The document discusses learning design, which serves as a flexible framework for educators to create structured teaching and learning activities. It explains the importance of sharing and collaborating on teaching methods through tools like the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS), and highlights ongoing challenges in the field. Current issues addressed include the integration of learning design with curriculum design, the need for templates and resources, and the potential for educational reform through innovative teaching approaches.

1. Using Learning Design
for Innovative eTeaching
James Dalziel
Professor of Learning Technology &
Director, Macquarie E-Learning Centre Of Excellence (MELCOE)
Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
james@melcoe.mq.edu.au
www.melcoe.mq.edu.au
Presentation for ALTC National Teaching Fellowship
INSPIRE, University of Canberra, July 2nd, 2012

2. Overview
• What is Learning Design?
• LAMS case study
• Current Issues in Learning Design
• Discussion
Acknowledgement: ALTC National Teaching Fellowship
Support for this activity has been provided by the Australian Government Office for
Learning and Teaching. The views expressed in this activity do not necessarily reflect the
views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.

3. What is Learning Design?
Two examples
1. Teaching Psychology Tutorials
– Fostering discussion using the “pyramid” technique
2. Transforming Medical Education
– Whole of degree adoption of Problem Based Learning

4. What is Learning Design?
• Variety of definitions and approaches:
– A pedagogical meta-model
– A framework/language for describing the structure of teaching
and learning activities
– A technical specification: IMS Learning Design (2003)
– A software system for managing sequences of content and
collaborative learning activities
– A community of educators sharing ideas on effective teaching
• A repository of “ready to run” activity sequences & templates
– A process that describes how educators make decisions about
creating effective teaching and learning experiences

5. What is Learning Design?
• Learning Design is not
– a traditional educational theory (like, say, constructivism), as it
does not put forward a theory about how students learn
• Instead, it seeks to be a framework for many different theories
– a mature field – there is much yet to be considered, developed,
and researched
– a “small” field – the pretensions of the field potentially cover
much of what educators do in teaching and learning, but early
descriptions were often narrow (ie, 7 blind men and elephant)
– just about technology – despite technological origins of the
field, it is really about all of education
• Technology is just one of many implementation options

6. What is Learning Design?
• One description of Learning Design is as “Teaching 2.0”
– An attempt to rethink current approaches to teaching given new
technologies and new ways of thinking
– A focus on “user generated content” for teaching – that is,
empowering educators with tools for creating, sharing and
adapting innovative teaching approaches
– A community-centric view of technology for education, rather
than a “courseware production” model
– (yet another buzzword, already past its prime….)

7. What is Learning Design?
• Before moving to a practical example, the deep idea of
Learning Design is a framework/language for describing
the structure of teaching and learning activities
• To better understand what this could be, consider two
other domains with frameworks for sharing good ideas

8. Date of manuscript unknown. Held in Florence, Italy.
Photo by Asiir 17:00, 13 February 2007, Wikipedia.org
First page of the manuscript of Bach's lute suite in
G Minor. Wikipedia.org

9. Learning Design as Music Notation
• In ancient times, some believed that music could never be written
down – too “unique” / “special”
• Over time, attempts to write down music evolved, until they
reached a stage in the Western tradition where they became
standardised in a way that is recognisable today
– Recognisable today even if the composer lived hundreds of year ago
– NB: It took over a hundred years to standardise!
• We write down and play written music because it allows “great
musical ideas” to be transmitted to many
– (few musicians can improvise better than great composers)
• NB: Music notation is not everything, but it is enough
– Still considerable room for interpretation

11. Learning Design
as Recipe

12. Learning Design as Recipe
• A recipe includes two types of information
– Ingredients (“content”)
– Instructions (“process”)
• You can change the content while retaining the process
(chicken stir-fry could be adapted to beef stir-fry)
• A recipe doesn’t include everything you need to know,
just enough to reproduce the experience
– Recipes assume different levels of knowledge and skills
• Long tradition of sharing recipes, both freely and paid
(cooking books)

13. Learning Design analogies
• Music notation and recipes help us imagine a future
where teaching and learning processes are described in
standard ways and easily shared and adopted
– Also consider architecture, software design, dance choreography
• Many challenges remain
– The role of discipline content
– Teacher as “improviser” – adaptation in the classroom
– The flow of time in synchronous vs asynchronous environments
– How much information is enough to replicate, but not too much
– Different ways to visualise designs
• Hopefully less than 100 years to a standardised format…

14. Vittorio Sciosia CC http://www.flickr.com/photos/7504140@N04/472279792/

15. Some LAMS history
• In 2001, we had a vision of a new approach to e-learning
technology where educators could create “sequences” of activities
for students to work through step by step
– Using a range of content and collaboration tools
• Most importantly, the created sequences would be shareable, so if
one educator creates a great sequence of activities, this can be
used (and adapted) by other educators
– Hoped to create a community of educators sharing good ideas
– Through educator-led innovation and sharing, we’d develop a library of
great “teaching ideas”
– The ultimate goals was not a new e-learning system, but a new
approach to sharing

16. Some LAMS history
• We created “LAMS” (Learning Activity Management system) to
realise this vision
– Together with the online LAMS community for sharing
– LAMS is freely available as open source software
• LAMS can be used on its own, or integrated with other systems,
such as LMSs like Moodle and Blackboard
• LAMS is now used by thousands of educators in 80+ countries and
translated into 32 languages
– LAMS community has 7700 members and 1050 shared sequences

