Just as Good Is No Longer Acceptable: The Promise of Educational Design Research

Join Malcolm Brown, ELI director, and Veronica Diaz, ELI associate director, as they moderate this webinar with Susan McKenney and Thomas Reeves. The capacity of educational technology to enhance teaching and learning in higher education would seem more promising than ever with the cavalcade of new technologies that have been introduced into the sector in recent years such as tablet computers, digital textbooks, and serious games. And yet, traditional approaches to educational research and evaluation continue to show “no significant differences.” Doubts about the benefits of educational technology stem from decades of research agendas focused on establishing certainty in learning contexts where probabilistic knowledge is the best that can be expected. Real progress in improving learning through technology may be accomplished using educational design research (EDR) as an alternative inquiry approach. EDR involves intensive, long-term collaboration among researchers and practitioners to develop viable solutions to practical problems while also seeking to identify reusable design principles.