Abstract:

Relevance-Interest-Challenge-Background:
Online education has become an established mean of education in the field of higher education and life-long learning. However, a diffuse picture remains among practitioners how to understand and how to overcome technical barriers, which significantly disturb and negatively impact students Learning Process.
The ongoing discussion about Online Education appears to be a bipolar discourse of either evangelist or opponents.
In conjunction with this ongoing discussion the focus might have been shifted away from the ambition to formulate realistic goals in terms of Learning Objectives and hereby deliberately opting for suitable approaches to shape learning environments with a minimum of Learning Barriers.

Aim-Purpose:
This paper aims to contribute to a more informed discussion about how Online Education can be experienced as a successful learning process.
The thoughtful appliance of Learning Design and Micro Learning had been found helpful to overcome those barriers hindering the creation of learning effects among students. Thus, this paper will focus on the potential contribution of these two concepts within the context of Online Education.

Research Approach & Data-Context-Validity:
The practical appliance of the focal concepts Learning Design and Micro Learning has been tested in a series of 6 case studies.
The case studies had been conducted as Online Education sessions in both two German and one Danish institution of higher education.
Findings primarily stem from data sources such as semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and observation stemming from action research.
These findings are related to the context of higher education institutions providing Career Development Education Service for professionals as well as students at graduate level.

Findings point to 3 factors how to overcome potential barriers in Online Education:
1) Attention to Learnings Barriers in preparation to AI-supported Online Education
2) Careful choices about which Learning Objectives are prioritized to guide didactical choices
3) Awareness of the hybrid state to choose among or to combine learning- and/ or instructional design approaches

Propositions:
Both concepts:
1) Learning Design and
2) Instructional Design must be carefully selected or interconnected as the orientation towards reaching the Learning Objectives for most learners.
Didactical and pedagogical choice must be validated especially, which AI-tools and methods really add value to the Learning Process.

Outlook-Ambition:
Conceptualizing and explaining what “Learning Barriers" are in general and specifically in AI-supported learning environment. Informing about how to overcome technological barriers within online- and physical teaching situations.
Offering a light framework or decision guide to inform decision making about when and how to apply the most probable and suitable choice of didactical intervention approaches.

Keywords:

Life-long Learning, Learning Design, Instructional Design, Online Learning, Higher Education, AI.