Learning design for remote or blended contexts

When it comes to lesson planning, ‘learning design’ is something that may be mapped out to the minutest detail, if time allows, or some teachers prefer to leave rather more to instinct. But how does that decision change when teaching in a remote or a blended context? Regardless of the setting, there will always be a need to think about and plan for a whole range of learning design elements. These include acquiring knowledge, discussion, collaboration, the sequencing of communication and activity, and whether that is minute by minute, synchronous/asynchronous, online/offline, collaborative/individual, formal/informal, high-stakes/low-stakes, acquisition/consolidation/retrieval, creative, passive or interactive. The mix of learning design elements that need to be planned into remote or blended lessons is something that Ofsted considers in its recent research report. When adapting a classroom curriculum to remote education it found that principles of learning design such as scaffolding, interleaving and retrieval practice were still important but that remote teaching does need a slightly different approach.