LRNT 524 – Blog post #1 – Week 2 – November 19, 2023

In my early career, I have spent much time in corporate learning and development in the finance sector. I was grateful to take the PIDP, (Professional Instructors Diploma Program) program in 2009. This program taught me education history, some theory, ADDIE, SAMS, and Bloom’s Taxonomy. 

I learned and practiced building learning through needs assessment, ADDIE, learning objectives, and performance objectives.  I have used these processes and models for some time; I always felt like I had a starting point and was designing to learner needs when I layered Blooms into ADDIE. I like how the levels are built upon each other with a constructivist methodology from remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating, (Dousay, 2017). Naturally, these initial frameworks were the foundation. I want to try to design in the future by using SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) rather than Blooms and ADDIE as SEL may help to design less hierarchically. Instead, we would design in an emotional way that connects to the content and the learner more. Some courses I teach now are Emotional Intelligence, conflict, leadership, and change. I feel that incorporating more emotional methods, models, and processes would connect to the content and enhance retention and application for the learner, (National University, 2023).

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a methodology that helps students of all ages comprehend their emotions better, feel them fully, and demonstrate empathy for others. These learned behaviors are then used to help students make positive, responsible decisions, create frameworks to achieve their goals, and build positive relationships with others. When Instructional designers make lessons more personal and relatable to students, students may be more inclined to participate and less likely to check out during their subjects mentally. SEL can have a positive impact that lasts a lifetime by fostering a sense of empathy, self-awareness, and feelings of safety and inclusiveness in the classroom, (National University, 2023).

SEL also resonates for me with UDL (Universal Design for Learning) thinking through the components of design thinking, empathy for understanding the learner, and empathy for the instructor. It is focused on both and constantly working iteratively through gathering feedback to improve the design, (Takacs et al, 2021). Our epistemologies—our assumptions about how knowledge works—reflect our values and beliefs. Theories of learning inform practices, which in turn shape practices. Cultural assumptions about teachers and students, including their respective responsibilities and traits, are reflected in design models. The epistemological and theoretical foundations and assumptions about culture and diversity must be understood to fully appreciate it and determine whether it is appropriate to use in each context (Heaster-Ekholm, 2020).

Adding creativity, place-based experiences, and empathy through these models based on what the learning is about, who the learner is, and their learning community is essential to make an impact for every learner. Learning more about empathic design and how creative and sensitive the designer is when thinking about the learner’s experience (Hutchinson, 2019) reinforces that I am on a valuable learning path. I have always advocated for the learners in the corporate world, trying to negotiate for more time to design effectively and help them apply what they have learned through experiential activities. It takes lots of time to design activities and programs effectively, and the corporate world does not necessarily understand the power of having this time for design.

In my experience, there is a constant battle in the corporate world where rapid design and delivery are expected, and the learner may be forgotten in the need for them to have the time it takes to truly digest, experience, and apply learning.

Advocating for more time for the employee to learn, to truly reflect, (Van Beveren et al, 2018), and to apply learning is a constant quest.

References

Dousay. T. A. (2017). Chapter 22. Instructional Design Models. In R. West (Ed.)

https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/instructional_design_models

Heaster-Ekholm, K. L. (2020). Popular Instructional Design Models: Their Theoretical Roots and Cultural

Considerations. International Journal of Education and Development using Information and

Communication Technology, 16(3), 50-65.

National University, (2023, November 19) Master the Art of Social Emotional Learning at National University, – Harmony Academy. https://www.inspiresel.org/ma-of-sel-at-nu/

National University, (2023, November 19) What is Social Emotional Learning (SEL): Why It Matters | NU,

https://www.nu.edu/blog/social-emotional-learning-sel-why-it-matters-for-educators/

Takacs, S, Zhang, J., Lee, H., Truong, L., & Smulders, D. (2021) A comprehensive guide to applying Universal Design for Learning. 

Tracey, M.W., Hutchinson, A. Empathic design: imagining the cognitive and emotional learner experience. Education Tech Research Dev 67, 1259–1272 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09683-2

Van Beveren, L., Roets, G., Buysse, A., & Rutten, K. (2018). We all reflect, but why? A systematic review of the purposes of reflection in higher education in social and behavioral sciences. Educational Research Review, 24, 1-9.