This reflection emerged from a
recent discussion with fellow post-secondary educators, where we explored how
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles come alive in real courses and
programs. In the ongoing conversations about choice and voice, I often find
myself returning to a simple truth:
Choice doesn’t automatically lead to better
learning.
One of the goals of UDL and of any learner-centered design is to nurture learner agency. But so many learners, including adults returning to formal education, people engaging in continuing education, or professionals participating in corporate upskilling programs, are not accustomed to navigating multiple pathways. I have seen how giving too many options can quickly shift from being empowering to being confusing or even overwhelming.
What we don’t talk about enough are the self-directed learning behaviours that make any “choice” meaningful. Things like learning how to learn, how to self-assess and reflect, and how to connect content or information with purpose. In courses and in organizations, we tend to assume the existence of these meta-learning skills, and we don't put as much energy behind developing these skills more intentionally.
This is where leadership in learning design matters.
Our role isn’t just to provide choice and flexibility; it is to create guided structures or scaffolds that help people build confidence in making informed decisions about their own learning.
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| Image by wal_172619 from Pixabay |
At the course level, guided choice-making is about helping
learners make purposeful micro-decisions within the context of specific
learning outcomes. In practice, within a course, this might mean offering
guided choice-making. For example, providing a choice of recommended readings
and additional resources, but framing those with brief cues such as:
- “If you’re curious about the theory behind this concept, explore this reading.”
- “If you want to apply it in your work context, try this one.”
At the organizational level, the same principle scales up to how we design learning systems that balance autonomy with direction, where we enable people to self-direct their growth without being lost in choice overload.
In competency-based or skills-first organizations, guided choice can show up in multiple ways. For example:
- Curated, purpose-linked learning pathways: Organizations must offer guided learning pathways based on roles, competencies, or career aspirations. This can be aided by providing employees with self-assessment tools that map to these learning pathways. For example, the results of a self-assessment may show strong technical expertise but lower leadership competencies, and that might be an area the employee may explore next in terms of purposeful and meaningful learning experience.
- Recognition systems that reward reflective choices: Recognition systems can be designed to reward, nurture, and encourage reflective learning. For example, when an employee chooses a professional development activity, they could be asked to articulate why they chose it, how they intend to apply it, etc. Over time, these reflections can help people identify and recognize their own learning and develop the meta-skill of learning how to learn.
- Adaptive learning with human guidance: If an organization is developing skill platforms that use AI-driven recommendations, guided choice-making can mean connecting the algorithmic suggestions with human judgment, such as manager notes and recommendations, peer feedback, or self-reflection diaries or assessments that bridge the gap between machine personalization and meaningful human guidance.
Small design choices like these create big shifts. And we need these big shifts.
The next evolution of self-directed learning is already here. We need to start moving from making choices within a course towards making informed, ethical, and purposeful choices about our learning in an AI-augmented world.
As educators and learning leaders, we have to support people to not just exercise choice but to develop the judgment to use it well, and this capability feels even more critical in the age of AI. In many ways, building choice and supporting self-directed learning behaviours isn’t just about learner autonomy anymore; it is about helping people learn how to think with AI without outsourcing their thinking to AI.
#UDL #LearningDesign #AILiteracy #CriticalThinking #HumanizingAI #LifelongLearning #LearnerAgency #LeadershipInLearning #AdultLearning #LearnerAgency #InstructionalDesign
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