Lisa Endersby
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those
who cannot read and write, but those who cannot
learn, unlearn, and relearn” – Alvin Toffler
Using a ‘model’ to design your course
An instructional design model is the starting point for effective, strategic course planning. Models are frameworks to help build the structure of your course, and roadmaps for both you and your students to travel a defined yet flexible pathway from the first day through to the final exam. Particularly for online and blended learning, course design models help to focus the student experience on meaningful learning. A model that identifies and mitigates potential challenges related to the use of instructional technologies (e.g. ambiguous instructions, possible technical failures) ensures the emphasis remains on student development rather than imposing unnecessary barriers on meaningful teaching and learning.
Learner-Centered Design Practices
Many programs that train instructors for the classroom focus on a myriad of tools, strategies, and topics meant to develop skills in exceptional teaching practices. These competencies, however, are only most effective when accompanied by a lens that privileges the student experience. A learner-centered approach to design considers the active role of the student in their learning; it disrupts more traditional views of teaching as the transmission of knowledge and places more of the decision-making power in directing the learning experience with the students themselves. A learning-centered approach, by contrast, may emphasize content delivery and student evaluation as a way of ‘quality control’ to ensure that students are learning. While this approach has merit in its interest in learning, it does not privilege the role, agency, and experience of our students in the learning process.
The popular and often-quoted saying of “sage on the stage or guide on the side” encapsulates the role of the teacher in learner-centered design. The instructor’s role in learner-centered design is to guide, support, and navigate rather than instruct, tell, or disseminate course content to a passive audience. A guide also has a deep understanding of their students – their expectations, their past experiences, and their current interests. This insight helps instructors to lead students along the pathways they have created for learning, but also provides valuable information as to how students might go astray on this journey. A guide will walk beside or behind those they have been charged to teach rather than charge ahead to complete the journey first. Ultimately, students at the centre of the learning experience are not passive consumers but rather active participants in shaping and directing this developmental journey.
3 Principles of Learner-Centered Design
Explicit Instruction
The use of explicit instruction involves much more than providing a clear explanation of course content. In contrast with implicit methods, explicit instruction e