From Instructional Design to Learning Experience Design!
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by Chitvan Bindal
To most of us, Instructional designers (ID) and Learning experience designers (LXD) sound quite similar. Yet, more and more educational designers are altering their titles from ID to LXD. But why? What is the difference in the two terms? Why a change in the trend? Is this worthy after all of being called a LXD over ID?
While there are multiple ways to address people involved in e-learning design like - e-learning content specialist, technical training specialist, learning partner, LMS coordinator, educational resource developer, Learning & Development (L&D) specialist… The two most renowned titles for us, the educational designers, are : “Instructional Designers” and more recently “Learning Experience Designers”. So before moving on to learning about the second term, let’s see how these two terms are similar yet different from each other.
So, what is Instructional Design?
According to Wikipedia, Instructional design (ID), also known as instructional systems design (ISD), is “the practice of systematically designing, developing and delivering instructional products and experiences, both digital and physical, in a consistent and reliable fashion toward an efficient, effective, appealing, engaging and inspiring acquisition of knowledge.”
How is the term "instructional design" evolving into "learning experience design"?
Broadly, ID consists of determining the state and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating some "intervention" to assist in the transition. So, the process focuses more on formal instruction, content and the acquisition of knowledge.
But in current times, for a rapidly changing, digital society, the workplaces of educators, business leaders, academics, and governmental agencies require students to be well-versed with Four Cs of 21st century learning. These four skills consist of : Critical thinking and problem solving, Communications and Collaboration, Creativity and innovation. And, this is where we, learning designers can contribute in building engaging educational materials with a learner-centered approach balancing the learner needs and the content.
Ok, a learning experience design (LXD) is...
As per one of the recent webinars of e-learning brothers, “the learner centered process of facilitating the learning and the application of knowledge and skills (expertise, proficiency) by providing a set of learning activities (formal, informal and experiential) supported by content, feedback and technology is referred to as learning experience design.”
Conclusion
Moving forward how can we, the educational designers, apply LXD into our work...
The e-learning modules designed on traditional ID principles might not evolve as per the learner’s needs and remain primarily focused on the content to be delivered. But when it comes to LXD, the approach would rely more on building an experience from start to finish. For example, designing the instructional module to understand the user-interaction and user-experience throughout the learning process. In fact, I see this as an exciting opportunity for us, the educational designers, to thrive for more and make the learning experience as smooth and enriching as possible.
If you are interested in learning more about the evolution of the term LED, do refer to the following sources of information used in this article:
LinkedIn: Insructional Design vs. Learning Experience Design
https://blog.elearningbrothers.com/webinar-learning-experience-design-vs-instructional-design
If you would like to know more about different types of job descriptions applicable for Learning Designers, please visit the page : https://www.ectstudent.info/student-resources/career/career-pathways/learning-design-new