Design of digital learning
Two key short term trends (amongst others) that are expected to have a significant impact on the ways in which colleges and universities approach their core mission of teaching, learning, and creative inquiry are:
(Re)designing learning spaces with a transition to active learning spaces.
Blended learning designs that support student-centred learning and collaboration.
As an educator I know how these two spaces, one physical and one digital, are intimately related. And yet learning institutions often explore how their physical spaces reflect and influence pedagogy but tend to neglect to think about their digital learning spaces in the same designedly way. These two spaces of learning should be collaboratively designed to work together to support and sustain learning and teaching. Perhaps this is a site of tension where new physical spaces strive to disrupt whereas the design of digital space strives to sustain old practices. I see this as a clash of sustaining and disruptive innovation.
(Re)designing physical learning spaces
As is reported in the EDUCAUSE Horizon Report| 2019 Higher Education Edition (Anderson et al, 2019) the transition to active learning classrooms and spaces in higher education has gained considerable momentum in recent years. These changes in the design of physical learning spaces are driven by changes in how we view learning, with moves away from the isolated and passive learner towards a view of education that recognises the social nature of learning. At the core of this shift in viewpoint are changes in how we interact with each other and build knowledge together. In this new paradigm, what we perceive as the type of learning that is important has changed. Accordingly, social ‘learning by doing’ is now highly valued and educators are viewed as facilitators and co-constructors of knowledge. The built pedagogy that is currently emerging is beginning to align with and support learning where knowledge is actively and socially constructed.
“…today’s digital technologies are most important in terms of the ways in which they alter people’s relationships with information and knowledge.” (Selwyn, 2016).
(Re)designing digital learning spaces
And yet, the same EDUCAUSE report states that a comparable focus on virtual learning spaces may be further out on the horizon. I am not sure this focus is too far out on the horizon since part of our work at Graccon Learning Solutions involves us assisting clients to design digitally rich learning environments with the aim of supporting pedagogically sound learning experiences. To digress slightly, analysing your digital spaces through a lens of design thinking is a great way to provoke thinking about your cultures of working, learning and teaching.
Anyhow, to generalise, yes many institutions are actively exploring how their physical spaces influence pedagogy while reflecting less on the design of their digital spaces. A consequence here is that the design of many Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) does not match the social pedagogies that these learning institutions are striving for. I know from experience the frustration of trying to build social and collaborative ways of learning where the dominant ‘built pedagogy’ of VLEs is weighted heavily towards transmission of information. I also know the delight of collaborating and learning in digital environments where smart design has shifted the bias towards student-centred and social learning. I would argue that even if learning occurs in redesigned physical spaces while the design of virtual learning spaces remain unaltered eg. via a traditional VLE then learning will default back to pedagogies where the educator is the authoritative transmitter of knowledge. The challenge here is to bring disruptive innovation to our digital spaces so that collaboration and learning are contingent to well designed digital ecosystems. Through smart design led processes we can strive to bring harmony between our physical and digital spaces.
Learning design
The design potential now presented to many learning institutions is to rethink the physical and digital spaces that they deploy to support their learners. One space cannot be favoured over the other as we design learner focussed places of learning. Furthermore, within these changing contexts Learning Design, central to the challenge of improving learning and teaching (Dalziel et al, 2016), now needs to bring to the table a deep understanding of the social and epistemological shifts that I have briefly mentioned above. A goal is to rethink our places of learning as well as the learning we design for these places. By adopting a designerly approach to co-designing and working in these re-envisaged places of learning, we can look up stream and together rethink how our learning institutions work and evolve the practice of teaching.
Innovation is about seeing the world not as it is, but as it could be. (Martin, 2009)
References
Alexander, B., Ashford-Rowe, K., Barajas-Murphy, N., Dobbin, G., Knott, J., McCormack, M., Pomerantz, J., Seilhamer, R. and Weber, N. (2019). EDUCAUSE Horizon Report: 2019 Higher Education Edition. Retrieved from https://library.educause.edu/resources/2019/4/2019-horizon-report.
Dalziel, J., Conole, G., Wills, S., Walker, S., Bennett, S., Dobozy, E., Camerson, L., Badilescu-Buga, E., and Bower, M. (2015). The Larnaca declaration on learning design. Journal of Interactive Media in Education,1(7), 1–24.
Martin, R., & Martin, R. L. (2009). The design of business: Why design thinking is the next competitive advantage. Harvard Business Press.
Selwyn, N. (2016). Education and technology: Key issues and debates [Kindle version]. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com.au.
Simon Keily
Learning Design | Design Thinking | Technology Enhanced Learning
