By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Elements of Effective e-Learning Design
In the recent discussion on ITForum I have been seeing instructional designers say that the tenets of the domain are more or less fixed and define instructional design as a distinct profession. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Universal design for learning
KerryJ, KerryJ's Neotenous Tech, July 31, 2011.
Nice post highlighting the advantages of accessible learning (also, dig the nifty presentation pack on her about page). It should show us that we need to design for diversity generally. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. MOOCs and Connectivist Instructional Design
Geoff Cain, Brainstorm in Progress, October 28, 2012.
Geoff Cain describes designing a class to teach "the core skills that allowed anyone to adapt to any technology they might find themselves in." What's interesting was what happened when they set up an open class form at. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Getting to Grips with Learning Design
Summary of the IMS Learning Design workshop in Valkenburg, essentially a fest where people tried out some new learning design authoring tools. Some 'person on the spot' reviews reflecting a reasonable level of comfort with the tools. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Hacking the Classroom: Beyond Design Thinking
Jackie Gerstein, User Generated Education, March 11, 2013
Sometimes people ask me what research methodology I employ, and after referring them to Paul Feyerabend and appropriate scepticism about research methodologys, I usually wave my arms in the direction of somethng like design methodology, which people can accept. Design methodology is how I set up my website, and design methodology is the process that created the first MOOCs. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. An OER architecture framework: Need and design
Patricia B. Arinto , International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL), March 7, 2013
According to the author, "This paper describes the impact of the shift to open and distance e-learning (ODeL), as this trend might be called, on the course design practices of faculty members at a small single-mode distance education university in the Philippines." It's based on "a qualitative study of the ODeL course design practice of 10 UPOU academics." Findings centred on four aspects of course design: content development, teaching strategies, learning activities, and assessment of learning. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The 3 Ms, quality and instructional design of MOOCs
Sui Fai John Mak, Learner Weblog, February 26, 2013
A writer in the Association of Governing Boards magazine gets to the point of online learning in this article: Mission, MOOCs, & Money. It's a reasonably good overview (though I would question awarding somebody working in the 1970s the title of "father of the MOOC" (for the simple reason there was no online). Sui Fai John Mak, writing in the context of the Governing Boards article, focuses on the major question the boards face:

• Why are we online? Is the movement to or expansion of online education consistent with the institutional mission? Does and will it serve and advance the institutional mission? Or is the key issue in the discussion about online education—including any conversations about MOOCs—money?
• How do we assess quality—that of our own online offerings and those of others, including the MOOCs?
• What will it take to achieve our objectives in terms of online learning. More...