Integrated Framework for Designing the Online Learning Experience

Four core human elements that when holistically integrated into the learning design process bring about meaningful and impactful learning experiences. They include:

• Cognitive: learning related to mental activities and processes that include perception, memory, classification, reasoning, critical thinking, and problem solving. 
• Emotional: closely associated with learner motivation and encompasses both positive and negative emotions. 
• Behavioral: focuses on bridging the cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions of learning with opportunities for learners to apply and practice what they have learned. 
• Social: focuses on the relationship of individuals in a learning environment. 

• Course structure and interface: The first of five aspects of the Integrated Framework for Designing the Online Learning Experience that learners encounter as they use and navigate the online course space. It is the medium through which a learner’s interaction with course content, the instructor, and other learners take place.
• Content interactions: Creating, organizing, structuring, and presenting content to learners both synchronously and asynchronously using various media and message design strategies.
• Learning activities: A skillfully designed form of learner interaction aimed at accomplishing higher-order learning objectives through tasks that actively engage learners at the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social dimensions of learning.
• Social interactions: It focuses on the design of technology-mediated interpersonal communications between individuals, groups, and instructor to facilitate learning.
• Assessments and feedback: Assessments are formative, occurring throughout the online course, and provide a detailed representation of a learner’s progress and achievement. Feedback constitutes any messages from an instructor, formal or informal, in response to a learner action.