Co-authored by Rhiannon Hall and Mais Fatayer.
Concepts like inclusion and diversity need to be actively practiced to be effective, and must be part of the plan for learning in higher education from the first step. Learning designers (who may also be seen as third space pratitioners) therefore play a crucial role in ensuring that courses and subjects are designed to be suitable for all students, taking into account a range of needs and perspectives.
Similar to third space academics, the work that third space practitioners do can be categorised as unbounded. This distinguishes them from other professional staff (Whitchurch, 2008). Aranee Manoharan (2020) states that third space professionals are polymathic in their expertise. She argues that third space professionals are able to navigate multiple lifeworlds and disciplinary areas within a university. As such, they understand different professional motivations and are able to connect with a range of occupational dispositions. Polymathic (Manoharan, 2020) means to go beyond a singular specialisation and to function with multiple expertise. It is not a ‘jack of all trades and master of none’ proposition. On the contrary, third space practitioners, owing to the broad areas of teaching and learning projects that they work on, can have in-depth knowledge of more than one area of specialisation.
Puvaneswari P Arumugam, from chapter Negotiating the assumptions and identity tensions surrounding third space academics/professionals
A new open textbook, edited by Dr Keith Heggart and Dr Mais Fatayer, explores what this means in practice. Across 11 chapters, the authors of the textbook unpack the meaning of intentionally inclusive and diverse learning design.
Accessing and using the textbook
Designing Learning Experiences for Inclusivity and Diversity: Advice for Learning Designers is an open textbook under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. This means that the content in the textbook can be shared and adapted, for noncommercial purposes and with attribution.
The textbook was released with a fantastic launch in the LX Lab:
An excerpt from the introduction of Designing Learning Experiences for Inclusivity and Diversity: Advice for Learning Designers
Why this textbook, and why now?
Academia in Australasia and globally is increasingly a challenging environment as universities seek to come to terms with limited funding opportunities, more constrained regulatory requirements, reduced staffing budgets and new relationships with external communities. As more students attend universities, either commencing their studies or continuing them as part of lifelong and life wide learning, institutions are required to find ways to adapt traditional approaches to more modern methods that meet the demands of diverse student bodies in cost effective ways.
The role of the learning designer is central to this; they are often described as either third space professionals or third space academics, working as they do in the interstitial spaces between the traditional designations of professional and academic staff. The role of learning designer (however it is defined) is vital to the development, implementation, and maintenance of online and blended learning approaches. This has seen a rapid rise in the need for well-trained and experienced learning designers, accompanied by a growing need for courses that offer qualifications in learning design.
Numerous Australian universities now offer these qualifications in both microcredential and post graduate format. As a result, learning designers are often involved in efforts to ensure that courses incorporate inclusivity and accessibility. This requires technical knowledge to ensure that learning management systems (LMSs) are accessible with screen readers and similar tools, and to achieve WCAG 2.0 compliance for the site’s usability and design. This is related to the increasing diversity of the student cohort. Subjects, courses, and programs at universities are beginning to recognise that diversity, and tailor their educational offerings in such a way as to ensure that all students feel welcome. The notion of belonging, especially amongst first year students, is an important aspect of students’ ongoing success at university – and learning designers have a role to play in engendering that.
It is for this reason that this textbook has been developed. While there are similar textbooks available in other geographical locations (although few are open educational resources), this book is unashamedly Australasian in its focus. This is because the Australasian tertiary education system has unique features. These include the diversity of students, also necessitates consideration of the funding arrangements, the role of governments and the broader socio-cultural context within the Australasian context. A key aspect of addressing this diversity is designing learning experiences that meet the needs of all students, regardless of their language, culture, accessibility needs, family, or other commitments.
Book chapters
No matter what area of learning and teaching you’re interested in, there’s something in this book for you. Take a look at the chapters below:
ASCILITE seminar
The authors will also be joining an online panel to share insights from the book during ASCILITE Learning Design Special Interest Group on 16 August 2024.