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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
Fully understand the problem; low-
level objectives
Understand the problem through the
design process; set broad goals and
let low-level objectives 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
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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
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
• 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
Are learners involved?
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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
Are learners involved?
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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
• 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
Not enough direct contact with users/learners
The wrong kind of contact with users/learners
Are learners involved?
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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