Page 22 - Reimagining Higher Education : Case Studies On Designing For Inclusion, Equity, And Access In The Buka Project

H. Annala · Learning Design

a couple of decades, the fundamental idea behind it has, of course, been around for
as long as education has existed.

In online education, LD has a critical role, as it takes up a larger proportion
of teachers’ working hours compared to classroom-based education. The work

online educators need to do shifts from running the classes to preparing the
environments, designing for student interaction, and sca olding the learning

process. In addition to taking a great deal of time, LD directly a ects the learning

outcomes as well: if the learning environment is built clearly and logically so that it
caters for di erent kinds of students and supports them in reaching the learning

goals, then the achievement of learning outcomes will be facilitated. The opposite

is also true, unfortunately. According to Means et al. (2009), if we compare how
students learn online and in the classroom, their performance does not so much

depend on the delivery method, but more on the course content, structure and
online educator. Taking all this into account, it is fair to say that LD needs to be an

integral part of capacity building for teachers, especially those teaching online.

Learning Design Models

There are a great number of LD models, and each of them focuses on slightly

di erent aspects of teaching and learning practice. Consequently, attempts to
choose an appropriate LD model may feel overwhelming. However, it is important

to realise that many of the benefits of following an LD model can be reached
regardless of the model – the important thing is to use one (or even several).

Following an LD model when designing online learning facilitates perceiving the

overall structure and logic of the programme and enables seeing how di erent
topics, modules, activities, and assessments are connected more easily. It also

helps with noticing gaps in an LD, i.e. what is still missing, as well as identifying

superfluous design elements that should be left out of the design. Additionally, it is
useful in ensuring the consistency and quality of di erent elements in the

programme. A useful technique to support any LD process is storyboarding (for an
example, see Colman, 2022), which essentially means visually representing the

various elements in a module plan (e.g. topics, tasks, assessments, meetings, etc.).

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