Category: Learning design

  • Building aspirations: embedding employability into learning design

    Building aspirations: embedding employability into learning design

    Many students choose to study with the OU to build new job-related skills or take a step up in their career. But plenty more benefit from the employability focus of our modules even if they’re not studying for career reasons. That’s because we see employability as more than just about building skills – we see…

  • Mix, stir then blend gently: co-creating a remote community of practice

    Mix, stir then blend gently: co-creating a remote community of practice

    If you read our last blog post, you’ll know that like most people, we’ve made some changes to the way we work here in the learning design team thanks to COVID19. One of these has been a change to our community of practice. Before lockdown, this was informal – members of the learning design team…

  • A virtual biscuit tin: creating a community of practice for learning designers in lockdown

    A virtual biscuit tin: creating a community of practice for learning designers in lockdown

    It wasn’t just students who faced a sudden change in how they were learning in March when the UK locked down. Learners in the workplace were affected too – including our learning design team here at the Open University. We were dispersed to our homes by lockdown and overnight, lost our ability to learn from one another.

  • Student journeys: embedding skills into the curriculum

    Student journeys: embedding skills into the curriculum

    The Open University approach to designing for learning puts a strong focus on knowing who the learners are, catering for their needs and supporting them to succeed. One of the strengths of the OU is that its students are very diverse – the OU’s mission is to be open to people, places, methods and ideas…

  • The art of conversation: why collaboration matters in online learning 

    The art of conversation: why collaboration matters in online learning 

    If you’ve ever witnessed an awkward role play exercise in a training session, you may dread the idea of collaborative learning activities. The good news is that when it comes to online learning, you can plan and manage collaborative activities to ensure that nobody’s embarrassed and everyone benefits – possibly in ways they hadn’t anticipated.   You may have already designed some online collaborative activities. If you found it tricky, you’re not alone. They…

  • Practical tools for developing student-centred learning

    Practical tools for developing student-centred learning

    Over the last decade, The Open University has developed its approach to designing and evaluating student-centred learning through a wealth of research and scholarship. The basis for much of what we do derives from the tools developed through the OU Learning Design Initiative.

  • Sharing our resources for designing online learning

    Sharing our resources for designing online learning

    Over the past few months of lockdown we’ve received a number of calls for advice from the sector and we’ve participated in a number of webinars as well as delivering workshops for various external clients. As time has progressed we’ve aimed to make sure that as many of these resources as possible are shared and…

  • Active learning: making learning engaging

    Active learning: making learning engaging

    We’ve probably all sat through enough ‘death by PowerPoint’ slide decks to know what happens when we’re presented with information but don’t have the chance to engage with it. In the best-case scenario, we simply don’t learn anything. But often we leave the meeting or class worse off – with unanswered questions, frustration and reduced…