An Introduction to Learning Design

Abstract

1.1 Introduction How can we help people to learn in an effective, efficient, attractive and accessible way? There is no simple, straightforward answer to this ques-tion; depending on the specific situation, solution X will work best for per-son Y. However, it is generally acknowledged that we can improve learn-ing considerably by making the conditions for optimal learning explicit, and then use this knowledge to design new learning events. Our knowledge of learning design draws on different disciplines. It an-swers questions such as the following: x What support do people need in order to learn? x How can we assess and communicate the results of a learning process? x How can we make learning and support as effective, efficient, attractive and accessible as possible for everyone involved in the process? Implicit in these questions are issues related to the nature of knowledge, the nature of learning and the nature of motivation and social exchange. There are several ways to capture learning design knowledge, one of which is the instructional design approach. Here, knowledge is encapsu-lated in theories consisting of a set of design principles. Another approach is to identify best practices in teaching and learning, and yet another is to capture the knowledge in pedagogical design patterns. Such patterns take up a position in between theory and best practices in that they are ab-stracted from best practices. What a teacher believes about good teaching and learning is influenced by one or more sources. These are: prescriptions taken from instructional design theory; concrete examples of best prac-tices; and patterns of experience. In each case, we will call the representa-tion of this knowledge learning design knowledge. A learning design is defined here as the application of learning design knowledge when developing a concrete unit of learning, e.g. a course, a