Self-learning materials (SLM) generally lack the mechanisms for ensuring deep learning but help address the learning needs of large number of learners. Hence, it was retained as the key instructional component for a distance in-service teacher education programme offered by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), India. However, for the programme’s personal contact programme, a learning design was developed with the aim of addressing the SLM’s pedagogic limitations. This study aimed to determine how learners were using the SLM for learning while the design was being implemented at multiple units of analysis. It used the case-study method, and the findings suggested that the learning design encouraged deep learning processes that included the use of workplace learning as a context for interrogating the SLM and evaluating their relevance. Findings of qualitative studies are not generally generalisable. Nevertheless, this study will help in making informed decisions favouring ‘learning designs’ instead of instructional designs for IGNOU’s future teacher education programmes.