Inside “Learning Designers in Context”: Chapter 9

Isabel in the Government Sector

Abstract:

Isabel, a learning design professional in Peru’s government sector, transitioned into instructional design 20 years ago while working as an agronomist on a multidisciplinary team. Her initial role involved improving technical training for farmers to produce export-quality coffee by simplifying dense content and technical jargon. Isabel later pursued roles in non-profit organizations, driven by her passion for social development.

I’m Peruvian! Right now, I’m working in an urban environment that is quite different from the rural environment, in which I worked for many years. For 15 years, I was working with people in rural areas in Peru where there is low quality of life and a lack of quality education. When I started that job, the people I used to train had some elementary education and some others had some secondary education. Today, I am in a different type of organization where the majority of the learners have a master’s degree. Some even have master’s degrees from abroad. So, as a learning designer I have shifted from working with different learner populations.

Key takeaways emphasize the importance of strong analysis skills in instructional design, particularly during the ADDIE framework’s analysis phase. Competencies include needs analysis, contextual understanding, and task analysis to transform complex content into digestible learning materials. Isabel also highlights leveraging cultural insights from diverse regions to tailor education for urban and rural learners. Her experiences underscore how instructional designers can bridge technical expertise with learner-centric approaches to create impactful training solutions across varied contexts.

There were other forms of culture represented in my work as a learning designer in the rural zone. For example, many women have authority at home. However, it is a public authority too. Many men trusted their wives so much when it came to making decisions. But in public, it is not acceptable that a woman would raise her voice or give her opinion. That behavior was reserved for the house. It made me realize that I also had to address the woman, even though the community leader was a man. So, it made me realize that we [the project team] had to work on two fronts. On the one hand, we worked creating training materials for the men but I also had to build confidence that change was important in the female group with the wives. It was very important to me when I arrived in a new rural community to understand the rules and that is why I took anthropology, because I learned that the performance changes that I wanted to do were not exclusively educational or learning issues, they were also cultural issues. Anthropology gave me some tools to identify the power players that were inside the community, sometimes, disguised.

Romero-Hall, E. (2025). Learning Designers in Context: Examining Practices Across the Global South. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003270591

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

Inside “Learning Designers in Context”: Chapter 8

Luna in a Higher Education Institution

Abstract:

Luna, based in Santiago, Chile, is a seasoned professional in education and e-learning. She holds degrees in English-Spanish interpretation and pedagogy, transitioning from teaching English to instructional design after earning a master’s in educational technology from Arizona State University in 2017. Luna has worked at institutions such as the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, contributing to virtual course design. Currently, she leads distance education at Universidad de los Andes.

What is my day-to-day? I work on a project that has four objectives and I am in charge of the third objective that has to do with the training of teachers in distance education. I do training, or look for training for teachers, on how to transfer face-to-face courses to e-learning with instructional design. I was looking for the [name of course] training and I have been motivated to get the professors enrolled in these courses. The other element of my job is the design aspect. I have to design a manual of good practices in distance education. I’m already in the part of collecting literature and looking for books that we buy on Amazon. All the literature is in English and there is almost nothing in Spanish. In the manual, I divided it into 10 sections. I have five chapters, they are not large chapters but five topics developed.

Key takeaways from this interview emphasize the importance of proficiency in authoring tools, multimedia, and project management for instructional designers. Luna advocates for building trust with faculty who are resistant to change. Luna’s leadership highlights the potential of instructional design to transform education through collaboration, evidence-based practices, and innovative technologies.

At my institution it is difficult as the professors are reluctant to change. For example, the university is implementing the HyFlex instructional modality and I did the training. I read the book from Dr. Brian Beatty. I took a five-day workshop with Dr. Beatty and I felt that I had knowledge needed. One day, I sat down with a professor who had researched some papers, then he talked to me about Hyflex and there were many things he (the professor) said that challenged the information I had shared from Dr. Beatty. I didn’t say anything to him (the professor) and I let it go. But, that part is kind of difficult. I don’t like working with the instructors because of that, their ego is so big that they don’t realize that they know their subject but they don’t know how to deliver that subject online and they might not even know how to do it in-person. I said that in a meeting and the director of accreditation told me: but Luna we (the instructors) have been here for so many years and I don’t think we have done it (teaching) so badly. I agree, but they could do it better.

Romero-Hall, E. (2025). Learning Designers in Context: Examining Practices Across the Global South. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003270591

Photo by Chalo Gallardo on Unsplash

Inside “Learning Designers in Context”: Chapter 7

Kito in the Financial Sector

Abstract:

Kito, a learning design professional from Tanzania, earned a degree in ICT with an emphasis on instructional design in 2016. After interning at Tanzania’s largest bank in Dar es Salaam, he transitioned to a full-time role focused on e-learning and in-person training. His responsibilities include needs assessment, program development, training implementation, and calculating return on investment.

The bank regularly has to introduce new products and that knowledge needs to get distributed across the entire staff network in Tanzania. The bank has almost 600 branches. It is costly to collect knowledge, from subject matter experts, from the same area [across branches] for learning purposes. So, if a need arises, then the owner of the product [subject area] sits with the learning and development team, and in particular myself, to work on an e-learning product. Then, we go through the content to create a course curriculum, we agree on the timelines, and all the resources.

