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for digital learning resourcesquality principles

Digital learning resource design

Robustness and support

Human–computer interaction

Testing and verification

Effective communication

Quality of assets

Assessment to support learning

Robust summative assessment

Innovative approaches

Ease of use Match to the curriculum

Inclusion and access

Accessibility Interoperability

Learner engagement

Effective learning

Core pedagogic principles

Core design principles

Quality principles for digitallearning resourcesThese quality principles relate to the designand use of digital learning resources tosupport effective learning and teaching.

This publication is intended as a guide ratherthan a ‘checklist’ for quality, and it is expectedthat few digital learning resources will inthemselves encompass all of the qualityprinciples. Whether you are designing aresource or choosing one, the intendededucational purpose of the resource willdetermine which principles are most important to you.

The principles are divided into two groups,which are interrelated:

• Core pedagogic principles, whichunderpin effective learning and teaching,drawing from learning theory andcommonly accepted best practice;

• Core design principles, covering issuessuch as resource design, accessibility andinteroperability.

Why use these Quality Principles?The principles can be used to evaluate thequality of digital learning resources, andinform judgements about value for money.

• If you are choosing and using digitallearning resources, the principles will helpto ensure that the resources you select arefit for purpose.

• If you are developing a digital learningresource, they will help to guide yourdesign decisions to ensure that theresource is appropriate for its educationalpurpose.

Find out moreThe full version of this publication, with linksto a range of related websites, is available onthe Becta website at

http://www.becta.org.uk/partners/qualityprinciples

Note: throughout this document the term ‘pedagogy’, which commonly refers to the ‘art or scienceof teaching’, is also used to include contexts in which learners have a strong role in directing learningfor themselves, and those in which there is no underlying teacher/learner relationship and learnerslargely or wholly determine their own learning.

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Core pedagogic principles

Inclusion and accessUnder UK legislation, educationalinstitutions are required to ensure that nolearner is prevented from participating fullyin education or disadvantaged because offactors such as:

• physical, sensory or cognitive impairment

• ethnic or social background

• gender.

The learning experience offered must bebased on inclusive practices. This includesselecting appropriate pedagogies andresources.

Digital learning resources should, in mostcircumstances, support inclusive practices intheir design and in the supporting materialsthey offer practitioners and learners. Forexample, they can do this by offering theflexibility to adapt resources to differentlearning preferences, or by suggestingalternative ways of addressing theintended learningobjectives, where the digital learningresources are limited in relevance.

Learner engagementTeaching and learning should engage,challenge and motivate learners. This entails an experience that:

• is motivating, in that it encourages aculture of learning, is enjoyable and isexperienced positively by practitionersand learners alike

• has a worthwhile educational aim and is not simply about occupying or entertaining learners

• does not produce reactions to learningthat are likely to reduce the generalmotivation to learn or that coulddiscourage learners from using ICT to learn.

Engagement and motivation are achievedthrough a complex mix of aesthetic,technical and educational design and can be strengthened by the context.

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Effective learningThe experience of effective learning promotes effective cognitive and behaviouraldevelopment or change. This principle can berealised in a variety of ways, including:

• the use of a range of approaches thatallows the learner to choose one that suitsthem, or that can be personalised for thelearner, or that will extend the learner’srepertoire of approaches to learning (suchas ‘learning how to learn’)

• the provision of evidence that learningoutcomes have been realised

• the satisfaction of a range of thecharacteristics of effective learning,including supporting appropriate learneragency and autonomy, encouragingmetacognitive skills and higher orderthinking, and enabling or encouragingreflection and collaboration

• the provision of authentic learning(authentic to situations outside theimmediate learning environment and to the learners’ existing perspectives and situations)

• the provision of multiple perspectives on a topic (another aspect of authenticity).

Assessment to support learningIn order to support learning, teaching andlearning should incorporate a formativeassessment of what has, or has not, beenlearnt or understood. This includesproviding feedback to the learners on theiracquisition of knowledge and skills. Thefeedback should be specifically aimed atimproving learning and should provide orpoint to other activities that further supportlearning. This need not be limited to theprovision of tests and may be achieved via:

• rapid feedback that helps learners seehow they can improve and what theymust do to improve

• opportunities for peer and/or self-assessment, with appropriateunderstanding by the learners of thecriteria or standards of performancerequired.

To be effective, feedback needs to bepersonalised; that is to say specific to theindividual learner's problems and needs.

