Digital Learning Design guide

MacNeill and Beetham (2022) provide this helpful definition:

"By learning design, we mean defining how learning will be supported within each module or unit: the activities, tools and technologies, core content, class sessions and group types, mode(s) of participation, assignments and assessments, and opportunities for interaction and feedback".

-Approaches to curriculum and learning design across UK higher education - Jisc

Our digital learning designers can work with you to make the best use of digital learning technologies to develop learning activities which align with your formal module specifications and learning outcomes. We use a learning design process based on UCL's ABC approach, which involves us facilitating storyboarding workshops where we map out your teaching and learning activities.

LEaD's Digital Education team

Our new Digital Learning Design service offers programme and module teams a collaborative, flexible process for the design, development, and delivery of blended and online learning activities. Through bespoke consultations and reflective storyboard-based learning design workshops, we can work with you using feedback from students, Moodle engagement data and your reflections on how teaching went to re-design your online learning. We can work with you to:

• Plan a range of online learning activities for students to engage with, including knowledge acquisition, applying knowledge, developing skills and working collaboratively.
• Review your online learning activities and how they integrate with existing formative and summative assessments to ensure constructive alignment and consistency.
• Integrate existing formative and summative assessments into your teaching activities.
• Build in support and organisation for blended and hybrid teaching.

If you have already planned your module or programme, our learning design experts, working alongside our school specialist and subject-specialist educational technologists, can help you with:

• Structuring your Moodle module to be clear to students.
• Learning how to make your teaching materials as accessible as possible.
• Recording high-quality videos to introduce topics and lecturers to students.
• Designing and helping build digital assessments to streamline the submission and marking processes per the needs of your assessments.

LEaD's Academic team

Our academic team can offer advice and support if you are thinking of any programme development or changes requiring formal approval (for example, through PARC). We can help:

• If you are developing a new programme or module and need advice on learning outcomes, your blended learning and teaching activities or your assessments (both formative and summative) to ensure there is constructive alignment.
• You are amending your programme or modules for annual programme review or periodic programme review, or a professional body re-accreditation.