My first year as a Learning Designer¹
Today is a special day for me.
It marks one year of working full time as a Learning Designer. I wanted to write something to celebrate this milestone and explain a bit about what I have been doing with my time.
Some background context
I worked as a teacher in seven schools, totting up 26 years of experience. About six years into my first job I started a design company and spent the rest of my time developing a range of skills across numerous disciplines. Throughout this time my design and educational skills converged until I discovered that there was a Real Job out there that was a perfect synthesis of both. At one point in my journey I almost stepped into a generalist role - developing resources for any and every paying client - but to my delight something better happened: I got a job at Crosslands. I am now a specialist in probably the most bespoke² role one could ask for.
My job in one diagram
On the left are the six overarching principles taken from the 'Making Every Lesson Count' series by Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby. On the right are Scott Berkun's four foundational design questions. Learning design is a synthesis of these two disciplines.
Learning design - when successful - is the creation of a compelling and satisfying journey of discovery. My intention is for learners to be drawn in and find delight in the experience of tackling something of value. I see this experience as a 'learning tunnel', constructed by combining the best educational and design principles.
Six Learning Principles
Everyone working in education ends up developing personal convictions about what is important if you are going to do the job well - you need some kind of framework to cope with the sheer pressure of surviving the job. The MELC series of books (created/edited by Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby) clarify many of the key ideas in a helpful list of six overarching principles.
Challenge - high expectations that stretch learners. Embedding struggle and reward.
Explanation - clear, concrete conveyance of concepts and ideas.
Modelling - walking through problems, procedures and processes as required.
Practice - focused deliberation, developing personal thinking and conviction.
Feedback - two-way instructor/learner insight leading to mutual improvement.
Questioning - testing for misconceptions, enabling deeper insight.
These principles promote balance. They aren't prescriptive in a lesson-by-lesson sense; they operate as a checklist for a sequence of material. My favourite thing about this list is that they are rooted firmly in an 'anti-gimmick' approach. They draw on time-tested approaches that don't rely on seasonal trends or TED-talk personalities - good solid fibre for healthy learning! (If you are involved in any kind of educational programme you would benefit from a few moments comparing your existing diet against these.)
Four Key Design Questions
In addition to these, Scott Berkun's foundational design questions have had immense value in refining and focussing my thinking whenever I work on a design problem. These are a brilliant starting point and general framework.
What are you trying to improve?
Who are you trying to improve it for?
How do you ensure you are successful?
Who might be hurt by your work?
Great learning design is a combination of these two worlds: learning and design. In my first year at Crosslands it has been a joy to simultaneously flex both sets of disciplines.
So what have I been doing exactly?
I have been working on a series of 'foundation' courses intended for members of grass-roots Church communities who want to deepen their understanding of theology and practice in a convenient and accessible way. Crosslands already provides successful seminary-level accredited courses for current (or aspiring) Church staff workers. They took the decision to expand their range of courses for 'non-professionals' who might want to grow in their faith without it being a huge deal. The foundation offering is something that individuals or small groups can participate in - it functions beautifully on mobile devices - enabling flexibility and ease for the user. As we hit September ‘22 (tomorrow!) ten of these have been successfully launched with more in the pipeline.
In managing such a large project I have developed a systematic process defined by approximately 6 phases:
Phase 1: Initial development
Crosslands works with established and trusted writers and teachers within the Christian community to produce material across a number of relevant topics. Where appropriate, I might bring suggestions to table discussions at this draft stage for how the content could develop and finally be delivered. Personally it is important to retain a focus on what will really work for the learner at the point of delivery - a connection with personable, expert insight - a sense of humour and humanity... qualities which make a massive difference to user engagement. The phrase 'death by powerpoint' is something we are all well aware of.
Phase 2: Initial design response
Once the material has been written and delivered - it might help to think of it as a freshly baked cake - I set about devising how best to decorate and slice it up into an appealing, accessible end product.
I spend some time absorbing the finished course materials, making visual notes and jotting down any ideas I am getting as I go. Occasionally I will have ideas about how to present key concepts: giving a sense of an overview (to help the student to make sense of where they are). I also think about how to assist learners to retain the material (aiding its 'stickiness') plus any other inspiration about using and adapting multimedia materials where appropriate.
My initial notes compared to a more rendered overview diagram.
Referring back to Allison and Tharby's 6 learning principles, here are some of the thoughts that go through my mind during phase 2:
Challenge: are we providing enough (or too much...)?
Explanation: is there enough pacing? Does anything need slowing down or speeding up? Does the structure get in the way of the learning? Should we be using more or less video sections?
Modelling: are we providing enough opportunity for demonstration - either through worked out examples, local-leader discussion notes (and support where needed), or some other way that fits with the course direction?
