Learning Systems Design and Development Competencies

Mastery of this competency enables designers to generate ideas for building new systems and environments. Based on the needs assessment, designers visualize their ideas and create plans for how to use technology to best support human activity.

Designers need to be flexible so their designs reflect their audience while maintaining a strong theoretical foundation. Rich, interactive environments offer a deeper learning experience and it is the designer's job to craft them. The key idea is to anchor the learning tasks in authentic contexts depending on the audience. A learning system for nurses might differ from a system for young horse riders in content and structure but the principals of problem-based learning and peer collaboration will apply to both.

Needs assessment and a focus on the learner form a strong structure for designing systems and environments. A performance support system to assist people in completing work tasks will have a different objective than a learning environment where pre-med students practice their decision-making abilities and solve problems using case-based learning but they will still have elements in common. Good design, regardless of audience and project, includes consistency, usability and efficiency.

Early testing of prototypes, even low-fidelity paper mock-ups, can show design flaws. Design rooted in needs assessment, research and evaluation allows designers to create learning systems that are purposeful, meaningful and engaging for learners.

Demonstration of Competency: Computer Supported Collaborative Work Sakai Desktop Widget

As a final project for Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW), I designed a desktop widget to improve the Sakai learning environment.

The design process began with a prospectus that included wild ideas. Design highlights from the prospectus included increasing a sense of social presence in the online environment and supporting interdependencies within the group. My stated goal was that communication between learners would be become more organized, convenient and transparent.

I developed a protocol for testing the design prototype. Although the prototype was a low-fidelity paper mock-up, it still yielded valuable results. Problematic aspects became apparent during the testing, such as the feasibility of the widget and the need for social networking within the widget: details of the evaluation. This experience convinced me of the essential need for early prototyping and usability testing in the design process.

If I were to approach this project again, I would have researched the practicality, usability and appeal of widgets. As I progressed further into the design, I recognized that there would be a number of security issues involved with the widget.

Demonstration of Competency: Additional Design Projects

I acted as a designer for all the applications developed that I discuss in more detail under the heading of the third competency, developing learning systems applications or components of applications.

An example of the most fully developed learning environment was for Problem-based Learning. The goal was to design an online learning environment where a novice learner would practice the role of being a case manager and coordinating a complicated state-required process. Working in a team of three with two doctoral students, I acted as a researcher for the content, wrote the scenarios and edited the Web site. Additionally, I coded some pages in XHTML.

Each time I approach a design project, I have more skills and experience than in my previous projects. Consistent aspects to my design approach include content written in simple language, clear navigation, a clean "look and feel" with plenty of white space and a collaborative, learner-centered environment.