Based on research conducted as part of the project Learning by Design: creating pedagogical frameworks for knowledge building in the 21st century, funded by the Australian Research Council, the article explores the learning experiences of two students in a primary school in the Australian Capital Territory. In communities where ordinary citizens, including children, have ready access to contemporary technologies, the potential causes of underperformance are critically examined in the light of the cases of two students in their final year of primary/elementary school, for whom school success had proved elusive in the past. The article describes the learning journey of the students and their teacher as they begin working on a Learning Element designed using the Learning by Design planning framework with its eight knowledge processes. A brief outline of the Learning Element provides a context for the students' experiences, highlighting some of the factors which influenced the teacher's design. The children are given a voice as they explain their experiences of learning designed using this approach. Their improved performance is analysed in the light of the learning design to extract the features of the Learning Element which impacted most significantly on the performance of these students.