Participatory Design for Learning

Abstract

The goal of the learning sciences is to not only understand the phenomena of learning, but also to impact educational practices and enable more effective learning. Our goal is to develop and draw attention to design practices that are relevant to participatory design of learning environments and learning technologies and that directly involve learners, teachers, and other community members in all the different steps of designing. Learner-centered and design-based approaches in the learning sciences are, like participatory design (PD), founded on the principle that target populations are best served when designs address the needs of community members. PD focuses on giving such stakeholders a high degree of agency throughout the design process, emphasizing the cultivation of knowledge communities in which content and expertise are co -created by experts and other participants working in concert. Learning is both an implicit and explicit desired outcome of many designed systems and experiences.