Thursday, October 23, 2008

CCK08 - Instructional/Learning Design

Grainne Conole gave a presentation on learning design (LD) at CCK08. The slides are available on Slideshare. Actually I’m not a fan of LD, for two main reasons:

Firstly, learning is complex and multifaceted to be captured within a LD model. Learning design is a complex task, due to the dynamics of the learner’s knowledge and the diversity of the parameters that should be taken into consideration in the design equation, such as the context of the learning environment, the nature of the learning activity, learning styles/goals/preferences, motivation, cognitive capacities, disabilities, etc. LD suggests predefined inputs and outcomes. However, in learning, neither the input can be predetermined, nor the outcome can be anticipated. In learning, a wide range of interacting entities produce unpredictable outcomes. It is an illusion that learning can follow a clear predetermined direction, controlled by predefined condition-action rules.

Secondly, LD is specified with control in mind, and thus cannot be easily adopted by learners. In fact, LD prescribes a sequence of activities for a learner, which are carried out in a particular environments initiated and controlled by learning designers, rather than the learners themselves. In my opinion, If we insist to have LD, then it should be LD triggered by the learner; i.e. personal learning design.

Conole Ouldi
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: cck08 conole)

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