Participatory Learning Design

xDelia draws on the extensive experience of the Open University in learning design. The OU Learning Design Initiative (OULDI) has developed an iterative design methodology, which focuses on two areas of activity in parallel: a) capturing and representing practice through user consultation and case studies and b) supporting learning design by gathering relevant resources and ideas about design, through the development of online tools for visualising and guiding design and through a series of associated workshops offering participants the opportunity to explore the resources and tools we have developed.

The methodology consists of four interconnected facets: understanding design through gathering empirical evidence about design, visualising design as a means of articulation and representation, guiding design through appropriate scaffolds and support, and sharing design to inspire and encourage uptake and reuse. Empirical evidence has included the collection of user requirements, case studies, in-depth interviews, evaluation of workshops and a longitudinal evaluation of a whole course design.

The methodology developed by the OULDI will be used in xDelia as part of the overall strategy to adopting a participatory design and evaluation approach. There are four main reasons why adopting this approach in xDelia is beneficial. First, it can act as a means of eliciting designs from stakeholders through a shared vocabulary and understanding of the design interventions. Second, it provides a means by which designs can be reused, as opposed to just sharing content. Third, it can guide individuals through the process of creating design interventions. Fourth it creates an audit trail of project design and evaluation decisions.

xDelia will leverage the insights gained in OULDI to effectively kick-start the design and development process. A visualisation tool, CompendiumLD, developed as part of the OULDI project will be used to map and record design and evaluation tools. A social networking site for sharing designs and resources, Cloudworks, has also been developed as part of the project and may be used as a conduit for sharing ideas and resources across XDELIA.