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Robust summative assessmentSummative assessment should be used toprovide information on learner performancethat can be used for guidance or selection inrelation to future education or workopportunities. Not all technology-enhancedlearning will encompass summativeassessment, but where it does, it must be:

• valid and reliable in that it assesses what is meant to be assessed and givesconsistent results for particular learners or other users

• informative in that it is usable andcomprehensible by practitioners, learners,parents and employers (as appropriate)

• able to deal with a range of achievement levels

• able to be retained and accessed over timeby users, if they wish to do so, as evidenceto support their progress or claims abouttheir own learning.

Innovative approachesDigital learning resources may be innovativein their design and use of technology and/orinnovative in the approach to teaching andlearning that they offer.

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Ease of use As well as being clear in their intention,digital learning resources should be astransparent as possible to the user.

They should:

• provide appropriate guidance, wherenecessary, for learners and/orpractitioners

• make appropriate assumptions aboutthe ICT skills of users, both learners andpractitioners, or provide straightforwardguidance on this

• not present a barrier or impede thelearning experience.

In terms of appropriate guidance forlearners, digital learning resources shouldnot require extensive training orinstructions that are not themselves part of the educational aim of the technology-enhanced learning.

It is acknowledged that practitioners mayneed some training to use digital learningresources, but where possible this shouldfocus on pedagogy and not ontechnological requirements.

Match to the curriculum‘Curriculum’ refers to any programme oflearning activity planned by practitionersand/or learners.

Digital learning resources should be aligned to an appropriate curriculum or programme of learning activities by having:

• clear objectives, specified at theappropriate level

• content that is relevant, accurate,trustworthy and authoritative

• learning activities that are appropriate tocurriculum goals

• assessment (where it is present) that isappropriate to curriculum goals.

The better the match of the digital learningresource to the four dimensions above, andthe more that match is made explicit by thedeveloper, the easier it will be for those whouse the digital learning resources to planeffective pathways and ensure that theapproach or approaches adopted areappropriate for the intended objectives, the context and learners’ activities and assessment.

It will also be easier for practitioners to maketheir planning clear to learners, so that theymay engage effectively in learning.

Core design principles

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• enabling practitioners to exploit, adapt and differentiate resources to meet specific needs

• supporting learners in selecting theirown route through the digital learningresource, where appropriate

• supporting the user in customising theresource

• using an appropriate mix of media forthe learning objective (for examplegraphics, animation, photographs,video, sound) to engage the learnerwith the educational purposes

• providing record-keeping facilities for the practitioner and learner, whereappropriate

• taking advantage of any specificopportunities offered by the platform used (for example PDA, tablet PC,mobile).

Digital learning resource designThe application of this principle to productdesign closely reflects many of the elementsfound in the pedagogic principles.

Digital learning resources should exploit theopportunities provided by ICT to enhancelearning and teaching. In particular, they maydo this by:

• offering clear benefits over non-ICTresources

• providing appropriate educational stimulusand feedback

• offering tasks that challenge targetedlearners appropriately

• enabling collaborative work, whereappropriate

Robustness and supportDigital learning resources should support theuser appropriately by:

• having help functions that identifycommon user problems and their solutions

• having navigational actions that can be undone

• giving quick, visible and audible responses to user actions

• allowing the user to exit at any point

• not being adversely affected by userexperimentation and error. If users doexperience an error they should be able torecover quickly and, where appropriate, be informed about the nature of the error.

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Human–computer interactionDigital learning resources should facilitatesound human-computer interaction by having:

• icons that are clear and consistently used

• navigation that is consistent andappropriate for the user

• action systems that follow generally usedconventions

• functionality that is transparent, meetsusers’ expectations and helps learners toadapt to that functionality

• appropriate visual and auditory cues andfeedback

• aesthetics that support the educationalobjectives.

Quality of assetsDigital learning resources should ensure thatassets are suitable for the context of use.

This means:

• assets can be accessed easily andconsistently, are technically stable and arepresented or provided in a commonlyaccepted or open file format

• assets are well chosen with respect to thelearning objectives

• rights are appropriate for the intended use.

It may also be beneficial to users if assets canbe modified and/or disaggregated (rightsissues permitting). However, this point isdistinct from the intrinsic quality of assets.

Accessibility Accessible design of digital learning resourcesconcerns ensuring that no user, practitioner or learner is unreasonably prevented frombenefiting from a resource simply because oftheir access requirements or preferences.

There is still much debate around the bestapproaches to accessibility, but core aspectsthat all designers must address are that:

• accessibility issues must be considered from the earliest point of the development process

• accessibility is not simply a technical issueand all aspects of design must beconsidered, for example the userinterface and the layout of informationand support materials

• resources must offer relevant informationon the accessibility features that areincluded and/or relevant technicalspecifications.

