According to Google Bard, a Learning Designer is:
‘a professional who creates and delivers learning experiences that are effective, engaging, and relevant to the learner. They use a variety of methods, including instructional design, eLearning development, and adult learning theory, to create learning experiences that meet the needs of the learner and the institution.’
According to ChatGPT, a Learning Designer is:
‘a professional who specializes in creating effective learning experiences and instructional materials. Their role involves combining principles of instructional design, educational technology, and learning theory to design and develop engaging and interactive learning materials for various educational contexts.’
What is an AI prompt?
The two definitions are similar in the end. The question, i.e. the prompt, ‘What is a Learning Designer?’ got quite different responses from the two tools. Bard first assumed an audience of possible jobseekers who might be thinking of Learning Design as a career, which was an interesting surprise so I had to ask it to assume an academic institutional audience to get a bit more insight into the role and a further question on the daily reality of an LD to get any more detail. ChatGPT has clearly been asked this question before as its answer got more to the point of the overall role and detailed functions of design in its first response.
You will always have to refine the text generated by AI, how long that takes depends on how much you’ve used the tool, how mature it is and the quality of your initial and follow up prompts. Practice practice practice!
ChatGPT:1, Google Bard: 0.
For now.
What is a Learning Designer really?
Of course what the two tools have generated is true but the role can be very nuanced and is far more affective than technical. An LD is a partner and coach guiding SMEs along a learning journey of their own to create innovative new responses to learning and teaching problems. This might include new tools or new practices, digital or analogue.
An LD is someone who is familiar and comfortable with technologies that can afford new activities and interactions in the learning journeys under construction. The role of an LD is to focus on the learning first, and choosing technologies and/or practices that help learners move towards their goals, and the goals of the institution, and later to find out whether that actually happened!