Putting the flesh on the bones: using a fishbone digital learning design method to align educational objectives

Learning design has become increasingly important in the context of expanding and dynamic digital learning environments. More traditional teaching approaches are no longer sufficient to engage learners in these changing learning environments. Teachers and aspiring learning designers therefore increasingly need learning design expertise, which takes time to develop. This paper responds to this challenge by outlining a fishbone digital learning design method, which is aligned with updated versions of Bloom’s taxonomy for the digital world, as a scaffolded approach to developing basic learning design expertise. The study integrates three practical tools into one learning design method to ensure constructive alignment. The findings contribute to digital educational development and teacher professional development by proposing a practical and easy to adapt learning design method.