The ABC Learning Design process, developed by University College London, is a methodological framework that provides a structured approach to designing learning activities and sequences in online and blended courses.
This process is based on Professor Diana Laurillard’s Conversational Framework, which is a pedagogical framework that emphasizes the importance of dialogue and interaction between learners and instructors in the process of learning.
Six types of learning
The framework consists of six learning types that represent different ways in which learners and instructors interact with each other:
- Acquisition: When learners listen to a lecture or podcast, read books or websites, or watch demos or videos, they are engaging in learning through acquisition.
- Collaboration: Learning through collaboration involves mainly discussion, practice, and production. It builds on investigations and acquisition and involves taking part in the process of knowledge building itself.
- Discussion: In learning through discussion, learners articulate their ideas and questions and respond to feedback from the teacher and/or peers by challenging and responding to their ideas and questions.
- Investigation: Learning through investigation guides learners to explore, compare, and critique texts, documents, and resources that reflect the concepts and ideas being taught.
- Practice: In learning through practice, learners adapt their actions to the task goal and use feedback from self-reflection, peers, the teacher, or the activity itself to improve their next action in relation to the goal.
- Production: The teacher motivates learners to consolidate what they have learned by articulating their current conceptual understanding and how they applied it in practice in learning through production.
Moodle and ABC Learning Design
Moodle has adopted the ABC Learning Design process and incorporated it into its training as a course design tool. The process provides instructors with a range of learning activities and resources that support the six learning types identified in the Conversational Framework.
In summary, the Conversational Framework emphasizes the importance of dialogue and interaction between learners and instructors in the learning process. The ABC Learning Design process, adopted by Moodle, provides a structured approach to designing learning activities and sequences in online and blended courses.