I've written previously about my use of the term 'Learning Design' rather than the more regular 'Instructional Design'. Briefly, I approach my work from the perspective of designing a way forward for learners to take them from where they are now to where they would like to be. To me this put the learner at the centre of what I do, so therefore I am a person who DESIGNS learning.
A very worthwhile book to read on the design process is the book, The Designful Company by Marty Neumeier. I reviewed this book shortly after its release earlier this year. Re-reading sections of the book over the last few day has again made me think about what I do.
In 'The Designful Company', Herbert Laureate, social scientist/Nobel prize winner, defines what it is to be a designer, he says,
"Everyone designs who devises courses
of action aimed at changing existing
situations into preferred ones"
Using an example that could almost be written for learning designers, Neumeier talks of the creative gap between "What is" and "What could be". It is this gap that learning designers are seeking to bridge. It can also be visualised as:
This encourages learning designers to move beyond 'off-the-shelf' solutions and to move into a true DESIGN mode. Again borrowing from Neumeier this is to contrast:
1 a situation where a learning designer analyses the learning outcomes required and then chooses from an existing 'set' of learning solutions.
versus
2 true learning designers who 'make' a new set of learning solutions
The learning designer then implements the best of these. This making process is the true essence of design, it is the creative process, using 'reflection in action' to create innovative new learning solutions.
Reading design books, and considering learning design as a subset of design generally is to place the the learning design process firmly in the creative, innovative realm. Successfully building learning solutions for organisations and individuals requires the same types of creativity as marketing and advertising. Learning design is about creating learning solutions that engage learners, keeps their attention, are memorable and become embedded in practice!
