The Learning Designers from the Business Co-Design team at the University of Sydney recently hosted a small Networking Breakfast for Learning and Educational Designers (we’ll refer to them as Learning Designers from here on). Our goal was to bring people together and help build the learning design community within Sydney.
When we applied to host this event through TELedvisors, we were excited to create an event specifically for those in the education design space. As colleagues working in the “third space,” where academic and professional roles intersect, it was important for us to represent our unique position. We often find that broader networking events lack recognition of the challenges we face as Learning Designers. These events typically focus on the academic experience, but the Learning Designer experience is distinct and deserves attention. Additionally, there are few opportunities to connect with other Learning Designers outside our institution.
We decided that a casual networking breakfast would be the best format, with discussion prompts tailored specifically to learning design. Our team brainstormed five different topics to guide the conversations. We displayed the questions and topics on whiteboards scattered around the room, encouraging attendees to move between each ‘topic area’ and engage in dialogue.
Once attendees were ready to mingle, they gravitated toward the conversation stations that interested them most, using the prompts on the whiteboards to kickstart discussions. The key areas we wanted to focus on were:
· Student Engagement: The core of all our work. Many project aspects can clash with this, such as engagement with surveys, content, etc.
· Professional Development: Since Learning Design is a relatively new field, there aren’t many established courses tailored to it. We were curious to learn how other LDs are upskilling and navigating their learning journeys.
· Learning Design Trends: With constant changes in Higher Education, we wanted to hear thoughts on areas such as Generative AI and how to stay updated on the latest trends and educational technologies.
· Challenges in the Profession: We wanted to connect with others to learn about the challenges they’re facing, discover coping techniques, and understand how they develop their style as designers.
· Inclusivity and Diversity: We explored how LDs prioritise inclusivity and diversity while balancing other project demands.
Although the turnout was smaller than we hoped, those who attended were eager to connect, and it was refreshing to have EDs and LDs share their work and experiences. This was our first time working with the TELedvisors group on a networking event, and we look forward to continuing this collaboration in the future.
We also created a space for others to connect with us and invited attendees to join our Business Co-Design Community of Practice. If you couldn’t make it but are interested in connecting with us, please fill out this form.
Authors: Agustina Salas, Stacey Petersen, Sunprit Singh, Tianya Chen