Designing learning: challenges and strengths

Designing learning relies on the creative process of the graphic designer to make learning a satisfying, goal-oriented experience. 

In an increasingly connected society, where students are exposed to constant stimuli through multiple devices, education cannot deny the need to adapt to this new context. 

In this sense, designing attractive, dynamic and personalized learning experiences allows students to improve their performance and achieve their educational goals. 

If you want to know what designing learning is and what its challenges and strengths are, we invite you to continue reading this article.

What is designing learning?

Designing learning is the process of creating purposeful learning experiences that put students at the center of the instructions so that they can achieve a good outcome in their educational process.

This strategy, also known as LX or LXD, approaches the process of creating programs and content from the experience of a designer, based on own perspective, methods, skills, and tools.

In this way, the educational experience combines knowledge of graphic and game design with instructional design, that is, the methods that determine what to teach and how to do it.

Thus, the conception of the new educational experiences is fed by cognitive psychology, study through experience or learning by doing, combined with the latest advances in neuroscience and educational science, in addition to the incorporation of information and communication technologies in the classroom (ICTs).

At the heart of the educational revolution is the satisfaction of a motivated learner, which increases the commitment to learning and improves the results.

Thanks to the design of learning, the universal design for learning, which advocates taking into account the diversity of the classroom in an inclusive dynamic, enhances and develops two of its main qualities: flexibility and creativity. 

What are the challenges of designing learning experiences?

When designing learning experiences question: “What is the best way for learners to achieve the objectives?”, a large number of challenges emerge and become key features. 

Developing empathy for the learner

The first step in designing learning is to approach the target audience, the learner, with empathy and understanding. Only in this way can learning experiences be designed that meet the learner’s needs. 

Undoubtedly, the first difficulty is to carry out all this prospective work, to devote time and resources to it.

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Designing an experiential learning environment

Designing a learning environment requires consideration of the 4 principles of designing learning, which implies a proactive effort when approaching teaching practice: 

1. Experiential. Learners participate in a task or practice that enables them to learn.
2. Observational. This phase requires the learner to reflect on the content being learned.
3. Conceptualization. This is a process of abstraction in which the learner establishes relationships between the concepts and ideas learned.
4. Experience. In this last phase, the students puts theory into practice by choosing the best resources to achieve a given goal. Here they verify the usefulness of the knowledge first hand and develops their own solutions.

The goal throughout this process is to create effective, relevant and quality experiences that are memorable and do not succumb to the forgetting curve. 

This forgetting process after learning can be avoided by performance on the working memory with engaging and personalized content.

From a technical point of view, this pedagogical dynamic must follow the steps of instructional design, which is based on the ADDIE model, although there are other variations: 

• Research.
• Design.
• Development. 
• Implementation.
• Prototyping. 
• Evaluation.

Teacher specialization

Since learning design integrates all kinds of digital channels and ICT resources, teachers need to be trained in them to make the most of them. 

The Learning Management Systems (LMS) and the dynamics that integrate the game as gamification through specialized softwares allow for the creation of personalized experiences and, crucially, to evaluate them objectively.

Teachers must feel comfortable managing and implementing e-books, interactive games and quizzes, virtual and augmented reality, etc. in the classroom.

Likewise, the pedagogical proposals of designing learning are interactive and iterative, where design, functionality, experience and creativity are the protagonists.

What are the strengths of designing learning experiences?

At this point, it is worth highlighting the major strengths of designing learning experiences in an increasingly connected world that allows for ubiquitous learning. 

Here are some of these strengths: 

• Makes it easier for students to apply knowledge in real life, beyond the classroom. 
• Allows students to understand the importance of learning and strengthens the relationship between teachers and students.
• Encourages student participation by increasing their concentration, thereby improving their results and long-term knowledge retention.
• It builds cooperative relationships among students as they feel more motivated and willing to share their experiences. On the other hand, it promotes the great virtues of social learning.
• It fosters critical thinking in students and improves skills such as decision-making and creativity. 
• It creates an environment conducive to self-evaluation and constructive criticism focused on achieving educational milestones.
• It stimulates continuous feedback, where students become the drivers of their own learning by contributing to the creation of new content. 
• It improves the assimilation of concepts thanks to methodologies such as microlearning, which is based on training content that is easy to understand and that allows for a gradual progression of knowledge.

When it comes to designing learning, the online environment gives you the flexibility you need to make learning a memorable experience. 

In this context, our proctoring plans will help you enhance this experience with innovative and adaptable online proctoring.Request a free demo and discover all the solutions we have to offer.

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