The concept of learning design is used to give some structure to a student’s pathway through learning, and this is particularly important when delivering courses by blended or online learning.
At St George’s, University of London, we have built upon the Arena Blended Connected (ABC) curriculum design research undertaken at University College London.
Using a series of bespoke templates within Canvas, with the purpose of structuring a student’s journey through their learning, and aided by careful signposting about what is required of a student on the course, learning is structured in units of study, each centred around a lecture, lab or teaching session. The pedagogically-robust learning design template indicates what a student is required to do (for example, some set reading) before the session, and also what they should do after each session, such as take part in an online discussion, complete a quiz, undertake further self-directed learning, or watching carefully-created or curated online resources.