Welcome to the Learning Design System (LDS). This guide will walk you through how to navigate and interact with the LDS , ensuring you can make the most of its features. Let's get started!

Understanding the Homepage

When you first log into LDS, you’ll land on the homepage. The homepage is your central hub, where you can access all your spaces. You'll always see your personal library, and additionally the institutional library and shared libraries if you have access. 

• Homepage: Overview of all spaces that you are enrolled in or have access to. 
• Navigation Sidebar: Located on the left-hand side, this navigation allows you to access different parts of the system, such as your home page and insights hub.

Creating New Activity Designs

If you have never created anything in your space before, you'll see this screen - you can click whatever template type you would like to create to begin setting up your first design, whether that be a learning activity, learning journey or a rubric. 

1. Click on the “Create New” Button: You’ll find this prominently displayed right corner of the space.
   
   
   
   
2. Create an Activity Template: If you choose to create an activity template, you will see a very similar toolpicker to what you are used to and can select the learning activity that best matches your use case. 
   
   
3. Starting from a FeedbackFruits Activity: If you choose one of the FeedbackFruits activities, you will be able to customize the activity template as needed. For example, adding instructions, a rubric, and a grading module.
   
   
   
   
4. Creating a Custom Learning Activity: If your institution has a Design Studio license, then you can also opt to create a custom learning activity. You can learn more about that here: Learning Design Studio: Introduction

Templates

Templates are the backbone of LDS. They provide structured guidance for creating effective learning experiences. Here’s how to interact with them:

• Sections: The space splits templates into three sections: Learning Journey, learning activity templates and rubric templates. You can click on each section to expand or collapse it.
• Editing Mode: Click on any template, to view the steps, and to enter editing mode. From there, you can customize the template as needed.
• Saving Templates: If you've created a template in the space, make sure to save it using the 'save' button in the top right. 

Collaborating with Team Members

LDS makes collaboration easy, to collaborate on a space:

1. Open the space you want to invite collaborators to 
2. Click on the “settings” tab in the space
3. Add your team members by entering their email addresses. If you want them to be able to create templates in the space, and edit the ones you've created, make sure to add them as an editor. If you add them as a viewer, they'll be able to use the templates in the LMS, but not view or edit any content inside the space in the Learning Design System.
   
   

Using and Accessing Analytics

LDS includes powerful analytics tools to help you measure the effectiveness of your learning designs and student development on outcomes over time. 

To view analytics:

1. Go to the “Analytics” tab in the navigation menu.
2. Select the project you want to analyze 
   
   
3. Review metrics such as engagement rates, completion rates, and learner feedback.
   
   
   

Tip: Use the insights from analytics to refine your learning designs and improve outcomes.

Accessing Resources

The Learning Design System is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, but it also offers a wide range of features to support your learning design needs. Take your time exploring the platform, and
don’t hesitate to reach out for help if you need it.

Need additional help or inspiration? The Resources section is packed with useful materials:

• Guides and Tutorials: Step-by-step instructions on various features of LDS.
• Best Practices: Tips and strategies for effective learning design.
• FAQs: Answers to common questions.

To access Resources, click on the “Resources” tab in the navigation menu.