Online instruction is becoming the norm in higher education. To ensure the needs of “ever-connected” students are being met, we need effective curriculum design. One potential method is design thinking: a concept that stresses the importance of empathy with the student.

The #OpenTeach fully online course was designed using design thinking principles and delivered in Spring 2020. DCU’s Open Teach unit has worked on a case study on the use of design thinking to design and develop this course. 

The findings of this study indicate that the use of the design thinking process may be used by instructional designers to achieve empathy with their learners, which will ensure learners successfully engage and achieve the learning objectives of the course.