Article,
The Learning Design Studio: Collaborative Design Inquiry as Teachers' Professional Development
Research in Learning Technology, (2013)
Abstract
The learning design studio is a collaborative, blended, project based framework for training teachers in effective and evidence-based use of educational technology. Arguably, teachers are the primary change agents in any educational system. Several decades of research produced an extensive body of scientific knowledge of effective ways to use technology to support learning. Yet, if we want to mainstream this knowledge and use it to improve educational systems, we need to make this knowledge available to educational practitioners. The dominant model of teacher education assumes that educational theory is fundamental to good teaching practice, and therefore teachers should be provided with a solid theoretical curriculum, which they will then apply in their practice. Korthagen et al show that this approach fails consistently. This paper argues for an alternative – the design inquiry model, and presents the learning design studio as a manifestation of this model.
