Designing Purposeful Learning
for a Better World.
A ten-part framework, workbook and toolkit series that helps educators hold the essential decisions of learning design together — five bearings, one shared language.
Every teacher is a Learning Designer.
Reading: Set your course
Hover — or tap — a point on the compass to see why it matters, and a facilitator's hint for practice.
Discovery comes before design.
Although the Compass holds five bearings, the workbook begins one step earlier. Before making design decisions, you examine the learners, the context, the curriculum and the evidence in front of you. Discovery protects the process from premature solutions and builds a more credible foundation for everything that follows — a rhythm of pause, notice, record, discuss, decide and revisit, returned to whenever new evidence changes the picture.
Compass PromptA question that tests whether the design remains aligned with the Compass.
Framework LinkA direct connection to the Learning Design Compass™ Framework book.
Design JournalSpace to capture evidence, judgement, decisions and next steps.
ReflectA deliberate pause to examine learning, tensions or implications.
Interconnected, not sequential.
Purpose provides direction. Agency shapes participation. Better Questions deepen the work. Real Impact gives learning consequence. Reflection turns experience into improvement.
- 1 Start with Purpose Clarify the purpose and learning that matters most.
- 2 Grow Agency Empower learners to take ownership and make meaningful choices.
- 3 Design Better Questions Frame deep, open questions that spark curiosity and critical thinking.
- 4 Create Real Impact Connect learning to authentic audiences and real-world impact.
- 5 Reflect and Improve Evaluate learning and design to grow and do better.
Better learning does not come from adding more. It comes from designing with greater clarity, care and intention.Guy Harrison — Learning Design Compass™ Workbook
A ten-part series for the whole journey.
From the foundation text through to practice, evidence, implementation and reference — one shared language across every stage. Books 1 to 3 are available now; the rest of the series is on its way.
Guy Harrison
Guy Harrison is an Australian educator, curriculum designer and educational leader with more than thirty years of experience across primary and secondary education — spanning classroom teaching, curriculum leadership, Digital Technologies, Design and Technologies, STEM education, educational publishing and professional learning.
His work translates curriculum, research and emerging technologies into practical classroom design, guided by a consistent belief: technology should enhance human creativity, inquiry and responsibility — not diminish the role of educators or the human purpose of learning. These ideas led to the Learning Design Compass™.
Every teacher is a Learning Designer — and every thoughtful design decision has the potential to change a life.
Bring the Compass to your school or system.
For professional learning, bulk workbook orders, speaking engagements or partnership enquiries, send a note directly — a real person reads every message.
Based in Australia · Education Studio