Today, along with my colleague Miranda Rodak, I’m co-led a workshop on transitioning to a learning experience design perspective. The workshop was at Winston-Salem State University, as part of their Quality Enhancement Plan to improve student retention, engagement, performance. Our focus was on helping instructors build better learning experiences by (a) shifting their focus toward learning experience design, (b) developing strategies for lowering barriers to success, (c) increasing the ability of identity formation in the classroom, and (d) crafting meaningful learning experiences that engage students, invite creativity and curiosity, and situate the value of interaction, problem-solving, feedback loops, and critical (digital) making.
The core ideas for this workshop stem from my own approaches to bringing together Active Learning and Digital Literacy into the classroom, coupled with my work in gaming pedagogy. But every element has been enhanced by Miranda’s insights into Transparency in Teaching in Learning, Active Learning Engagement, and the necessary conceptual and practical shifts one has to undergo to move from Course Expert to Course Architect.
This is the first time we have run this workshop, but I think it was pretty successful. If you’d like to know more about the transition mindset engagement or the conversation on learning experience design–or even if you’d like to book us to deliver a similar workshop at your institute–don’t hesitate to reach out.
Justin Hodgson 