Practice: is there enough opportunity for guided reflection, thinking, writing, and/or discussion? Do we need to emphasise private reflection or guided group discussion?
Feedback: how do the instructors and learners get insight (and so develop more effectively)?
Questioning: most of the courses have both quiz and reflective components built in - these are usually focussed on enabling the learner to mark the territory covered with their own personal stamp, or recapping particular chunks of knowledge. As we move across a unit of work - which key ideas do we want students to retain when it's all over?
Phase 3: design materials
I usually begin with placing the content into formatted sections that communicate clearly to the user the kind of activity being covered. A large part of my work has been defining a common visual language or feel so that regular users will know where they are on the learning journey.
After this I move on to creating final illustrations - it doesn't make sense to do this any earlier because a key function of an image is to assist with the meaning - so the context is really crucial. Generally I will make somewhere between 70 and 150 images for each foundation course. (To date I have produced approximately 1000 images since I started the course).
The final part of phase 3 is to take a look at the overview and create my own personal 'cheat sheet' - or a set of notes that show at-a-glance what has been covered. I will use this to assist me in making a set of quiz sections and also double back to make some interleaving recap quiz sections. The main point with these quizzes is not to set a tough examination or assessment that can be passed or failed - they are relatively light-touch exercises that draw learners back into the material for extra reflection.
This was created in Waitrose Cafe, Worthing.
Phase 4: first release
One of the main revelations for me in reflecting on Berkun's principles was the need for building in space for feedback and iterative improvements. Phase 4 is the first release version which has been checked by the team and usually results in a few key corrections. It has been a fascinating experience to see how different writers and teachers have responded to the material in its ‘Phase 3’ form. Mostly this has been positive, but there is always a bit of tightening to be done so I try not to be too precious about my work!
Phase 5 (and onwards)
So far we have a couple of modules which are on Phase 5 - meaning that they have been evaluated and improved after feedback from active users. I love the idea that we are improving something that is already good.
This post doesn’t tell you everything about what I have been doing but hopefully it gives an idea of some of my work. I am deeply grateful to the team at Crosslands for this opportunity and I love what we are making and sending out into the world.
Special easter egg - this post is dedicated DP and WS who are both very talented ex-students who no doubt will make good use of this material to inspire and direct others into amazing learning experiences.
¹This title isn’t really true though, is it? I started teaching and planning Sunday School lessons in a church when I was 18 or 19, so this is maybe my 30th year as a learning designer… the reality is that every time you think and plan to teach something you are a learning designer. Titles are a nonsense to be honest - people who do stuff are already doing it before they get that title.
²For those who don’t know, it is worth sharing at this point that the Christian faith, exploring the Bible, applying theological issues and basically anything to do with Jesus Christ are among the most important things in my life. Throughout my time as a teacher I had a role as an RE teacher which I loved! Exploring different perspectives, engaging with contemporary issues and seeking to frame difficult theological ideas in helpful ways was something I excelled at. My work at Crosslands is quite similar in many ways, except I work with adults within a niche Christian context and don’t have to deal with gum under desks quite as much.
Telling Emma's Story
Emma Allen:
“…professional, friendly and very helpful. The illustrations he produced for our project perfectly reflected my words.”
Towards the end of 2020, Prof. Paul Clarke, Emma Allen, Sheila Atuona and Dr. Paul Cawley published this research paper. It documents the importance of facilitating a delivery room cuddle between a mother and her extremely premature baby. The significance of creating such a bond - especially when the baby might not survive beyond the first few days - is striking.
Prof. Paul Clarke got in touch with me with the idea of producing some simple images that might bring the report to a wider audience. He took me through the research paper which included this remarkable personal testimony from the mother of two of his tiny patients, almost 15 years earlier.
The story was so powerful… Emma had tragically lost one of her premature twins, but not before she was enabled to connect with him in the delivery room.
In my view, this was the best bridge for the wider public to access the team’s findings. I got to work breaking the story into chunks and creating some images that would communicate the key moments.
These were my early sketchbook scribblings where I knew that Emma’s story had to be the public bridge into the research report.
I am wary of misreading things (it’s a long story: too many mistakes in the past), so I was put in touch with Emma and walked her through my first draft just to get a feel for what was and wasn’t working - this was her story and it was important that she felt confident that I was reflecting it faithfully.
One of the benefits of living through this ‘pandemic-zoom’ age is that it is relatively simple to set up a video call where I took her through the first draft rough panels. (My advice to any illustrator out there is to get live feedback on your work from the client early on) this session was hugely valuable for guiding my thinking. It was clear that there were some really strong ideas in this piece, but it still needed honing.
This is a snapshot from my zoom session with Emma (hilariously it looks like I am talking to myself but she was very much present!) giving vital feedback on my initial grasp of the story.
From here I made some further edits to the text and created this final sequence of images in PDF form.
