FIRST PUBLISHED ON SUBSTACK
In 2007, I was invited to deliver a ‘keynote’ at the opening of the National e-Learning Centre in Zagreb, Croatia. I was then the Head of e-Learning and the Head of the Centre for Learning Development at the University of Hull. I argued then that the “e” in e-learning should stand for Empowerment, not Electronic. In short, I outlined that ‘e’ stood for many facets of learning, most of which were misunderstood. These different dimensions will be explored for Paid Subscribers later this week.
Looking back now, 19 years later, at the current landscape, I can say without hesitation that despite these recent years of “progress,” many institutions have used technology to automate compliance rather than liberate and empower learners. In reality, the ‘digital age’ has transformed the educational experience of learners and teachers alike, but in what ways has it actually enhanced it?
The current candidate as a significant catalyst for change (as the advent of Wikipedia, Virtual Learning Environments, and ZOOM have been before) is the advent of Generative AI and automated grading. This issue certainly presents a range of questions worth discussing in departmental meetings and academic development workshops. I would start the debate with a simple question: Is the student more empowered today, or just more monitored?
This Substack is called the ‘Educational Architects’ because it is aimed at providing the tools, blueprints and frameworks for designing and building learning resources and experiences. It is not just about tips and tricks for ‘classroom’ teaching (although there will be some of that), it is about personal practice, programme team vision, departmental management and institutional leadership.
We need a “New Architecture”, one that isn’t about the latest Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) software or the need to scale up proctored exam invigilation, but about the cognitive and affective structures we build for our students. We need structures that empower learners to develop their psychomotor abilities, their metacognitive awareness, and the very human interpersonal skills.
A major focus of this Substack is the need for effective, purposeful and beautifully designed programmes and courses. Course design has fallen into yet another “Box-Ticking” crisis. Regardless of whether validation services are internal to the institution or regional or national, too many courses aim for the minimum required to get approval. Why do so many course designs default to the path of least resistance?
When we design for administrative ease, we sacrifice deep engagement. We produce graduates who are good at “doing school” but unprepared for the “messy middle” of professional practice. My personal mission has always been to broaden and heighten individual academics and learning designers’ appreciation of a richer educational landscape. Over the last 30 years, I have developed an 8-Stage Learning Design Framework (8-SLDF), Five Educational Taxonomies, a model for Student-Owned Learning Engagement, the Digital Artefacts for Learner Engagement framework and tools for identifying learners’ culturally centred epistemological orientations (POISE). I will be sharing this research and scholarship with you on this Substack.
Why This Substack?
This isn’t intended to be just another educational blog. This is a workspace for “Educational Architects” who want to reclaim the soul of pedagogy. It is a space where practical guidance is questioned, discussed and refined. Paid subscribers will receive toolkits and workbooks on a wide range of practical learning and teaching activities, and based on their feedback, these will be refined and re-shared with them.
Subscribers will get one practical and strategic post each week, with paid subscribers receiving tactical tools or resources to help them build their practice with the support of colleagues and me.
Call to Action
My question to you, one I ask myself continuously, is “If you could tear down one ‘wall’ in your current institutional design, what would it be?”
This could be a departmental structural issue, silos between disciplines, or compliance structures that are overly restrictive or entirely absent. It could be the lack of support for innovative teaching practices or the insistence on teaching to a prescribed ‘workbook’. It might also be poor assessment design or the inability to revise and update the curriculum. Whatever your structural challenge, I want to hear from you.
Become a paid supporter and gain access to practical resources. This week, it is an enhanced version of the original 2007 keynote, with a transcript and prompts for professional questions.
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