About the initiative
Our aim is to develop and implement a methodology for learning design composed of tools, practice and other innovation that both builds upon, and contributes to, existing academic and practioner research. The project was initially funded through strategic development funded from the Open University and has recently secured additionally funded from the JISC through the new Curriculum Design programme, to look at extending the work to date and cascading findings, tools and resources to other institutions. The team are based in the Institute of Educational Technology.
We are interested in providing support for the entire design process; from gathering initial ideas, through consolidating, producing and using designs, to sharing, reuse and community engagement. These are complex and challenging processes that involve a range of stakeholders with different interests; issues and representations are different depending on whether design occurs at the level of individual activity, course or curriculum. Our vision is of a learning design methodology and suite of practical tools and resources that bridge between good pedagogic practice and effective use of new technologies.
There are three current strands to our work:
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Cloudworks |
CompendiumLD |
Empirical research and evidence gathering |
We have identified six main benefits to adopting a learning design approach:
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It acts as a means of eliciting designs from academics in a format that can be tested and reviewed by others involved in the design process, i.e. a common vocabulary and understanding of learning activities.
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It provides a method by which designs can be reused, as opposed to just sharing content.
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It can guide individuals through the process of creating new learning activities.
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It helps create an audit trail of academic (and production) design decisions.
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It can highlight policy implications for staff development, resource allocation, quality, etc.
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It has the potential to aids learners and tutors in complex activities by guiding them through the activity sequence.
Use the links on the left for more information about the projects we are involved with and the tools that we are developing.