The field of learning design has extensively studied the use of technology for the authoring of learning
activities. However, the social dimension of the learning design process is still underexplored. In this paper, we
investigate communities of teachers who used a social learning design platform (ILDE). We seek to understand
how community awareness facilitates the learning design activity of teachers in different educational contexts.
Following a design-based research methodology, we developed ...
The field of learning design has extensively studied the use of technology for the authoring of learning
activities. However, the social dimension of the learning design process is still underexplored. In this paper, we
investigate communities of teachers who used a social learning design platform (ILDE). We seek to understand
how community awareness facilitates the learning design activity of teachers in different educational contexts.
Following a design-based research methodology, we developed a community awareness dashboard (inILDE)
based on the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) framework. The dashboard displays the activity of
teachers in ILDE, such as their interactions with learning designs, other members, and with supporting learning
design tools. Evaluations of the inILDE dashboard were carried out in four educational communities – two
secondary schools, a master programme for pre-service teachers, and in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
for teachers. The dashboard was perceived to be useful in summarizing the activity of the community and in
identifying content and members’ roles. Further, the use of the dashboard increased participants’ interactions such
as profile views and teachers showed a willingness to build on the contributions of others. As conclusions of the
study, we propose five design principles for supporting awareness in learning design communities, namely
community context, practice-related insights, visualizations and representations, tasks and community interests.
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