The Art and Science of Learning Design

A Learning Design Grid Investigative Workshop

London Knowledge Lab, 13-14 October, 2011

Overview

The Learning Design Grid STELLAR Theme team organised ASLD 2011, an investigative workshop in Learning Design at the London Knowledge Lab. An innovative, exploratory workshop, it covered not only empirical and theoretical issues but also software and tools.

We invited submissions of position papers (up to 4 pages) on one of four thematic strands of Learning Design:

- Theoretical Frameworks
- Tools and Resources
- Practices & Methods
- Representations

We also included a Learning Design software strand, where participants submitted a written overview and description of the software system (up to 4 pages). Participants within this strand were asked to provide access to a working version of the software.

All accepted contributions presented at the workshop will be published in an edited volume (subject to review).

All contributions are available on the ASLD Cloudscape.

Workshop Format

Day 1 Theory and Critique (Thursday 13/10/11)

Day one was focused on the theory and critique. It opened with a plenary, and then divided into groups dedicated to the separate strands. In each group, the selected papers or demos were presented and discussed. Strand participants collaboratively constructed an integrative map connecting the various contributions (tools and resources for constructing this will be provided), followed by plenary discussions. This was followed by a second group session, cutting across strands - participants formed different groups and mapped tools and resources to frameworks on one hand and to practices or representations on the other.

Day 2 Tools and Methods (Friday 14/10/11)

Day two was focused on practice and exploration of existing software and design methods. Participants were able to use learning design support tools and methods that they may not have engaged with before. At the same time, exemplars of learning designs were considered from the perspective of design methods and frameworks. Participants formed small groups centred on a software systems or methods that they had not worked with before and used it to plan their learning design(s) followed by critical reviews and group activities.

This was followed by a discussion plotting the way forward, towards comprehensive and cohesive dissemination of the workshop outputs, as a peer-reviewed publication (a special supplement to Research in Learning Technology) as well as an online open resource for practitioners, in the form of an interactive web portal linked to appropriate social networks and knowledge sharing site. Participants were invited to continue the discussions on-line, for a specified period, before the final form of the contributions were collated.