Learner-generated designs in participatory culture : what they are and how they are shaping learning

Interactive Learning Environments (ILE) journal represents strong scholarly work on giving learners control of their own learning (e.g. Volume 23, Issue 1, 2015) with the use of innovative learning technologies (e.g. Volume 23, Issue 2, 2015). We believe that positioning learners as active meaning makers is changing the landscape of what we may call interactive learning environments. ILE is concerned with “all aspects of the design and use of interactive learning environments in the broadest sense” (ILE, n.d.). In this special issue, we purport to interrogate and further our understanding of the commonly cited term, design, specifically learner-generated designs. This issue brings together scholars from multiple disciplines, including learning sciences, literacy studies, science education, digital media, and pedagogy, to examine the notion of learner-generated designs in both formal and informal learning environments. Multidisciplinary perspectives provide ways of understanding how learners take hold of their culture of learning, shaping it to be more participatory, communicative, collaborative, and digital.