There is a spectrum of opinion about online learning, inclusive of two polar opposite sides in the discussion: it’s either new and exciting and every course should be online, or it is a scary new technology that destroys the personal communication essential for a “good class.” As I consider this debate, something that both groups should realize is that it’s easy to fall into the trap of defining instruction through the use of a tool, rather than realizing there is an inherent separation between the instruction and the tool. Today I’ll explore the differences and how this separation impacts our design.
Continue reading “Looking Through a Learning Tool”Category: Instructional Design
3 Core Learning Skills for the 21st Century
How do we prepare our learners to succeed in the 21st century? More to the point, how do we equip *adult* learners for ever changing careers, skills and needs when the traditional education system is behind them?
First, I want to outline three critical skills—then I’ll talk about an organization that I think does well in this area and how they are helping to promote that particular skill for any worker in their organization. There are more skills than these that are required, but these ones top my list.
Continue reading “3 Core Learning Skills for the 21st Century”From Instructional Design to Learning Design
Student-Centered Design
Back in 1997, I was a member of the Ed Tech faculty at Northern Arizona University. We had decided to move our Masters of Educational Technology online—and did what an inexperienced faculty without support would do.
We took our face-to-face curriculum and put it online.
It went about as well as you would expect.
Continue reading “From Instructional Design to Learning Design”Playful Course Design
As someone with a recent background of scholarly writing, I had to overcome my unconscious assumptions that scholarly meant minimal “fun” or “play-based” interactions. After a few psychology and technology courses, I realized there was a smaller divide than I originally assumed. I spent a lot of time trying to find ways to investigate and discuss learning and cognition theories to fulfill my course requirements, but for a long time ignored the obvious truths behind why I wanted to study learning in the first place—witnessing learning either intentionally or unintentionally in various forms of play.
Continue reading “Playful Course Design”Three Things to Consider when Designing your next Learning Experience
When you’re developing an eLearning course, there is always an overload of “practical” stuff that you have to keep in mind. Development timelines, coordinating with subject matter experts, and making sure all the nuts and bolts are ready for the launch day of your course.
In the midst of all the details, I like to stop and consider how I can make each course I develop more effective than the last. There’s always a new angle or strategy out there to consider. I’m sharing 3 ideas here and I hope you’ll try them out.
Continue reading “Three Things to Consider when Designing your next Learning Experience”Delivering the Right Learning Experience
Have you ever gone to training and thought that it wasn’t as helpful as it could have been or that you would have grasped and retained the information if it was delivered differently?
Continue reading “Delivering the Right Learning Experience”Acknowledging the Transition
Life is full of transitions. Usually they involve an alteration in the people around you, the environment, or both. Looking at this phenomenon through an instructional design lens, we can observe two things:
Continue reading “Acknowledging the Transition”Back to School: The Next Step to Becoming an eLearning Expert
It’s that time of year again (if you work in education anyway). Students are returning. Classes are starting. Here in the Midwest, we’ve got crisp fall mornings and dew on the ground. Syllabi are being doled out like (unwanted) candy, and expressions of eagerness and anticipation will soon be replaced by glazed eyes and existential dread.
And for the first time in about a decade, I’m joining the crowd.
Continue reading “Back to School: The Next Step to Becoming an eLearning Expert”Building a Skilled eLearning Team
A familiar African proverb says it takes a village to raise a child—it means the entire community must interact with children for them to grow up to be a healthy member of society. Similarly, it takes a village to create a healthy learning environment.
Continue reading “Building a Skilled eLearning Team”The eLearning Professional
You don’t become a professional by just calling yourself one. One key difference between professionals and non-professionals is this: professionals are bound by ethical codes.
So, what’s the professional code of eLearning?
Continue reading “The eLearning Professional”
Model eLearning 
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