During the first year of the SAILeR project, partners have moved from initial research and co-design activities towards concrete results that support educators in learning design, AI-supported course development and study programme design.

The first year has resulted in research reports and scientific publications, new functionalities in the Balanced Design Planning (BDP) tool, progress in the development of the AI assistant for learning design, and the introduction of study programme learning design functionalities. Some planned results have already been achieved, while others are under development and will continue to evolve during the next phases of the project.

Understanding the Vision of Learning Design

A major focus of the first year was understanding how educators formulate a vision for learning design, translate it into course planning and prioritise learning outcomes.

This work resulted in two project reports: Literature Review on Pedagogical Visions, Storyboarding and Storytelling and Formulating the Vision of Learning Design and Prioritisation of Learning Outcomes: Cross-Site Report on Five Focus Groups with European Higher Education Teachers. It also resulted in the scientific paper Review of Learning Outcomes Prioritisation Approaches, presented and published at CECIIS 2026. 

Translating Research into BDP Functionalities

Research findings have already been translated into concrete improvements of the BDP tool. New functionalities support more detailed and interactive macro-level learning design planning and enable educators to prioritise learning outcomes using three approaches: equal weighting, manual weighting and the SWING method. 

Developing the AI Assistant for Learning Design

Work on the next generation of the AI assistant for learning design has also started. Development follows an iterative process that combines technological development with research into user requirements and continuous user feedback.

Some upgrades have already been introduced, while further research, development and evaluation will continue during the next project phase. SAILeR 2025 KA220 Periodic repo…

Extending Learning Design to Study Programmes

Another important first-year result is the extension of BDP from individual courses towards study programme learning design.

The curriculum design concept has been developed and related functionality has already been enabled in BDP ahead of the project timeline. An initial case study is also underway, using BDP functionalities to support the redesign of a postgraduate-level study programme.