The feedback I got from Dr. Paul Cawley left me a little dizzy to be honest. I had to sit down for a few minutes. Surely this is what illustration should be about?
Simple animation
At this stage Prof. Clarke decided that the project would work better as a simple animation and encouraged me to develop it further along these lines. As you can see from the final piece, I decided against animating the drawings. Partly because of budget, mainly because of time: I focussed on trying to tell the story in the most cost-effective way possible.
What would communicate most directly with the audience? What was the one thing that could transcend our limitations? It was Emma telling her story, with her own voice.
I gave Emma some remote recording instructions and she sent me a couple of superb recordings (such a pro!) which I then worked into the edit. After some initial music choices of my own, Prof. Clarke and his colleagues gave me some considered feedback and the final piece emerged soon after.
My joy for this project lies in the fact that it is such a valuable cause. I hope that it will lead people to consider making this practice the default rather than the exception. Emma’s bond with Jack will clearly be treasured for the rest of her life.
As I finish this write-up it is well worth saying that my other delight here is the collaborative nature of my time working with Prof. Paul Clarke. In any creative endeavour the balance can be spoilt by either side pushing too much (or not enough). I love that we worked together on this and the end result is the better for it.
Paul wrote a very kind comment for me to share:
“This project was vital to promote wider dissemination of our neonatal unit’s research and practice. On accepting this commission, Jason undertook the careful prior legwork necessary to understand the detailed subject matter. Long before putting pen to paper, he had thereby been able to immerse himself in what was in many ways a complex and tragic real-life personal story yet one with a powerful positive message of hope and inspiration. His unique artwork consequently captures the very essence of Emma’s story perfectly and complements both her narration and the accompanying emotional-but-positive backing composition. His resulting final creation, achieved with the close collaborative input of all the research coauthors, is a beautiful, powerful and - we hope - inspiring piece that will help this project and Emma’s message reach a much wider audience for the benefit of many future very preterm babies and their families. The end result is exactly what we wanted.”
For any nerds who might get upset - here are the tools I used:
Sketchbook (of course!)
Clip Studio Paint on iPad and Mac
Affinity Publisher - this has become a really useful tool lately for all sorts of projects
Keynote
Final Cut Pro
The St Wilfrids School Film
Back in October 2020 I was given the opportunity to make a short film for one of the local primary schools.
Here is the delightful result:
For me the best filmmaking experiences are when there is a degree of spontaneity and playful engagement. I had such a laugh interacting with the kids on this day and I think this comes across pretty clearly. It is a common misconception to think of a film as a set of pre-planned powerpoint slides that you move through. The planning and organisation are crucial, but they are mainly setting the context for the emotional magic to happen.
I think it was either WiIliam Wilder or Sydney Lumet who said that there is a knack to telling an actor to relax in front of the camera without actually telling them to relax. Related to this are the famous jumping photographs of Philippe Halsman:
Starting in the early 1950s I asked every famous or important person I photographed to jump for me. I was motivated by a genuine curiosity. After all, life has taught us to control and disguise our facial expressions, but it has not taught us to control our jumps. I wanted to see famous people reveal in a jump their ambition or their lack of it, their self-importance or their insecurity, and many other traits.
What Halsman instinctively knew was how to disarm his subjects and draw something fresh from seemingly predictable wells. This is something that I have reflected on (and tried to practice) many times over the years.
Jason came to film our school for the day, he had a huge amount of energy and worked tirelessly to ensure he captured everything amazing about our school! We were thrilled with the final version and so proud of what has been achieved to showcase our children. Jason was fabulous, he listened to our vision and created an exceptional piece of film which reflects the ethos of our school! Thank you so much for going the extra mile and for putting in all the hours of hard work.
Sharon Reynolds - Headteacher, St Wilfrids Angmering
Loom: Redressing the Swing To Flipped E-Learning
The Covid-19 pandemic is having a curious impact on teaching and learning.
For years I have been interested in using digital tools to enhance and extend what we do in ‘traditional’ teaching situations. My thinking has always been - take what you do well naturally and extend this with technology. I have often felt annoyed about poorly-implemented systems that create unnecessary friction, often hurting the teaching/learning process.
While I have sometimes been seen as an early-adopter with a taste for shiny things, I have tried to encourage others into using gadgets for learning. I like to think that some people have been inspired by my limited example and made their own tiny steps into an exciting new digital world. But now that choice (and the corresponding joy of finding your own way) has disappeared as all teachers have been exiled online with little or no warning.
Certainly the first couple of weeks have been weird, stressful and bemusing for us all. In conversation with a number of parent and teacher friends across the country it is clear that we are in some kind of gold-rush frenzy as different groups lay claim to uncharted territory. Many are finding the sheer intensity of the school work being set extremely stressful. Balancing brand new home pressures that never existed before with excessive expectations appears to be driving a few families to the wall. Others are loving it - for them this is an opportunity to get on without distractions and cut to the chase. Who needs all that teacher talk? Just give me the good stuff and let me get on with it!
