Investigating the relationship between collaborative design, online learning and educator integrated professional development

Abstract

The global expansion of university-level online programmes has heightened the demand for educators to design and facilitate meaningful learning experiences. However, many educators lack the necessary expertise and experience, highlighting the urgency for contextually relevant professional development opportunities. This paper investigates the collaborative design processes of novice online educators and digital learning professionals when designing online learning and the conditions promoting educators’ development. A multiple case study methodology was employed, recruiting six interdisciplinary design teams from five UK-based universities. Data collection involved two phases of semi-structured interviews and design meeting observations. Findings evidence three key processes: (1) framing the design inquiry, (2) sharing and integrating insider knowledge and expertise, and (3) anticipating the future. Emotional support, skilled facilitation and valuing diverse perspectives acted as enabling conditions. We propose network-enabled and boundary-crossing capabilities as novel dimensions of educators’ development. This paper emphasises the need for purposeful collaborative design initiatives for integrated professional development.