Learning Design Diagram and Model

As a part of the Working Out Loud approach adopted by the Learning Design and Technologies program at ASU, I was tasked in my third course of the program, LDT 501, with articulating my own definition of learning design and technology. This assignment culminated in a blog post available to read here, but I was also inspired to map out my definition as a visual. 

I created the following diagram to represent how I interpret the learning design process as an instructional designer in higher education. This process is indicative of the work I do with the eLearning team at Eller on a regular basis, and while it does not encapsulate every element of the process, it provides a generalized picture of what the cycle looks like for our team and for our instructors.Later in the program in LDT 523, I was inspired to revisit this diagram for an assignment in which we were instructor to created our own learning design module. This model can be loosely mapped to ADDIE, but with additional emphasis on collaboration, virtual technology maintenance, and iteration. The model is comprised of eight stages: Identify, Create, Inspect, Coordinate, Modify, Finalize, Iterate, and Evaluate. The first two stages are noniterative preparatory stages; the final six stages are iterative, cyclical stages. 

This model emphasizes the importance of technology maintenance in virtual course spaces, collaboration with course instructors, and learner-centered iteration. The inclusion of multiple revision stages is intended to ensure the elimination of nonfunctioning elements from the course space, to streamline the learner experience and minimize connectivity problems, and the centralization of the iteration phase indicates that the course should be maintained in a manner that keeps the learner experience central to the iteration process.