Deciding how best to combine good learning tasks and appropriately supportive technology is becoming increasingly complicated. Teachers in higher education are struggling with rising expectations about graduate capabilities, a diversifying intake, increasing pressure on time and a dizzying proliferation of technology options. One response we are seeing is a strengthening interest in taking a more design-based approach to tackling what many would see as ‘wicked problems’ (Luckin, 2010; Hoadley, 2010; Goodyear & Retalis, 2010). This symposium provides an opportunity to discuss some of the latest insights from research on teachers' experiences with the tools and methods of educational design (aka ‘design for learning’).