Designing Digital Higher Education: Case Aalto Online Learning

In this paper we report on a model and experiences in designing digital higher education. Our case is Aalto Online Learning—an Aalto University wide strategic initiative for educational development. Since the kickstart in the year 2016, our activities have been to create online and blended learning experience designs, related learning materials and media, and as its foremost ambition, to transform and improve the educational setting and structures of the university and beyond. Instead of starting from a single platform or technology with all of its constraints, Aalto Online Learning starts from ideas to improve learning, and selects or develops a design to bring the idea to reality in an agile and collaborative activity. We have evaluated the whole process—from the call for idea proposals to funding, design, development and dissemination at courses—via nine consecutive rounds from early 2016 to early 2020. To overcome identified challenges in each round, we have clarified the model, introduced new training and production approaches, identified and ran online learning theme groups, and developed innovative tools and platforms. The model has been used to identify learning improvement ideas and to develop them into solutions for over 240 courses at Aalto University.