Monday, October 05, 2020

A good year for educational designers ??

 This article by Michael Sankey and Amanda Bellaby  hit a chord with me this morning. This year has seen learning design / educational development / education design attain greater visibility. The disruptions caused by instituional 'closures' has led to unprecendented call on support to shift courses into the online space.

Educational design, as per the article, encompasses course design, academic mentorship, project manatement and educational research. As such, it is a discipline combining aspects of academic teaching development, curriculum/instructional design and nowadays, a strong requirement to understand the potentialities and workings of digital technologies which contribute to enhancing learning. As such, it is a demanding area of work, requiring continual professional development to keep up with the constantly developing educational 'technologies' and maintain pedagogical integrity.

In NZ, there are qualifications for 'learning design' but these have never been uplifted by providers and used. The recent review of the qualifications have thankfully retained and updated these qualifications, in light of the recent visibility of 'learning design' work. Hopefully, going forward, Te Pukenga / NZ Institute of Skills and Technology, will take up  the gauntlet and support the development of programmes of study for learning design, Only then, will there be a pathway for those now working in 'learning technologies' or in community / institutionally situated 'adult learning' and teaching, to be able to take into the field.



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