 January 2013 18:22:38 UTC, Ebba Ossiannilsson wrote:

I like the brainstorming tasks , you can really see how knowledge is growing, but on some stage you have to decide how thigs come together or maybe is growing to far from the points However I dont like that mIndmeister is used as it cost money, it is just free fpr 30 days, and the course last for 9 weeks. I think this is really a barrier for motivation and learning, In free courses free material shuld be used, that is basic!!

[Keylor]

Hello,

I see learning design as the study of that process that lies behind any learning activity. Learning design can reveal how teachers plan their courses, activities, classes and exams. It helps us to understand designing practices and also share them with other educators. As we have seen on the mindmap from Mindmeister, learning design is a very complicated concept, difficult to define and which involves a lot of other learning processes and concepts. Part of this complexity derives from the fact that we haven't been able to agree on what learning is, what it involves, how it happens and how it should be assessed.

Keylor

On Monday, 14 January 2013 00:56:11 UTC, Yishay Mor wrote:

[alessand...@open.ac.uk]

Hi Catherine,

 

I am a late joiner to MOOC and I keep going back and to current and old resources and postings in the attempt to catch up on what has been done so far. I agree with your focus on learning outcomes and found your reference to constructive alignment very useful. Many thanks.

Alessandro

Il giorno lunedì 14 gennaio 2013 23:47:41 UTC, Catherine El-Bez ha scritto:

Hello everyone,

I need to go deeper in the different readings, but for me it seems to me that learning design must start first with a reflection on the learning outcomes, teaching method and assessment. Once you got the relationship between them. then we can begin to design a learning activity.
According to Biggs, (Constructive alignment) teaching method and assessment must be aligned on the learning outcomes:
Extract from his webiste : http://www.johnbiggs.com.au/constructive_alignment.html
<< In constructive alignment, we start with the outcomes we intend students to learn, and align teaching and assessment to those outcomes. >>

This figure summarises the relationship between these three concepts and learning design referred to as the “instructional triangle of learning designs

Reference of this image: http://labspace.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=426992

Catherine

[Morten Mosgaard]

I've been using the David Kolb learning cycle myself, but since I, inspired by ex. Etienne Wenger, think's learning is a collective process (Communities of Practice), I find it exciting to combine the David Kolb learning cycle with Nancy Dixon's Organizational Learning Cycle as presented here.

Den tirsdag den 15. januar 2013 02.46.30 UTC+1 skrev Vahid Masrour:

I would define Learning design as the planning i go through when i want to deliver training (when i have an Organizational Development hat on)

It inevitably begins with the question: What do i want my participants to be able to achieve by the time the workshop (or series of workshops) is done? This helps me set my expectations (amongst other things because a time frame is a very plausible constraint).

Once the above is said and chosen, it's time to pick/create activities that will get the participants where i/they want to go. For this, i use David Kolb's Learning cycle.

While in the inaugural presentation by Yishai Mor, at about 28:00 he goes onto "Tools" and wonders whereas there could ever be an ultimate Learning Design Tool (to rule them all) i would therefore like to propose my candidate for this: the Learning Cycle, proposed by David Kolb (see http://www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/ldu/sddu_multimedia/images/kolb_cycle.gif for a 1 picture explanation) and develloped by Anello & Hernandez at Nur University as part of the Moral Leadership framework. 

The learning styles component of Kolb's propositions i can do without, but the learning cycle, which forces the designer to include a variety of activities in the class design has worked wonderfully well for me over the past 15 years.

[Sue Watling]

Learning Design or Online Learning Design? Can we distinguish between them because there are distinct differences. With OLD the materials have to work much harder to sustain interest, motivation and retention. Transferring traditional content to an online environment can be flat and miss the potential for providing variety and interaction. I wonder if the Online in Learning Design is an additional layer? Theory in this layer would include Laurillard’s ‘conversational framework’ model which offers a useful example of how OLD can stimulate dialogue and networks of learning. Garrison and Anderson suggest a Community of Inquiry made up of three presences; social, cognitive and teaching. In the past I’ve found enabling communities of shared practice (e.g. Wenger) can create powerful learning experiences. Online discussion can take time to set up and encourage (Salmon’s five step model is worth following) but the directions it can go off into can be exciting.

On the practical side of OLD, chunking content up with formative assessment opportunities and using alternative formats such as audio which can be listened to 'anytime anywhere' are worth building into the course or activity design. 

Pragmatically, taking part in an online course – maybe a MOOC – is probably one of the best ways to discover what works well and less well in OLD.

Links

Salmons 5-step model http://www.atimod.com/e-moderating/5stage.shtml

Laurillard’s Conversational Framework  http://www.med8.info/cpf/laurillard_93/index.htm

Garrison and Anderson's Presences http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ch11.html

Theory and Practice of Online Learning by Anderson is available free http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/contents.html

Wenger Community of Practice http://www.education.ed.ac.uk/dice/scrolla/resources/Harris_Community_of_practice_Symp3.htm

[Paul Jinks]

There is so much great debate and links to promising resources in this thread that I can add little, except my own personal account as someone who does learning design with teachers but doesn't teach. A strange position, granted, but there you go. 

For me, learning design is multi-faceted and malleable. Learning design is not an individual endeavour, it's a team effort involving teachers, students, admin staff and sometimes learning technologists. No two courses, teachers or students are the same and so it's important to have a range of options, to have a fluid mix of elements. To do this it's important to keep learning, keep trying new things and try to keep an open mind. 

For me learning design is about taking in the context of a learning situation as fully as possible: the politics, personalities, subject domains, skills, attitudes and dispositions of stakeholders to begin with. Then the educational context: how is it assessed, is assessment fixed or can we change it, how many students are there, what if we end up with a much larger cohort than anticipated, or much smaller? Do we know what tends to work well for these types of students in this subject domain - what are people in other settings doing? What kind of tasks and interactions might promote learning? What kind of learning do we value most? How will we know if learning is happening? How do we promote peer support? How can we introduce 'authentic' activity into the learning and assessment.  Can we trial new ideas with colleagues or small groups beforehand?

It begins and ends with people.

Sometimes what seems important turns out to be impossible, sometimes beautiful things happen spontaneously. 

Paul 

 

[Paige Cuffe]

Sue, not sure if you'll see this (!),  I've come back to re-look at bits in earlier weeks as I stepped out for a while. 

I like your distinction between LD and OLD, we often hear talk as if they are the same thing simply using different tools.  I would argue that the growing body of knowledge about online learning is pointing to a need to fundamentally design for the online rather than transfer materials, attitude or pedagogy from other forms across to online.

For a very quick look at elements of this, take a look at Donald Clark's summary of work by Krug

This is something I want to think more about, in my own working context.

[Yishay Mor]

Sue, Paige,

Interesting point. 

But is online vs. offline the right distinction?

Is designing a mooc similar to designing a closed course for 20 students using moodle?

Is designing a university course delivered by institutional VLE similar to designing a work-based course delivered over the company intranet?

And what about a course delivered via OpenSim? Or one that uses eBooks and a wiki students access via mobile devices?

I would argue - its all about context. Online is one class of contexts, which overlaps with others (blended learning / seamless learning) and has sub-classes.

But I would also argue for another O: Open. I think there's  qualitative difference between learning design and open learning design.

Which leads us to next week's theme..

Yishay

____________________
Dr. Yishay Mor
Senior Lecturer, Educational Technology
http://iet.open.ac.uk/people/yishay.mor
+44 1908 6 59373

 

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