The Case for Multiple Representations in the Learning Design Life Cycle

This chapter draws a picture of the variety of representations that have been proposed to support the learning design life cycle. The intent is to show that such representations have different features and serve different purposes and that designers may find it useful to adopt one or the other according to their objectives and/or at different stages of their work. The argument is sustained throughout this chapter based on an example, concerning a learning activity, which is represented through several types of representations. The conclusion is that the quest for a single representation serving all purposes is vain, while the efforts of researchers should better be directed toward the aim of building tools that allow for interoperability of these representations and integration of the tools that make use of them, so to facilitate sharing and reuse of the half-fabricates of the learning design life cycle, as well as implementation of existing designs in different virtual learning environments (VLEs).