Project aim:“Specifically, we need to shift from the traditional craft-based teacher-design (where design draws on belief-based practice and is essentially implicit) to a more systematic, explicit design approach, drawing on empirically derived and validated tools and methods for design”.

Conole (2010)

What is learning design?

“Learning design is viewed as both a process – the planning, structuring and sequencing of learning activities; and as a product – the representation/s, plan, or structure produced during the process or created later” Learn about... Learning Design guide (Cross and Conole, 2008)

• conscious process• dialogue with

materials• creative process• communicative

process• social activity

(Winograd, 1996:64)

Key aspects: Design as...

juhansonin http://www.flickr.com/photos/juhansonin/2250554147/

How, when and who with

The OULDI project sees ‘learning design’ as an all encompassing term to cover the process, representation, sharing and evaluation of designs from lower level activities, right up to whole curriculum level designs.

We are interested in providing support for the entire design process; from gathering and sketching out initial ideas, through consolidating, producing and using designs, to sharing, reuse and community engagement.

Design toolsPen & paper

Concept mapping (CompendiumLD, CMap etc)

Project tools (Visio, Excel)

Mindmapping (MindGenius, Word/ PowerPoint, Prezi etc)

CompendiumLD• Hierarchy of information

layers• Specific course design

nodes (e.g. Learning outcome, activity, learner output, task, tool, role)

• Additional nodes (question answer, pros/cons

• Flexibility of software assists, maps and records creative design process

On CompendiumLD...“And again, like I said to you, it forces you...you know...it makes you think about the different components of the learning process in a way that is structured and it makes people address those issues and discuss them. On that day, you know, we had quite a lot of discussion about...you know...details about how we were going to run these projects: the things we could use; the technologies we could bring in.”

“It’s a mode of thinking. CompendiumLD, and course design is a mode of thinking”

• Discussion is a key part of informal process

• Developing ideas and concepts

• Sharing best practice• Ideas, support and advice• Enhancing professional

knowledge• Connecting to a

professional and creative network

Cloudworks

Cloudworks

On Cloudworks...“The appeal of Cloudworks is that the focus shifts away from sharing course resources (repositories) to representing teaching designs, practices, and resources in a way that is context rich and reusable by others. Moreover, members' contributions are open and available for others to build on in a number of interesting ways”.

Cloudworks user blog post“As the Multiliteracies moderator I am looking with interest on the changing shapes of clouds and wondering which will gain traction and carry us forward into the future. In [institution] we were thinking our Big Innovation this year would be Wave (last year it was Ning). But Wave is a bit complicated with the invitation hassle (at the moment). This one is quite simple. Unlike either of the other two, you don't have to be a member of the group to converse. You simply have to have a Cloudworks ID and you can say what you like anywhere.”

Comment posted on Cloudworks

Representing the

curriculum

Course map view

Pedagogy profile

Course dimensions Task swimlane

Learning outcomes view

Student Activity

Guidance and supportCourse structure and timetable e.g. Course calendar, study guide,

tutorials

Content and experience

Course materials, prior experience, learner

generated content e.g. readings, DVDs, podcasts, labs

Reflection and demonstration

Internalization and reflection, e.g. In text questions, blogs,

ePortfolios, diagnostic, formative, summative

assessment

Collaboration and communication

Dialogic aspects of the course. Interaction between

learners and tutor, course forum, email, etc

http://www.rjid.com/open/pedagogy/html/pedagogy_profile_1_2.html

Types of activity(from a Learning Activity Taxonomy, Conole, 2007 & 2008)

• Assimilative (attending and understanding content), • Information handling (e.g. gathering and classifying resources or

manipulating data), • Adaptive (use of modelling or simulation software), • Communicative (dialogic activities, e.g. pair dialogues or group-

based discussions), • Productive (construction of an artefact such as a written essay,

new chemical compound or a sculpture) and • Experiential (practising skills in a particular context or undertaking

an investigation). • In addition the tool looks at the spread of assessment across the

course or sequence of learning activities.

OULDI-Library services pilot

• Learning and teaching librarian role• Using learning design approaches in our own work

when writing activities• Triggering conversations with module teams by

engaging with the views• Supporting faculties who wish to change their current

business models• Series of staff development opportunities• Mapping of library services against the learning design

‘views’

Summary: A Design approach

• Uses a shared design language to both generate designs and as a mechanism for interpreting and discussing them (Winograd, 1996:64)

• Uses a notational system which helps us remember and navigate designs, enables designs to take form and be shared, and helps us sharpen and multiply abstract design categories (Gibbons and Brewer, 2005:121)

• Recognises that different representations of a design are needed to articulate certain elements of the design, while ignoring others

• Designs should never be seen as static artefacts and are always dynamic and co-constructed in context. (Gibbons and Brewer, 2005:115)

Some challenges and tensions• Complexity: designs can only be partial representation of much more

complex, and multifaceted ideas in our minds.

• Precision: there is a tension between the natural, fuzzy nature of real practice and tightly defined specification.

• Formality and standardisation: terms and concepts, even well used ones, do not necessarily mean the same thing to us all.

• Personal vs shared: designs can be created for personal use or can be designed to share with others – can those designs be the same? Designs only become public or sharable through negotiation and interaction with others.

• Implicit vs explicit: there is a tension with designs in terms of how much they focus on precise presentation, specification and how much on the more aesthetic, visionary aspects of the design, between implicit, individual designs to those that are completely explicit with clearly defined terms and rules.

Adapted from Gibbons and Brewer (Gibbons & Brewer, 2005, p. 115)

Examples of uptake and use

Course Map representation (Video diaries and supporting documents) http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/3813

CompendiumLD tool (presentation to peers) http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/4612

Design Challenge workshops http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/4127

Activity 1: Think, pair, shareWhat’s good about eLearning in a health and social care setting?Why has the mainstream adoption of eLearning pedagogies and technologies been so slow? What might a learning design approach offer in relation to the above?What are the challenges of embedding such an approach in teams and institutions?

ReferencesCross, S. and Conole, G. (2008), Learn about learning design, Learn

about guides series, The Open University: Milton Keynes, available http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/OULDI/wp-content/uploads/2010

/11/Learn-about-learning-design_v7.doc Conole, G. (2008) ‘Capturing practice: the role of mediating

artefacts in learning design’, in Handbook of Research on Learning Design and Learning Objects: Issues, Applications and Technologies, in L. Lockyer, S. Bennett, S. Agostinho, and B Harper (Eds), 187-207, Hersey PA: IGI Global.

Conole, G. (2007), ‘Describing learning activities: tools and resources to guide practice’ in H. Beetham and R. Sharpe (Eds), Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age, pp. 81-91.