“Many hats one heart”: A scoping review on the professional identity of learning designers

Altena, Sharon; Ng, Rebecca; Hinze, Meredith; Poulsen, Simone; Parrish, Dominique

doi:10.14742/apubs.2019.284

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The five role titles were used to construct conversation maps. For the purpose of this research, all teaching and learning third space workers (i.e., learning/educational/instructional designers, learning/educational technologists, e-learning/educational developers) were identified as learning designers as they are part of a similar cohort of teaching and learning professionals within educational contexts (see Altena et al, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Look who’s talking: Professional conversations of learning designers on Twitter during COVID-19

Ng,

Altena,

Hinze

2023

AJET

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The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted every aspect of life, forcing educational institutions to pivot rapidly to emergency remote learning. Within higher education, learning designers stepped forward and shouldered much of the responsibility of supporting institutional change on an unprecedented scale to ensure continuity of student learning. Although there is a large corpus of literature about the experiences of teachers and students during the pandemic, little is known about the experience of learning designers during this time and how their professional learning was supported. This mixed-methods study provides insights into how Twitter was used by learning designers as part of their professional learning network (PLN) during the pandemic. Using social network analysis and thematic analysis, Twitter provided a level playing field for learning designers within the @TELedvisors community who were highly engaged in global professional and social conversations, with access to continuous learning and social support. We argue that Twitter has undertilised potential for amplifying the voices of underrepresented third space workers within higher education contexts and is an important component to a learning designer’s PLN in the post-pandemic era. This paper will be of interest to learning designers, the @TELedvisors community, professional organisations that support learning designers and other third space professionals. Implications for policy or practice: Twitter can be an effective tool for learning designers and other third space workers as a way to access continuous professional development and to build global, non-hierarchical connections with like-minded professionals outside their institution. Learning designers and other third space workers should include Twitter as an effective and important component of their PLN. Twitter can be used as a tool for amplifying the voices of learning designers and raise the profile of their contributions to higher education by showcasing their skills and expertise to broader audiences.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Look who’s talking: Professional conversations of learning designers on Twitter during COVID-19

Ng,

Altena,

Hinze

2023

AJET

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“…LDs commonly hold professional staff positions however it is not uncommon for these to be classified as academic positions, depending on the organisation (Zhou, 2023). As with ETs, Learning Designers can be found in both central and faculty-based units supporting learning and teaching and their responsibilities often vary depending on where they are located (Altena et al, 2019). Centrally based LDs often work on longer term strategic unit redevelopment or 'uplift' type projects, in which they may work closely with a teaching team to redesign and build an entire unit over a period of months.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lack of clarity also extends to role purpose and common activities, meaning that a Learning Designer in a centrally based unit might be tasked with a long-term project designing and building learning resources as part of the redevelopment of a single online unit (Heggart & Dickson-Deane, 2021) while a Learning Designer working in a faculty unit in the same university may be responsible for providing ad hoc guidance to any academic about any aspect of their pedagogy or use of educational technology. While they share a title, their work may serve a noticeably different function for the university (Altena et al, 2019).…”

Section: Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors impacting the ability of ‘EdAdvisors’ to support and enhance technology-enhanced learning and teaching in Australian Higher Education

Simpson

2023

APUBS

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Technology-enhanced learning and teaching practice in Higher Education is facilitated in different ways by ‘Third Space’ support staff including Learning Designers, Education Technologists and Academic Developers, broadly defined as ‘EdAdvisors’ – educator/advisors. EdAdvisors offer rich experience and expertise across both pedagogy and technology can be hampered by workplace factors that diminish their ability to have meaningful impact. The work that EdAdvisors do is increasingly represented in existing research but there less is known of the barriers to their practice, particularly across different role-types. This doctoral research uses a Practice Theory lens and mixed methods to examine the complex web of factors in Australian Higher Education that shape the practices of EdAdvisors, including cultural, epistemic, material, organisational and relational, in an attempt to identify problems and suggest solutions. One significant problem is that EdAdvisor roles are often poorly defined. This work adds clarity to the understanding of these roles by comparing core activities and knowledge areas associated with them and using this analysis to find distinguishing characteristics and areas of overlap. It contributes to deeper understanding of the ways that teaching is and should be supported in Australian Higher Education. Feedback is sought on the theoretical lenses and methodology

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“…Yet its practices, boundaries, and identity are often still unclear, and so sometimes poorly understood. There is also added complexity and ambiguity to the field as job titles and functions proliferate (Mitchell et al, 2017), indicating a profession still grappling with its own conflicting and divergent practices, boundaries, and identities (Altena et al, 2019). This tends to complicate the work of learning designers in general, including their working relationships with academics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to build a learning designer

Abblitt,

Davis,

D'Rozario

et al. 2023

APUBS

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The practice and profession of learning design has grown significantly in recent years. However, there remains a scarcity of formal qualifications and training specifically designed for learning designers. This paper describes a work-in-progress initiative to co-design a training program for/with/as a team of novice learning designers. The question driving our practice-led and design-based investigation is not just what but how learning designers should learn. The team conducted research into the requisite knowledge, skills, and capabilities that make a successful learning designer, including an informal learning needs analysis. Based on this research and analysis, this paper explores the question of how learning designers should learn by discussing four guiding theoretical principles and related design components consequently ideated by the team: learner agency; becoming professional; novice/expert mentorship; and community of practice. It then turns to the question of what, describing the core curriculum and program structure through which these principles will be enacted. These questions are critical to the present and future of the profession as we collectively articulate our shared practices and identity, and what it means to be a learning designer.

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“Many hats one heart”: A scoping review on the professional identity of learning designers

Cited by 6 publications

References 9 publications

Look who’s talking: Professional conversations of learning designers on Twitter during COVID-19

Look who’s talking: Professional conversations of learning designers on Twitter during COVID-19

Factors impacting the ability of ‘EdAdvisors’ to support and enhance technology-enhanced learning and teaching in Australian Higher Education

How to build a learning designer

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