The hardest (and most critical) part of any design process is the last 10-20%. Not just because that's where a lot of the detail and polish comes in, but because that's where it's easy for things to seize up. We become increasingly aware of deadlinesWe get cautious and conservativeWe acquiesce to the temptation of "good enough"We stop looking for new…
Creating meaningful learning isn't about aspiring to some ephemeral concept of "academic rigor." Determine what skill(s), process(es), or knowledge your learners should come away with and use those to craft your experiences. Inserting arbitrary difficulty spikes, busy work, or tasks designed to "weed out" learners is actively detrimental to, you know, helping people actually master the material. And it's often…
Interactive online learning is not the same thing as engaging online learning. If your learning experience is interactive in the sense that there's more junk for the learner to click on...they're just as bored, but now for longer 'cause you made them jump through hoops. Adding stuff like drag and drops just for funsies isn't good learning design (especially if…
Any design and work in the digital age must account for those that don't have access to the same tools, resources, and opportunities that are afforded to the majority of learners. The following is a guide for faculty members, librarians, and instructional designers at Spring Arbor University on how they can use their influence and resources at their disposal to…
I'm an instructional designer studying Educational Design and Technology, so people are often surprised at how often I recommend non-electronic solutions to their learning design problems. Paper is technology. Books are technology. Pens are technology. All technology is, is just applied science. Integrating tech responsibly into any learning experience means understanding the affordances and constraints of the tools you are…
Instructional Design / eLearning folks: I'm developing a simple, relatable definition of ID for a workshop. It'll be expanded on during the talk. Thoughts and feedback on this?