We cannot improve or restructure a horse and buggy into a spacecraft regardless of how much money and effort we put into it. - Béla H. Bánáthy

The learner is the key entity and occupies the nucleus of the systems complex of education.

In sharp contrast (with the traditional social planning) the systems design approach seeks to understand a problem situation as a system of interconnected, interdependent, and interacting issues and to create a design as a system of interconnected, interdependent, interacting, and internally consistent solution ideas.

When learning is in focus, arrangements are made in the environment of the learner that communicate the learning task, and learning resources are made available to learners so that they can explore and master learning tasks.