Video lesson: What is Learning Design and How is it Applied in This Course?

Why do some courses motivate students, while others only frustrate them? The key lies in thoughtful learning design and in the delivery that places students at the centre of the learning and teaching process. Learning design is the process of planning, structuring, and organising learning and teaching activities, and the resources needed to improve the quality of the learning experience and achieve the planned learning outcomes. So, it is an engaging process led by a well-educated and experienced teacher. We can and should all become such teachers, and the purpose of this course is to help us achieve that. In this e-course, you will learn how to design teaching that makes sense — both for you and your students. The key concepts we need to adopt are outcome-based planning and constructive alignment. Learning outcomes specify what the student needs to know, understand, or be able to do as a result of learning activities. Learning design is created to serve as a guide for students in learning and for teachers in teaching. Constructive alignment connects learning outcomes, learning and teaching activities, and assessment. Planning is an iterative process that includes evaluation and learning analytics to ensure the quality of the learning design. However, we must always keep in mind that the student is at the centre of the process, and that all activities are directed towards enabling students to achieve all the planned learning outcomes, while also having a good and motivating learning experience. We base learning and teaching, and the development of learning design, on scientifically validated theories and examples of good practice. We are guided by students’ needs and contemporary approaches to learning. Students construct knowledge, and the teacher guides them in the learning process. Technology helps us be more efficient and motivates students. But technology in education does not replace the teacher or ignore a sound pedagogical and methodological foundation. Technology must serve the achievement of the planned learning outcomes. Learning design is not only a format. It is a concept, a model, and is often a tool for ensuring teaching quality. Let us analyse the example of this course, Learning Design, which is developed in the following way. At the beginning, we described it by stating the course title, its aims, student workload, and the mode of delivery. This course carries 3 ECTS credits, meaning that the total student workload is 3 × 25 hours, or a total of 75 hours of work. For university students, 1 ECTS generally represents 30 hours of workload. Next, we design clear and measurable learning outcomes upon which the learning design is based. This course has seven learning outcomes, and we recommend that you become familiar with them. After defining the learning outcomes, the next step is planning the learning and teaching activities. Teachers are used to planning teaching activities with teacher presence, such as lectures, exercises, and seminars. However, the learning design must also include independent student or group learning activities, such as independent literature research or teamwork on project tasks. We must not forget to include both formative and summative assessment activities in the learning design. This course also highlights the differences between these types of assessments and the activities that can be implemented. Learning analytics includes collecting, analysing, interpreting, and reporting data about students and their learning, which provides theoretically relevant and applicable insights for improving learning and teaching. Learning design analytics enables checking the quality and consistency of the design while still in the design phase, allowing us to answer the following questions: Are all learning outcomes covered? Do we have the workload expected for the course? Does one type of activity dominate? Do the selected types of learning and teaching reflect innovative pedagogical approaches? Based on this, we can improve the design before we implement it. A complete evaluation of the learning design is achieved when we analyse the course during and after its delivery. Learning design enables us to conceptualise the course in advance and to redesign it as needed. It enables creativity, and testing our ideas before entering the classroom or the virtual learning space. Therefore, it is useful to design courses collaboratively, to use tools that allow us to do that, and to study innovative pedagogies and new possibilities offered by educational technology, including artificial intelligence. This course is intended for all of us who want more than mere lecturing — we want a real impact on teaching quality and learning success. Join us and give this concept some consideration.