Introduction to the Special Section on High Stakes Online Learning Design Cases

Abstract

What do medical professionals, local government officials, and preservice teachers have in common? These learners often have regulated initial and continuing education requirements that require special considerations. For some, the content of the learning experience must include specific regulatory and legal information. For others, the content may be particularly sensitive, requiring a delicacy with respect to content presentation not often encountered in other learning designs.

Learning designed for these audiences represent high stakes contexts that involve high risk if executed poorly and/or hold inherently high value for the learners. Misleading or misrepresented information can result in legal ramifications for and to these designers and their learners. Complicating the high stakes design constraint, these designers often find themselves designing their learning for online delivery.