ABSTRACT
What design principles can be derived from the theoretical discussions of the previous chapter? All three approaches – which I term associative, constructive and situative – emphasize the central importance of activity on the part of the learner. Several decades of research support the view that it is the activity that the learner engages in, and the outcomes of that activity, that are significant for learning (e.g. Tergan 1997; Gholson and Craig 2006). There is no reason why the introduction of new digital tools and materials should challenge this emphasis, and the emergence of Learning Design as a paradigm in the early years of the century (see McAndrew and Goodyear, Chapter 8) was a sign that the learning technology community had refocused its interest on the activities undertaken by learners, after a period when the design of tools and resources had been the main concern.
