I find this to be true in my experience. I have worked with some professors who baulk at the idea of spending time creating or searching for a course banner image. There's other examples related to this, but I personally think that something as simple as finding or creating a course banner image can excite students. Or, if it's a corporate training hosted through Rise or Storyline, this may just be little visual elements and images that add a little something to the visual experience.

I would be interested in seeing an example of this context taken into consideration. In what ways does an ID use politics to inform their design?

In my own learning experience, elements of UX design in LX design are so important. In courses where professors utilized Canvas in such a way that grades were well managed, resources and documents were there, there was a module structure, etc., helped me stay afloat. I have also taken courses where professors did not use Canvas at all, and this made it difficult for me as a learner (or "user") to move through the course. Interestingly enough, I was completing my M.A. when COVID hit, so I got to see professors who had never use Canvas before, finally use it and do so effectively. All the students had nothing but positive comments about that new implementation.

I feel like this is really good to know about a learner, because as someone who is 1st gen, I had no idea about the true inner-workings of student loans, the college experience, etc. I think that those who have had family that went to college may be better able to inform them of what to expect -- although. I do realize that much has changed in the college system over the years (price of tuition, technology, etc.)

The great thing about current technology is our option to utilize supplemental resources that we do not have to create ourselves. If we are focusing a training on one thing, but there is something that comes up that may be a road block to some learners, a designer may be able to source a supplemental resource instead of sourcing an SME to instruct.

Although resonating with a persona is a great way to have empathy -- this does not happen in real life. We do not choose our learners... would it have been better to have the persona randomly assigned?

I agree with this. Narrative offers a story with dimensions. We get to almost have dialogue with the learner. This goes further than bullet-point information. This week's assignment on creating learner personas helped me understand this.

Is there a study where this is done based on actual real people? For example, with the consent of previous learners of a course or training, could a designer recycle their profile? Or what if an organization (university, company, etc) were to share the profiles of real people with consent? Although I see the interest in using a made-up profile (yet, still being "realistic") -- why not use actual profiles of real people? It seems strange to spend so much time and effort in creating personas to design a course when there are real people who are likely willing to consent to their profile info being published (or at least while hiding their true name)?

Others have made some insightful comments about the challenges of getting close to learners. One thing that comes to my mind is the fact that many professional academic programs, notably those in the medical field, require an entry essay. Often enough, it seems that applicants are asked to delve into some personal information that may have affected them in their life that would be redeeming for them to gain acceptance: financial status and hardships, death in family, etc. If an instructional designer were tasked with creating some personas of people in medical school, would we implicitly think about the types of essays we think students write? If yes, would it help if all colleges required an essay of some sort that just is basically asking an applicant to discuss personal information that may not be considered positive?

It certainly is nice having a visual. Is this practical though long term? I feel like it would be very time consuming building a lot of these. For a new course or training, this seems reasonable. But for something that is being re-used (and improved), maybe a re-look at the old personas can help?

I almost feel like we are headed in this direction on Canvas eLearning with the student profiles. Though, not all students use it. When I taught French, I would always look through them, and a few would have some information. To take it a step further, I suppose instructors could require students to complete their profile with the proposed information -- this can thus be used for a future learner analysis.

I find learner motivation to be one of the major key elements in designing creative instruction. It also informs the course in itself -- a reexamination of learning objectives may come about as well. Learners may even be motivated by a course title (is there a buzz-word, does it look promising?), without seeing learning objectives -- I think it's important that learners gain access to the learning objectives prior to participating in a learning experience, otherwise they may be disappointed and lose motivation.