17. Predict – Observe – Explain: Content example

18. Predict – Observe – Explain: Content example

19. Predict – Observe – Explain: Preview (student view) of Content Example

20. Predict – Observe – Explain: Template

21. Open in LessonLAMS: Sign up (or Login)

22. LessonLAMS showing copy of Template in your account

23. LessonLAMS – Simple Editor for content editing, including advice

24. LessonLAMS – Full Author: Change anything about template

25. LessonLAMS.com – Teacher Monitoring Interface

26. Sequence URL & code for student self-registration: Add to any web page

27. LAMS Community – Repository Summary

28. Predict – Observe – Explain Template

29. Using Predict – Observe – Explain template for other topics

30. Current Issues in Learning Design
• Templates vs “embedded content”
– Direct re-use vs “inspiration” (cf patterns and the creative leap)
– Are textbook publishers the missing (content) link?
• From Learning Design to Curriculum Design
– Different “levels” of Learning Design – a task (1-10 minutes); a
module/sequence (1 hour/1 day/1 week); a course (2-13
weeks), an institutional approach (eg, medical degree)
– Recent JISC projects, especially Viewpoints and OULDI
• Linking activity descriptions to pedagogical descriptions
– LDSE/Learning Designer project from London Knowledge Lab

31. Current Issues in Learning Design
• Challenges include:
– Lack of general awareness of Learning Design field
– Confusion over differences between Instructional Design and
Learning Design, and “US” vs “European” approaches
– Time demands required for implementation
– Unrecognised amid the “noise” of education technology
• LD is a “deep” innovation, but harder to explain than a “clicker”
• But significant opportunities around educational reform,
especially ideas like 21st Century skills; Generic
Attributes of a Graduate; the “flipped” classroom

32. Current Issues in Learning Design
• Where to next?
– The field is making good progress on fleshing out the large
“landscape” of issues covered by Learning Design
• See especially new Laurillard and Conole Learning Design books
– Broad adoption yet to occur – do we need more:
• Templates with better advice? (eg, Practical eTeaching Strategies)
• Content (collaboration with publishers?)
• Simplicity in Learning Design tools?
• Marketing?
• Regardless of immediate ups and downs, Learning Design has
much to contribute in the future
– As its goals are the same as those of a typical educator each day

33. Questions

34. [Break]

35. Options for Part 2
• Questions
• Discussion
– Eg, Could Learning Design help you adopt new teaching
approaches? More information? Concerns?
• Learning Design and Curriculum Design
– Discussion of JISC projects such as Viewpoints, OULDI, LDSE
• Lessons from LAMS use and sharing
– LAMS developments: LMS integration, Activity Planner, Embed
• Other?

36. Aligning LD and CD
• The recent JISC Curriculum Design program (building
on the earlier Learning Design program) has led to
innovative approaches to whole-of-course design
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/curriculumdesign.aspx
• Today focus on 2 JISC projects and 1 related project
– Open University Learning Design project
– University of Ulster Viewpoints project
– “Learning Design Support Environment” (LDSE), now called
“Learning Designer” (London Knowledge Lab and team)

37. Aligning LD and CD
• Learning Design (LD) applies at the level of a class, or
(sub)topic or (sub)module, it typically lasts from 10min
to 2 hours (synchronous) or up to a few weeks
(asynchronous)
• Curriculum Design (CD) can be thought of the layer
above Learning Design – it is the design of whole
units/courses
– Eg, if you have 26 lectures and 13 tutorials in a course, how
do you structure content and activities over this period?

38. Aligning LD and CD
• Open University Learning Design project
– http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/OULDI/
– Not just templates, but also processes for engaging educators
– Many linked components, eg: Course Map

39. Excel Template: Detailed Course Map

40. Pedagogical Features Card Sort: Helping Educators Consider Different Activities

41. Pedagogical Profiler: Analysis of different activities & learning types across course

42. James Note: The next 11 slides come from the Viewpoints project
They tell the story better than I can! (thanks to Alan and the team)
http://wiki.ulster.ac.uk/display/VPR/Home

43. Viewpoints – module workshop
examples
These slides will give you an idea of what
happens in a typical Viewpoints course design
workshop at module level.

44. Module timeline worksheet
• Teams work around the module worksheet,
shown here as blank before they begin.

45. Choosing a theme/set of cards
• The team should have
already decided which
pedagogical theme they
are working on –
Assessment and
Feedback, Information
Skills, Learner
Engagement or Creativity –
and look at the card pack
for that theme.
• Assessment and Feedback
cards are pictured here.

46. Choosing an objective
• The team decide on an objective for their session
and write it at the top of the module worksheet.

47. Reading the front of the cards
• The team read the principles on the front of the
cards, choosing ones appropriate to their objective.

48. Mapping the cards to the timeline
• The team take their selected cards and map them to the
appropriate point on the timeline (e.g. at the induction
phase, during first few weeks of course)

49. Reading examples on cards
• The course team turn the cards over and read the
examples/ideas on the back.

50. Choosing relevant examples (tick)
• The team tick any examples
that would fit with their
course objective and their
teaching practice.

51. Adding in own ideas/comments
• The team write on any of their own ideas or comments,
in order to tailor the examples to their own module.

52. Sample finished worksheets

53. Aligning LD and CD
• Learning Design Support Environment (LDSE) – now
known as the “Learning Designer” (LKL et al)
– https://sites.google.com/a/lkl.ac.uk/ldse/
– Diana Laurillard and team from London Knowledge Lab and
partners
– Screenshot may not be latest version of software, but concept
is the same

54. LDSE: Showing types and “flow” of activities, plus analysis of learning types

55. LAMS Resources
• To try out LAMS, visit
http://www.lessonlams.com/
• For general information (and links to other sites), see
http://www.lamsfoundation.org/
• For teacher user guides & animated walkthroughs, see
http://wiki.lamsfoundation.org/display/lamsdocs/Home
• For all technical details, see
http://wiki.lamsfoundation.org/display/lams/Home