Important technical specifications andguidelines for accessibility already exist.Most of these focus on the technicalaspects of accessibility in relation towebsites. However, accessibility must beconsidered in relation to all digital learningresources, regardless of the deliveryplatform used.

It is acknowledged that some digitallearning resources may be designed toaddress specific needs, for example tosupport learners with dyslexia. However, no resource should unnecessarily orunreasonably exclude users simply becausethey have not been considered in thedevelopment process.

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InteroperabilityThe principle of interoperability has manypotential educational benefits for learnersand these apply across many aspects ofeducation, for example the use of learningplatforms and e-portfolios, and the transferof learner data across institutions.

Although the concept of interoperability isoften discussed with reference to detailedtechnical specifications, this should notobscure the importance or relative simplicityof the principle itself.

Digital learning resources should

• use appropriate vocabularies to describecontent and learning opportunities

• be stored so that content or learning isavailable to all

• be easily found and identified throughresource discovery services

• use recognised interoperability standardsso that content runs or plays in theidentified environment, for example abrowser or learning platform

• be repurposed and shared whereverpossible, and have their rights described in common and agreed ways.

It is acknowledged that the development of interoperability standards is ongoing.

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Testing and verification A well-planned development process witheffective reviewing and feedbackprocedures ensures that digital learningresources are:

• suitable for the target audiences

• culturally appropriate and factuallyaccurate

• suitably challenging

• robust and match the targetenvironments.

It is noted that this principle is essentially about testing and verifying the resource’s declared intentions and the appropriateness of its materials. It is not concerned with recommendingparticular development processes, projectmanagement methodologies and so on.

Effective communicationEffective communication is an underlyingprinciple that is dependent on theimplementation of the relevant corepedagogic and design principles. However, it is an important principle that should beconsidered for all digital learning resources.

Effective communication related to a digitallearning resource is reliant on how the corepedagogic and design principles areaddressed. Nonetheless, it is important to ensure that key information, userguidance and known benefits or issues are communicated clearly to practitionersand learners.

The nature of communication (whetherwithin the digital resource itself or insupporting documentation or packaging)and the level of detail will of course differwith each digital learning resource.

Key aspects that are likely to require clearcommunication include:

• the learning objectives of a digitallearning resource and its relevance to a curriculum and age range (Match to the curriculum)

• information about specific learningcontexts for which a digital learningresource has been designed, for exampleto support a particular pedagogicapproach or for self-directed use in thehome or workplace (Effective learning)

• known inclusion and accessibilityfeatures and advice about addressingknown issues and gaps (Inclusion andaccess and Accessibility)

• information about how effective learningcan be assessed in relation to the digitallearning resource (Assessment to supportlearning and Robust summativeassessment)

• key technical information about whatICT infrastructure is required to use thedigital learning resources and keytechnical features (Interoperability)

• clear statements about the licence terms and conditions, for examplewhether assets within the digitallearning resource can be modified andre-used (Quality of assets).

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ACCAC (Wales) http://www.accac.org.uk

Apple: Human interface guidelines (PDF) http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/OSXHIGuidelines.pdf

Becta: Guidelines for website accessibilityhttp://industry.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=14281

Becta: Inclusion and SENhttp://www.becta.org.uk/schools/inclusion

Becta: Learning resource development advice http://www.becta.org.uk/industry/content

BETT Awardshttp://www.becta.org.uk/bettawards

Centre for educational technology interoperabilitystandards (CETIS) http://www.cetis.ac.uk

DENI: Curriculum and Assessmenthttp://www.deni.gov.uk/index/80-curriculumandassessment_pg.htm

Design principles for educational software: Designprinciples database http://www.design-principles.org/dp/index.php

Disability Discrimination Act 1995http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/Ukpga_19950050_en_1.htm

Disability Rights Commission Code of practicehttp://www.drc-gb.org/thelaw/practice.asp

e-Government Schemas and Standardshttp://www.govtalk.gov.uk/schemasstandards/schemasstandards.asp

Futurelab http://www.futurelab.org.uk

IBM: Ease of use design concepts http://www-03.ibm.com/easy/page/567

IMS Global Learning Consortiumhttp://www.imsglobal.org

Jakob Nielsen’s Ten usability heuristicshttp://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

JISC Legal information servicehttp://www.jisclegal.ac.uk

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)http://www.qca.org.uk

Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF)http://www.sifinfo.org

Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)http://www.sqa.org.uk

Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/20010010.htm

TechDis http://www.techdis.ac.uk

further information

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