Publication date: 1 April 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781806550494

Number of illustrations: 57

ABC Learning Design

Active, blended, connected and beyond

Clive Young (Editor), Nataša Perović (Editor), Leo Havemann (Editor), Karen Shackleford-Cesare (Editor)

ABC Learning Design is a popular and effective rapid design method for developing university-level programmes, modules and short courses. Created at UCL in 2015, ABC enables academic teams to collaborate in short, focused workshops to co-create visual storyboards of students’ learning journeys. Its ease of use, adaptability, and open licence have led to widespread adoption across the UK and Europe.

ABC Learning Design: Active, blended, connected and beyond introduces ABC to a new audience, adding insights from institutions that have localised and implemented the method in diverse contexts. ABC provides practical, ready-to-use tools, but it is often reframed as more than a set of resources. Its built-in flexibility not only allows for transferability but actively encourages creative modifications that respond to institutional needs. The core ABC workshop remains the heart of the method and is central to all implementations. Around this, institutions have built locally relevant adaptations that retain the method’s participatory ethos. This shared structure creates a design ‘lingua franca’ that supports collaboration within and across institutions. Drawing on facilitator and participant experiences, the book reviews ABC’s key strengths and explains why it continues to inspire innovation. It invites a global conversation on enriching learning design for students, faculty, and institutions alike.

List of figures
List of tables
List of contributors
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Diana Laurillard

Introduction
Clive Young, Nataša Perović, Leo Havemann, Karen Shackleford-Cesare

1 Introducing ABC learning design
Clive Young, Nataša Perović, Leo Havemann, Karen Shackleford-Cesare

2 Embedding ABC LD into programme development at UCL
Clive Young, Karen Shackleford-Cesare, Leo Havemann, Nataša Perović

3 Constructive alignment: institutional strategy for blended learning success
Loulou Detienne and Ele Holvoet

4 Enhancing reflection and inclusivity in teaching practice at two Irish universities
Clare Gormley, Rob Lowney, Suzanne Stone

5 One year later: tracing the impact of ABC on faculty development at Humanitas University
Manuela Milani

6 Adapting ABC for online learning design Vicky Devaney, Dionysios Dimakopoulos, Jo Stroud

7 Enhancing online learning at University of Glasgow
John Kerr

8 Digital Asynchronous ABC for postgraduate teaching
Tim Neumann

9 An ABC of co-design methodology: collaborative professional learning in challenging environments
Eileen Kennedy

10 ABC-LD in schools: scaling up professional development in learning design
François Jourde and Jacques Dubois

11 The ABC-LD@4EU+: enhanced version of the ABC-LD workshop tailored for the European University Alliance’s needs
Vassiliki Michou, Angela Maria Prataviera, Bartłomiej Michałowicz, Zbyněk Tonar

Conclusion
Clive Young, Nataša Perović, Leo Havemann, Karen Shackleford-Cesare

Appendix 1 Facilitation an ABC workshop
Appendix 2 Evaluating ABC – does it work
Appendix 3 ABC Tool Wheels
Glossary
Index

DOI: 10.14324/111.9781806550494

Number of illustrations: 57

Publication date: 01 April 2026

EPUB ISBN: 9781806550500

Clive Young (Editor)

Clive Young was the Head of the Programme Development team at UCL until retiring in 2023. He previously held positions as a consultant, lecturer, developer, and manager at Imperial College London, the University of St Andrews, the UK Open University, and UMIST, Manchester. He is the co-creator of the ABC Learning Design method.

Nataša Perović (Editor)

Nataša Perović is a Programme Development Advisor at UCL. With a background in science, web development and teaching, she worked in digital education for over 20 years, at UCL, Queen Mary University London and City University London. She co-created the ABC Learning Design method and has facilitated ABC LD workshops in the higher education sector across the UK, EU and beyond.

Leo Havemann (Editor)

Leo Havemann, is a Programme Development Advisor at UCL, having previously worked in UCL Digital Education, following 10 years as a learning technologist at Birkbeck, University of London. Prior to these roles Leo taught in higher education, and worked as librarian in further education, as well as in technology support roles in industry. His research interests include digital and open practices and policies, and the development of digital, information and data literacies.

Karen Shackleford-Cesare (Editor)

Karen Shackleford-Cesare is a Programme Development Advisor at UCL having previously held the post of Digital Education Advisor there also. She has had roles supporting digital education in higher education for over 15 years commencing at the University of Roehampton. In addition, Karen taught Management Information Systems and managed her department’s computing infrastructure at the University of the West Indies.

ABC Learning Design

Clive Young (Editor)

Nataša Perović (Editor)

Leo Havemann (Editor)

Karen Shackleford-Cesare (Editor)

ABC Learning Design

Teaching Slavery

Playthings and Playtimes

Knowledge and Knowing in Media and Film Studies

Universities and Climate Action

Playing the Archive

Reading Randomised Controlled Trials

On Learning, Volume 3

Palaeontology in Public

Inclusion, Diversity and Innovation in Translation Education

Belonging and Identity in STEM Higher Education

Generalism in Clinical Practice and Education

Development, Education and Learning in Sri Lanka

Early Childhood in the Anglosphere

Schooling for Refugee Children

Matters of Significance

Creativity in Education

On Learning, Volume 2

Research in Global Learning

Social Research for our Times

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