Learning isn’t content delivery: why experience beats information
Matt
October 30, 2025
Image depicting the difference between active and passive learning
Modern AI tools make it easier than ever to create learning content, but faster production does not mean better learning. True learning happens through experience, not just information delivery. Coursensu uses the six learning types framework - to remind us that acquisition is only the beginning. Collaboration, discussion, investigation, practice, and production are what transform content into meaningful learning. Designing for balance across these types ensures engagement, deeper understanding, and lasting impact. In a world full of generated content, learning designers must focus less on delivery and more on crafting experiences that connect, challenge, and inspire action.
Table of Contents
More content, less learning
Task: ask AI to teach you something
Presentation is not learning
The six learning types: beyond acquisition
Why content alone won’t create engagement
Designing for balance: how the six types shape stronger learning
Learning is experience, not exposure
The challenge of the AI era
Try it today
Benefits of using the six learning types
Potential trade-offs
Conclusion
More content, less learning
We can now produce learning content faster than ever. Pick up any AI tool to instantly generate pages of text, lists of facts or structured explanations on any topic, in seconds. The friction once associated with making volumes of course creation has, largely, disappeared.
And as this was never the goal of learning, of course something important has been lost along the way.
Learning risks quietly turning into content delivery. An efficient production of hollow experiences. Without collaboration, critical review, or learner engagement, even the most polished content fails to produce genuine understanding. What we gain in speed, we lose in depth.
Task: Ask AI to teach you something
Try it yourself. Ask your favourite AI tool to teach you about your favourite topic.
'Teach me about Medieval England' - example
What you’ll receive is, at best, a well-written summary of facts. It might appear impressive. But it won’t challenge you to do anything. It won’t ask you to reflect, apply, discuss, or collaborate. It won’t spark critical thinking or curiosity. It will, ask if you want more facts, more drilling, more content.
If learning was supplied by content then we'd just need more books.
AI-generated lessons can become content-heavy but activity-light. AI content skews towards a focus on presentation, not participation. The result is something that looks like learning but rarely sticks.
Presentation is not learning
When content only provides information, we’re not learning. We are acquiring. At best, we’re listening, reading, or watching. These are valid stages of learning, but they’re passive. Acquisition alone doesn’t lead to mastery or transformation. It’s the first rung of a much taller ladder.
Real learning happens when we move beyond acquisition into doing, showing, discussing, and creating. That’s where reflection, synthesis, and practice come in, and this is where genuine understanding forms and scaffolds.
The six learning types: beyond acquisition
This is why we recognise six learning types, not one. These describe the range of experiences that make learning active, engaging, and effective:
Acquisition – learning through listening, reading, or watching.
Collaboration – working together to co-construct understanding.
Discussion – sharing perspectives, challenging ideas, building reasoning.
Investigation – researching, analysing, or exploring new information.
Practice – applying skills and receiving feedback.
Production – creating something that demonstrates learning.
Each type complements the others. Content still has its place. Acquisition is essential for exposure to new ideas, but it’s not the end goal. The best learning experiences are those that blend these six types to create variety, challenge, and progression.
Why content alone won’t create engagement
Content can inform, but it can’t interact. Reading about problem-solving is different from solving a problem. Watching a video about teamwork isn’t the same as working with others.
The more we rely on content to do the work of learning, the less active and immersive the experience becomes. It’s not that content is bad, it’s that content without action fails to close the loop.
Learners might “know” something in theory, but without opportunities to apply, test, or reflect, the learning remains shallow and fragile.
Designing for balance: how the six types shape stronger learning
In Coursensu, the six learning types are baked directly into the platform. Every activity and every piece of content can be categorised, analysed, and balanced. This helps designers and educators quickly see where the weight of their design sits.
A course that’s 90% acquisition and 10% everything else tells a clear story - too much telling, even storytelling - is not enough doing. But when a design shows a mix of collaboration, practice, and production alongside acquisition, it becomes richer, more active, and more memorable.
