So, what does a Learning Designer actually do?
And how is it different from an Instructional Designer I hear you ask? In today's video,
I use the analogy of building a house to explain the steps a Learning Designer does.
I know as educators you've probably heard these words being thrown around in education,
especially in the last few years. Well let me explain. But first who am I. My name is
Bianca Raby and I currently describe myself as an educator author and serial entrepreneur.
Last year I actually wrote a book all about Learning Design. This was because in April 2019 I
founded Oppida a digital education agency working to raise the bar in online education. So you'd
hope I'd have something to say. The challenge is can I explain it all to you in about five minutes?
to do the distinction justice between learning design and instructional designer I will need
more than one minute so check out my dedicated video on this called
learning designers versus instructional designers there is a big difference. The link is in the
description. The very short answer is though instructional design is more about creating linear
learning experiences mostly used for compliance purposes or with little to no assessment
it's for situations where there is information that needs to be conveyed very top-down learning
design on the other hand is all about crafting an experience based on how people learn both on
and offline it's more grounded in learning theory and less of a top-down approach learning designers
are just as much curators as they are creators so they take more ownership for learner engagement
to break down the role of a learning designer i like to use the analogy of building a house
step one laying the foundations for a learning designer this is the act of creating a course
overview or blueprint this foundational document usually contains the rationale for the course
description of what is covered learning outcomes and assessments
step two building the walls to build the walls of a course a learning designer will map out the
modules and the topics in line with the learning objectives which of course link to the assessment
step 3 decorating the house we all know how a house can feel so different depending on the
interior design well a course is no different the act of building the learning experience is
akin to decorating the house learning designers will use a mix of passive learning opportunities
reading or watching a video with active opportunities like discussion exploration tasks
knowledge checks branch scenarios etc as well as mixing up the delivery with a variety of modes
text video animatics audios etc step 4 handing over the keys each learning experience has
outcomes just like an architecture or homeowner has a vision for how a house will look and feel
the act of handing over the keys translates to the ability of the learning designer to design
effective and constructively aligned assessments so that is did the learners
achieve the learning outcomes or did the house live up to the owner's vision
make sense i'd love to hear if this resonates with you so drop a comment below if you feel cold
if you think this sounds like something you would enjoy doing then make sure you check the
description for some helpful links to my book on how to become a learning designer as well
as to Oppida's learning design practitioner micro credential if you've enjoyed the video please be
sure to click the like button subscribe to the channel and hit the bell to be notified of new
videos if you want to hear what i think the top five barriers are to transition to e-learning
check out this video thanks for watching and until next time stay awesome
you