Learner Centered Design

Surely one of the greatest outcomes of the current saturation of media, advertising and competition for attention online is a move toward personalization for the individual. This is a great thing for the modern learner. The learning designer is compelled to create meaningful experiences for the learner which requires empathy building through research. The work, while becoming more demanding for the designer, is surely more rewarding and purposeful as well. Who doesn't want more empathy in the world?

Learner-centered design requires the adoption of methodologies from more traditional areas of design. We previously looked at the ADDIE and backwards design models as ways of producing excellent learning experiences but, as Tony Bates mentions, even these may be limiting.

"The ADDIE model is too inflexible for the digital age. Although it has served us well in the past and provides a foundation for design teaching and learning, it can be too pre-determined and linear to handle more volatile learning contexts."

- Tony Bates

The design thinking methodology, made famous at the Stanford d.school, provides

a structure that considers the user throughout. As UX and UI research design is now a huge part of learning design, the design thinking methodology is useful as it pairs learning theory with design principals and mindsets. You can see the success and effectiveness of beautiful design paired with learning theory in apps like Duolingo and Khan Academy.

Another positive shift in learning design is the necessity of accessibility for all learners. Our learning design team at Solve this week had an orientation at MIT's Open Learning Lab, where we had a walk-though of the Edx platform and specify requirements for MIT courses. There are a whole lot of ways that MIT and the platform caters to the whole spectrum of learner needs. This is now the norm for higher education, not the exception, which is good news.

It's a good time to be in learning design. New technology provides opportunities for designers to do interesting things and wear many different hats as they strive to make the most engaging, accessible and meaningful experiences they can.