Key takeaways from this interview emphasize collaboration with subject matter experts (SMEs) to create effective learning products, strong project management skills for large-scale e-learning solutions, and proficiency in mobile learning design. Challenges include navigating cultural resistance to online education and addressing language barriers by integrating Swahili and English.

Yes, we have a younger generation who have no problem with using technology. We have learners who have been with the company since it was established at medium age and those who are about to retire. These last two age categories have a bit more challenges with the technology and we have even moved the training to a mobile app, to make it easier to access and encourage them to complete the training. Part of the struggle is that we all have different digital literacy, different backgrounds, and our national language is not English is Swahili. For language in particular, depending on the type of background, the learners may have more proficiency with other languages. Sometimes we mix the language of the instruction. We use English and, for some complex explanations, we use the native language for each and everyone to understand. That has motivated them a little bit to complete the online training.

Romero-Hall, E. (2025). Learning Designers in Context: Examining Practices Across the Global South. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003270591

Photo by Moses Londo on Unsplash

Inside “Learning Designers in Context”: Chapter 6

Cherelle in K-12 Education

Abstract:

Cherelle, a learning design professional from Trinidad and Tobago, holds a bachelor’s degree in information systems and management, a postgraduate diploma in education, and a master’s in instructional design and technology. She is currently pursuing a PhD in teaching, learning, and emerging technologies at the University of the West Indies Open Campus.

To be honest, when I started instructional design and technology, I didn’t know what I was doing. I remember signing up and someone said to me: you have a degree in computer science education. All right, instructional design is good for you [laugh]. So, I was like: I’m getting this degree! Then, I got an “A” in a course, but I asked myself: What am I doing? It was not until about the third semester, I realized that I am designing instruction to basically guarantee that learning takes place. I needed to understand all the learning theories. I needed to understand all of the instructional design models and how I could apply all of this to basically guarantee that learning is taking place within my students in the classroom. So, I’m now using those theories and the models. I incorporate them into my lesson planning to guarantee that that learning is taking place. So, I have to basically utilize what I know from instructional design to assist me in the classroom.

In her interview, Cherelle emphasizes the importance of mastering instructional design competencies, including applying learning theories and models to create effective instructional materials. Other key takeaways highlight challenges in Trinidad’s slow adoption of online learning due to cultural traditions and limited recognition of instructional design as a distinct field. Cherelle advocates for Indigenous and Caribbean-specific resources to address gaps in culturally relevant materials. Despite reliance on big tech companies, she sees online education as a democratizing force for K-12 learners, especially during crises like natural disasters or pandemics.

If I have to design, let’s say, a video for my doctoral studies, I think the person watching the video needs me to know how to incorporate the various cultures of the Caribbean. If I’m designing a video for my students, then I’m looking for something that is uniquely Trinidadian or has a Caribbean blend. But, we recognize that when we use certain programs and software, it’s difficult. I could tell you as a teacher and as someone who creates content, it’s difficult to find an Indo Trinidadian student animation or something similar. It’s really difficult. Most of the time you may have to pay some exorbitant prices for them [learning resources]. You do not really get free Caribbean influenced [learning] content.

Romero-Hall, E. (2025). Learning Designers in Context: Examining Practices Across the Global South. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003270591

Photo by Renaldo Matamoro on Unsplash

Book Published: Feminist Pedagogy for Teaching Online

Athabasca University Press recently published our book as part of the Issues in Distance Education series. Feminist Pedagogy for Teaching Online edited by Jacquelyne Thoni Howard, Enilda Romero-Hall, Clare Daniel, Niya Bond, and Liv Newman examines the experiences that interdisciplinary and global feminist educators have had-both their successes and their challenges-in infusing feminist pedagogical tenets into their online teaching and learning practices. The book is available in multiple open access formats, and I hope you will take the opportunity to browse through the chapters and discover how this freely available resource can benefit your organization and members.

About the Book

Instructors across higher education require inspiring and practical resources for creating, adapting to, and enhancing, online teaching and learning spaces. Faculty need to build collaborative, equitable and trusting online learning communities. This edited volume examines the experiences that interdisciplinary and global feminist educators have had-both their successes and their challenges-in infusing feminist pedagogical tenets into their online teaching and learning practices. Contributors consider how to promote connection, reflexivity, and embodiment; build equity, cooperation, and co-education; and create cultures of care in the online classroom. They also interrogate knowledge production, social inequality, and power. By (re)imagining feminist pedagogy as a much-needed tool and providing practical advice for using digital technology to enact these tenets in the classroom, this collection will empower educators and learners alike.

About the Editors

Jacquelyne Thoni Howard is a professor of Practice of Data at the Connolly Alexander Institute for Data Science at Tulane University.

Enilda Romero-Hall is associate professor in the Learning, Design, and Technology program at The University of Tennessee Knoxville.

Clare Daniel is senior professor of practice and director of research at Newcomb Institute of Tulane University, where she teaches in the Department of Communication.

Niya Bond is an online educator, faculty development facilitator, and PhD candidate at the University of Maine studying online teaching and learning.

Liv Newman is administrative assistant professor and Associate Director of the Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching at Tulane University.