By visualising learning types in real time, you can make adjustments early. You can spot passive sections before they become problems, and ensure the overall design drives active engagement.
Learning is experience, not exposure
We don’t learn from exposure to content alone; we learn from experiences that connect, challenge, and involve us. Active learning is built on doing, on testing what we know, seeing the consequences, and refining our understanding.
Learning experiences designed around participation rather than presentation help learners retain knowledge longer, apply it more effectively, and feel more invested in the process.
In short: we learn by learning, not by being taught.
The challenge of the AI era
AI-generated content is powerful. It accelerates production and lowers barriers for educators and designers. But its ease can also create a trap. When content becomes too effortless to create, it risks becoming thoughtless, actionless, motionless.
As AI tools continue to advance, our job as learning designers is to use them intentionally, they can generate not just content, but become part of creating active learning experiences.
AI can support this when integrated into platforms like Coursensu, where it works alongside design principles rather than replacing them. It can help educators align outcomes, refine activities, and suggest improvements that support all six learning types, not just acquisition.
Try it today
Review one of your existing courses or learning designs. Ask yourself:
How much of this experience is acquisition (reading, watching, listening)?
Where do learners collaborate, discuss, practise, or produce?
What opportunities exist for reflection, feedback, or exploration?
Then, try adding one new learning type into the mix. Turn a passive reading into a discussion. Convert a lecture into a collaborative investigation. See how it changes the learning experience, and then look into how your learners will respond.
Benefits of using the six learning types
Creates a more active and engaging learning experience.
Makes it easier to balance passive and active activities.
Encourages deeper reflection and critical thinking.
Strengthens alignment between outcomes, activities, and assessments.
Helps teams visualise the design balance early, saving time and rework.
Potential trade-offs
Takes more time during the design phase to map activities.
Requires educator buy-in and confidence to adopt new approaches.
Some learning management systems limit flexibility in how learning types appear.
Too much variety can become overwhelming if not structured carefully.
Conclusion
Content is easy. Experience is hard, but it’s where the real value of learning lies. In an age of AI-generated content and endless summaries, the role of the learning designer is not to produce more information, but to craft meaningful experiences that drive understanding, participation, and change.
The six learning types give us a framework to make this happen. They help us see that learning is not about consumption, but creation, not about exposure, but engagement. And they work across adult learning - in higher education, training and organisational development. For a piece of 'research theory' they have stood up to the test of reality and real-world application for nearly two decades.
So the next time you design a course, remember: learning isn’t a content delivery experience. It’s a collaboration between designer, educator, and learner to make knowledge come alive.
Modern AI tools make it easier than ever to create learning content, but faster production does not mean better learning. True learning happens through experience, not just information delivery. Coursensu uses the six learning types framework - to remind us that acquisition is only the beginning. Collaboration, discussion, investigation, practice, and production are what transform content into meaningful learning. Designing for balance across these types ensures engagement, deeper understanding, and lasting impact. In a world full of generated content, learning designers must focus less on delivery and more on crafting experiences that connect, challenge, and inspire action.
Sticky learning is learning that lasts. It goes beyond short-term recall and equips learners with skills and insights they can apply in real life. To design sticky learning, you need strategies that align with how people learn: explain the process, teach learning techniques, create desirable difficulty, and use stories to make content memorable. Build authenticity and transparency into your activities, encourage active engagement, and design time for reflection. The result is a learning experience that learners connect with emotionally and practically. Sticky learning is deliberate, but the payoff is worth it: retention, confidence, and a personal, long-term impact for every learner.
Storytelling is one of the oldest and most effective ways of learning. From cave dwellers to modern classrooms, stories capture attention, connect with emotions, and make facts memorable. In learning design, stories can ground abstract concepts, build empathy, and motivate learners by creating relatable and engaging experiences. They can take the form of scenarios, case studies, simulations, or even learner-generated narratives. The trade-offs are real, but with careful design, stories create lasting impact. By using storytelling intentionally, learning designers can transform content into meaningful experiences that learners remember, apply, and connect with long after the course ends.
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