It’s quite bizarre just how polarising this situation is. I have students who adore the ability to dive in deeply, do their thing and then get out; I also have some who are lost without the friendly banter, interactions and scaffolding. The loneliness of the long-distance flipped-learner, if you will.
Just like that scene near the end of the Titanic movie where everyone is flailing around in the water, we are just trying to stay afloat at the moment and make sense of a new learning culture with whatever seems to be buoyant. My casual guess is that a number of changes will take shape in the near future - some so-called VLEs will be seeing the end of their contracts as robust and more useful platforms prove themselves; the concept of homework will get a permanent facelift and the distinctive contribution of localised expert teaching will be (hopefully) re-evaluated as essential for student progress.
Wherever we end up with all of this palaver, I hope that solid teaching principles are applied to any post-Covid analyses. I would hate for this moment of cultural re-setting to be squandered by impoverished insights.
Finally - something practical…
For the time being I would like to add to the growing list of recommendations for Loom.
Last week, Andy Tharby wrote a glowing review of his first experience with this capable screen-capturing tool. In many ways, this is perhaps the best kind of endorsement for an app seeking teacher approval - Tharby is not someone I would consider to be a member of the honorary Nerd Clan (something that can be easily ascertained from his ‘light aircraft pilot’ look wearing those dorky headphones…). Yet - he was easily able to put something confident and clear together in a short amount of time. As tempting as it may be to think we could be the next stars of YouTube, teachers ideally should be doing the unflashy basics well - avoiding gimmicks and enabling students to progress to greater heights. I believe that you have these qualities expressed effectively in Andy’s recording. In this situation, less really is more.
I spent a few hours playing about with Loom today and have posted my own piece below. It isn’t very polished, but as I have been saying already, that is part of the point! If you choose to watch some/any of it you will notice the warts-and-all presentation where I make a bunch of mistakes as I rattle through a few things. I have combined some technical observations with a bit of didactic teaching and an example of playing/annotating a video from a browser window. It’s something I might use as an introduction or conclusion to a topic to reinforce certain ideas in the mind of the collective online audience.
In addition to Andy’s observations, there are several things I would want to say if you are going to use this application:
Devote some time to thinking-about/listening-to the recorded sound quality. The audio makes up more than half of the presentation. You might need to make your peace with whatever sound you end up getting, but it is always worth tinkering a bit - e.g. I tested three microphone set ups and stumbled accidentally onto something far superior I had forgotten about. It might be that you have some headphones with a built-in mic that work better than the native laptop mic. Try both options out - you might get something better.
The combination of your explanation face and the work itself is really valuable for students who are feeling that isolation. It’s not the same as being there, but if you have a strong bond with them, it will hopefully warm their spirits a little.
The iOS iPhone/iPad version of loom doesn’t have the picture-in-picture function - but it still works really well (and: it’s mobility might make all the difference especially when we find ourselves working less at home once Covid-19 has been defeated - I can picture myself making a speedy feedback video after going through some books at 4.30pm in my classroom - having a clear sense of what needs correcting it makes sense to be able to make a quick in-the-moment video doesn’t it? Once I get home, and family life takes over, the moment is often lost. With this you just whip your device and booom).
Loom are offering Pro subscriptions to educators for free - is seems substantial.
The page where the video is embedded has some great feedback elements - being able to place timestamped comments and emojis are a useful touch for some situations. You have to judge your audience accordingly - I think for some groups this could be brilliant.
Variable playback speeds are a helpful option.
Sharing/editing possibilities - you can trim and then download the clip for use on other video platforms (YouTube/Vimeo/Google Drive are all possibilities for me and I appreciate being able to retain some kind of ownership/flexibility in this way).
There is a password protection option and a private link that stays out of search results. (Just like that bit at the end of Jerry Maguire: “You had me at password protected”)
You can link to other sites at the end with a ‘callback’ feature.
There is a lot to like about Loom, and yet, in the wake of all the stuff about the all-conquering Zoom being more-than-flaky with their security standards, I felt a bit nervous granting so many permissions to Loom as I installed it on my iMac. Any technology embraced by the teaching community means handing over a significant chunk of trust - and for good reason. Teaching is a very personal thing - you give of yourself in ways that many other jobs never do.
To revisit that imagery from the end of the film Titanic - my hope is that this app is big enough for Rose and Jack.
UPDATE: for what it’s worth here are my first ‘proper’ lessons on Loom.
Part 1 - introducing some concepts in Hinduism which the students then have to respond to on a document.
And then part 2 - which takes things further into evaluation and analysis.