Current research in learning design

A ' learning design' is defined as the description of the teaching-learning process that takes place in a unit of learning (eg, a course, a lesson or any other designed learning event). The key principle in learning design is that it represents the learning activities and the support activities that are performed by different persons (learners, teachers) in the context of a unit of learning. The IMS Learning Design specification aims to represent the learning design of units of learning in a semantic, formal and machine interpretable way. Since its release in 2003 various parties have been active to develop tools, to experiment with Learning Design in practice, or to do research on the further advancement of the specification. The aim of this special issue is to provide an overview of current work in the area. This papers introduces Learning Design, analyses the different papers and provides an overview of current research in Learning Design. The major research issues are at the moment: a) the use of ontologies and semantic web principles & tools related to Learning Design; b) the use of learning design patterns; c) the development of learrning design authoring and content management systems, and d) the development of learning design players, including the issues how to use the integrated set of learning design tools in a variety of settings.