1 Re-learning learning design Moving beyond traditional instructional design Patrick Dunn

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Re-learning learning design

Moving beyond traditional instructional designPatrick Dunn

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Design?

“...a systematic approach to planning learning tasks and learning environments”. Goodyear

“…starts with the first gut feel that something needs to change; but when does it end? I don’t know… ”. Dunn

“...activity that translates an idea into a blueprint for something useful...”. Design Council

“...to fashion something from a well-developed plan” Wilson

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Design?

Performance improvement process

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Design?

Communities

Games

Networked sims…EPSS

Courses

Blogs/wikis

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Design?

Processes

People

Values & beliefsTools

Methods

Skills

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We need more creativity and innovation

We need to ask “HOW?” not “WHAT?”

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• Analyse learner needs• Produced detailed,

low-level objectives

Define the problem

• Break down the content; develop high level structure

• Design interface

Outline the solution

• Write scripts, including decisions re. use of media, interactions etc.

Design the detail

• Produce prototype• Main build• Test and roll out

Make & deploy

• Assess learner behaviour change

Evaluate

“When closely examined, good instructional systems design is more engineering than art”. O’Neal, Fairweather and Huh

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• Assumes that design is a linear way of working and thinking; that design

occurs in clear, discrete, sequential stages.

• Assumes that we can fully understand the problem we are dealing with

right at the start; that we can formulate highly detailed, low-level objectives

very early on.

• Is built on values of neatness, predictability, analysis, logic, efficiency,

clarity...

• Is designer/sponsor/organisation focussed (incorporates users mainly at

the start and the end of the process)

Traditional learning design practice

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And that’s fine if…

• The learning challenge you are tackling is fairly simple (not a major change,

not a difficult change, learners are well motivated etc. etc.)

• You can get your head round the problem fully to start with

• You’re working in a fairly simple, stable organisational environment

• You’ve a well-understood, highly consistent group of learners

• And above all, you’ve tackled problems/solutions just like this one quite a few

times before (it’s another e-learning course!)

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And there are quite a few learning problems around like this.

And current learning design practice deals with them fairly well on the whole.

But on the whole they’re not the problems that really matter.

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Industrial Age Information Age

Standardisation Customisation

Bureaucratic organisation Team-based (networked?) organisation

Centralised control Autonomy with responsibility

Adversarial relationships Cooperative relationships

Autocratic decision making Shared decision making

Compliance Initiative

Conformity Diversity

One-way communication Networking

Compartmentalisation Holism

Parts oriented Process oriented

Planned obsolescence Total quality

CEO or boss as “King” Customer as “king”

Reigeluth, 1999

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Was… Is now (and forever more…)

Few options:

• Courses

• Workshops

• Booklets

• Videos

Many options – and increasing:

As before plus: blogs, blended games,

simulations, communities, mobile

information, epss, remote coaching etc. etc.

Clear design constraints:

• Learning objectives

• Learner profiles

• Time

• Cost

Unclear design constraints:

As before plus: technology infrastructure,

organisation culture, user fashion, national/

geographical culture etc. etc.

Dunn, 2003

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Traditional learning design practice

Fully understand the problem; low-

level objectives

Linear way of working and thinking;

design as clear, discrete, sequential

stages.

Neatness, predictability, analysis,

logic, efficiency, clarity...

Designer/sponsor/organisation

focussed

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Traditional learning design practice Design practice: other disciplines


level objectives

Understand the problem through the

design process; set broad goals and

let low-level objectives emerge



stages.

Non-linear, cyclical working; stages

difficult to define.



Messiness, exploration, intuition

balanced with analysis, fuzziness, play


focussed

User-focussed

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Existing learning design practice Design practice: other disciplines


level objectives

Understand the problem through the

design process; set broad goals and

let low-level objective emerge



stages.

Non-linear, cyclical working; stages

difficult to define.



Messiness, exploration, intuition

balanced with analysis, fuzziness, play


focussed

User-focussed

DesignInnovative! Solves complex, unfamiliar problems

EngineeringReliable! Solves simple, familiar problems

“At 3M, A Struggle Between Efficiency And Creativity”

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/b4038406.htm

“What humans can’t engineer, evolution can”Out of Control, Kevin Kelly

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So…

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Some areas to think about…

• Prototype early and often

• Let your users drive your design

• Act first

• Build on the “Big Idea”

• (Cultivate the right kind of people)

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Specification v Prototyping

See Michael Schrage – “Serious Play”

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Start End

“Yes – that’s ok. Just a few minor changes…”

Project duration PrototypeSpec

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Start End

“We’ve got some really great ideas…”

Project duration Prototype Spec

• Something concrete to form opinions round

• Common mental models• A great foundation for analysis• A source of ideas

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“In plain language, first decide what you think might be an

important aspect of the problem, develop a crude design

on this basis and then examine it to see what else you

can discover about the problem”

Bryan Lawson – “How Designers Think”

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Standard prototyping Early prototyping

Is part of a controlled, linear process Is part of an exploratory, iterative

process

Occurs during the build/development

phase

Occurs at the start – but what phase is

it in?

