What do we mean by ‘learning design’ in relation to this course?

As we noted in unit 1 in designing the programme, we have been guided by different perspectives of how students learn on a distance education programme. An important reference point is the work of Mayes and de Freitas (2013) who have reported that design decisions will need to be grounded in theoretical assumptions about learning and teaching more generally, with the role to be played by e-learning defined within this overall educational design process. They outline three ‘perspectives’ that make different assumptions about what is crucial for understanding learning, arguing that most implementations of e-learning in HE include blended elements that emphasise all three perspectives with each making different assumptions about how learning takes place. A summary of the key features of each of these perspectives is provided one the next page.