Labeling What Some Researchers Are Already Doing: Design Research Updated

Increasingly, "research" is not being conducted in a separate group in an organization; rather, it is being integrated into the fabric of the organization. Google recently described such an integrated, "hybrid" model of software research that is characterized by cycles of short duration and small-scope activity that is ongoing and long-term. The authors argue that the practice of "Design Research" (DR) is undergoing a change in the educational technology field and becoming more a "Design Research & Development" (DRD) model, which is also characterized by ongoing and long-term partnerships, with cycles of R&D. This DRD model, then, avoids the challenges that surface when moving from a pilot done under favorable conditions to scaling the innovation in real classrooms. While, not surprisingly, DRD has its own challenges, DRD may enable positive impacts to be visible in the classroom sooner than when using the more traditional research-transfer models.