Is all about approval and control: “no

further changes please”

Is all about questioning, generating

ideas, creativity, challenging

assumptions: “change everything!”

Is neat and tidy; a finished product Is deliberately messy, broken…

Produces one prototype Produces a number of iteratively

refined prototypes

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This is all about culture and values, not just process.

It’s about thinking of design in a different way.

David Kelley, of IDEO, talks of moving from “specification-

driven cultures to prototype-driven cultures.”

Prototype-driven cultures are better able to innovate.

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• Analyse learner needs

• Produced detailed, low-level objectives

Define the problem





Design the detail


Make & deploy


Evaluate

Are learners involved?

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• Analyse learner needs• Produced detailed,

low-level objectives

Define the problem





Design the detail


Make & deploy


Evaluate


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Out of the 32 e-learning projects I studied between 2003

and 2007, only 4 had significant contact with users

(learners) before the project was 50% complete.

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• Analyse learner needs

• Produced detailed, low-level objectives

Define the problem





Design the detail


Make & deploy


Evaluate

Not enough direct contact with users/learners

The wrong kind of contact with users/learners


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“I can no longer imagine doing what I’d do without getting to know my users

like I know my neighbours. Only the most naïve novice designer would

proceed very far without deeply involving users”.

Product Designer interview - 2005

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Research shows that up to 80% of change requests on a software project can be caused by "unmet or unforeseen user requirements".

http://www.flow-interactive.com/businesscaseFlow Interactive

Effort

Time

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Act first

“Some enterprise processes are heavy on the aiming. The problem is that they spend so much time aiming, they never hit the target.” codesmack.com/blog/category/t-shirt-tuesday

/

“Design is a conversation with your materials.”

Donald Schon

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Strategy

Analysis

Design

Build

Test

Transition

Not “waterfalls" of over-structured, self-absorbed hesitation.

Act first

Spirals of exploratory, business-focused action…

Boehm, 1988

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“In many situations, I don’t see the point in producing endless

plans and descriptions of what you’re going to develop. With

the right tools, you can make a representative version of what

you’re aiming for – in the same time and for the same cost.”

Stephen Walsh – Kineo

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Traditional learning design thinking/theory/practice is very “parts oriented”, not

“whole oriented”; doesn’t encourage designers to think about unifying ideas, big

ideas. Can lead to:

• Losing sight of business/organisational objectives; the main point

• “Creatocidal tendencies”; stunting innovation

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What’s What’s the big the big idea?idea?

The “primary generator”

(Darke)

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It’s got curves

(it’s a gherkin)

Everything’s outside…

The staircases are outside

It’s falling over

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Business/organisational

problem

courses

blogs

coaching

EPS

gamescommunity tools

simulations

virtual classroom

document repositories

workbooks

special projects

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simulations

• Learning strategy• The “Big Idea”

courses

blogs

coaching

EPS

games community tools

virtual classroom

document repositories

workbooks

special projects

Business/organisational

problem

…causes people to change

Principles of learning

“This is emotive case-based learning. By adopting the role of protagonists in authentic situations, and rehearsing the skills required to reduce culturally-induced tension, learners will get to feel what it’s like to cope when challenges arise. That’s what will drive the process of change.”

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EMOTIVE

CASE

BASED

LEARNING

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“I never thought I would give an entry

al 10s…”

“… it did everything right…” Cultural Awareness E-learning

Brandon Hall Gold Award, 2007

Produced by LINE Communications

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Cultivating the right kind of people

ESTJ ISTP ENTJ INTP

ISTJ ESTP INTJ ENTP

ISFJ ESFP INFJ ENFP

ESFJ ISFP ENFJ INFP

42%

Durling, Cross and Johnson, 1996

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Existing learning design practice Design practice: other disciplines

Fully understand the problem; low-level

objectives

Understand the problem through the design

process; set broad goals and let low-level

objective emerge

Linear way of working and thinking; design

as clear, discrete, sequential stages.

Non-linear, cyclical working; stages difficult

to define.

Neatness, predictability, analysis, logic,

efficiency, clarity...

Messiness, exploration, intuition balanced

with analysis, fuzziness, play

Designer/sponsor/organisation focussed

User-focussed

Design Engineering

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“If you keep doing what you always did, you’ll keep getting what you

always got”Loretta Mary Aiken

Thank you

[email protected]

Documents

1 Re-learning learning design Moving beyond traditional instructional design Patrick Dunn