I focus on ensuring we offer students an engaging learning experience and quality learning material in all our 100% Online Postgraduate Programmes.

The material in a conventional programme is typically developed by the lecturer and takes the form of notes, slides, and, in some cases, videos. Lecturers still have a central role in 100% Online Postgraduate Programmes, but they are supported by a learning designer, who is instrumental in the development but also a whole larger team of people who specialise in video shooting, IT development and graphics, among others.

My job is to put together a team of experts, make sure they work well together, and provide a product that meets Taylor's quality standards and desired style.

Learning Designer is a relatively new profession that combines teaching and project management and exists to design the type courses more effectively for the learning experience to be more learner-centred. 

The Learning Designer collaborates with the lecturer to plan the structure of a module so that it may be delivered via 100% Online Postgraduate Programmes. This entails making their knowledge understandable, informative, engaging, and suitable for the learning delivery platform we employ. We're also responsible for organising and coordinating what we call "digitalisation of content," by working closely with our graphic designers, AV crews, and others.

Another distinguishing feature of the Learning Designer profession is ensuring that activities central to online pedagogy are well crafted. As a result, everything, including learning content, videos and resources, must be meticulously crafted. We pay close attention to every detail to guarantee that the information presented is always engaging and, more importantly, sequenced in an easy-to-follow manner and well-calibrated.

The teaching profession has existed forever, but its Learning Designer counterpart is more recent. Nevertheless, we can find traces of it from as early as 1954. In the last fifteen years, however, the profession has grown tremendously with the explosion of online studying and the realisation that learner's attention will be better captured if their learning experience design is learner-centred as supposed to be teacher-centred. It currently has representatives in many countries worldwide, especially in the English-speaking world, France, Germany and Japan.

Scripting

First, we work with the lecturer to create the content framework for the module. The aim is to define what is to be taught each week. This includes the knowledge and the competencies to be acquired by students by the end of the module. 

Next, the weekly content is further broken down into "Nano-topics". Our online learning experience is designed for students to study at their own pace and match their studies with their daily activities. We provide learning in bite-size by offering topics in a nano form. This enables students to focus their studies on one small digestible content at a time, based on their unique life routines.  

Once the framework is set, our academic team, which comprises international discipline experts, will prepare and gather all the required resources for each topic to provide the expected content. We refer to this stage as scripting. This is because our academic team is truly writing and producing content that will be the blueprint to refer to during the digitalisation process. This stage is critical since it is the backbone of the learning experience students will receive, and every detail counts. When I say we go into detail, that's an understatement.  Around ten people will be involved within a duration of two to three months in this stage alone! 

Storyboard creation

During this second stage, we create an actual "storyboard" that details each week's content and if the topic will be in the form of text, exercises, activities, group work, quizzes, tests and videos etc. 

By the time this stage is over, we have a plan and script for each part, the associated skillsets are well defined, and how the content will be delivered online is set. 

Digitalisation

The third stage transforms all the content into the desired format: videos, activities, real-life scenarios, simulations and games, case studies, interactive web objects etc. We work with developers, videographers, graphic and multimedia designers, and editors during this stage, who help create stunning and exciting content. This stage can spread over several months. For example, video development may be done in several stages to ensure it is perfect.

We dedicate a lot of attention to building learning activities, which are small tasks for learners to complete after studying a topic. They are an essential part of the learning experience because they keep the student engaged in their learning, as they would be in a conventional class. Further, learners are able to check their own understanding and gauge if they are learning effectively. This helps students make sure they are on the right track.

Uploading

The fourth step consists of uploading the material into our online delivery learning platform. This is quite time-consuming because we go through rigorous checks to ensure the content is correctly uploaded, every file work as expected, etc. Our Learning management system is fully designed for online distant learning and provides an easy interface for students to navigate various nano topics. 

Testing and Evaluation

The final step consists of having the content checked and used in the platform. Like the video game industry, we go through Alpha tests conducted internally to ensure that all aspects of the content (the learning flow, all the activities work as expected) and the Beta test phase, with people who take the modules as if they were students. We run these tests on both mobile and web, in different geographical areas and on different browsers. We will evaluate the tester's feedback and make an informed decision if we need to make a final tweak to the content before the course goes live. If everything goes well, we are ready to offer the module to learners.

Absolutely. The content is constantly checked and tested through the entire development cycle of a module by the Learning Designers, the lecturer and our proofreading team. The final test helps us further improve the content and ensure it runs seamlessly.

Once students have taken the module, we also ask them for their feedback through surveys. We then consider these comments to enhance the module from one session to another. It is thus a continuous process that is constantly moving closer to educational excellence.

I would say that Taylor's 100% Online Postgraduate Programmes is ten times better quality than face-to-face learning. It is developed by a team of around 15 people, including industry experts, recognised researchers, learning designers, videographers, graphic designers and developers, while just one person creates a face-to-face course – it does not have the same strength.

Rumours are going around about online learning being worse quality than face-to-face learning, but there is 'an online learning' and 'online learning'. This lack of quality is a common misconception, as Taylor's team has been a pioneer and a leading expert in the field of online learning for more than a decade.

We use the same pedagogic approach as some of the best Universities and business schools offering online master's degrees and have adopted the same online learning management system. We find common points in the cornerstones of the teaching methods at these institutions, such as quality control, the choice of authors and technological and educational innovation. Many Universities starting online distant courses usually use a learning management system already in place for their conventional programmes. Our online programmes use a world-class system, fully designed for online learning, and provide an optimal learning experience.

First, we achieve this by mixing delivery formats, ensuring we do not rely only on videos and only use material fully designed and built by Taylor's. Many universities leverage external resources to support their online programme, but it limits their quality control of the content and limits "nano learning" implementation. Our programmes are fully designed for people to study while having other occupations. They can jump in and out of a topic easily, study more on a specific day than another, and study in very short study sessions based on their availability. That is what we call adaptive learning, with everyone having the freedom to advance at their own pace. Such an approach requires complete control of the content design, and that is why we build all our learning assets internally. 

As mentioned previously, we also keep our students engaged and the content stimulating by adding learning activities in the various topics. They are not assessments, just bite-sized exercises or games students can complete in a few minutes. The uniqueness of our approach is that we have many activities that are community-based. Students can see the results posted by others, but also comment on, put some likes, and work in a group for some activities. 

Adapting to different audiences is another problematic aspect, as we have students who just completed their degree, students in their thirties who are going for higher qualifications and leaders in their forties or with even more experience. We work extensively on how the content is presented to make sure it is appealing to all and delivered in a manner that is approachable but compelling and rich.

Indeed. It's wonderful because we learn every day. We work on many different modules with some of the best lecturers in their field. We exchange with people who open our horizons and constantly challenge ourselves to create a greater experience. It's also very creative. We tell stories and imagine how we could make an activity attractive, fun and original. And, in the end, we see what we've brought to life.

If I had to compare my profession to others, I would say it is very similar to the profession of architecture. Architects must also create something (the invention, design and creation side), but it must be achievable, logical and perfectly constructed. I go between being a journalist, an architect, an IT project manager and a co-director on a daily basis. I really enjoy this varied mix of tasks and skills.