Usability testing is missing from the traditional instructional design process. But not having a way to find problems is a problem. We need to make sure that eLearning courses, learning portals, … [Read more...]
Six Ways to Use Examples And Nonexamples To Teach Concepts
Your brain likes to generalize. It forms generalizations out of individual examples, similar to fitting together the pieces of a puzzle. This is more or less how we form concepts—by grouping together … [Read more...]
Talent Stacking For An Instructional Design Career
Sometimes an obvious concept takes on a deeper meaning when you see it from a new perspective. For me, talent stacking was one of those ideas. We all know that being multi-skilled increases your … [Read more...]
Stealing From Product Design
Seven Principles for Innovating
Like all designers these days, learning experience designers are under pressure. We must find the most effective ways to meet the needs of a target audience, improve workplace performance and measure … [Read more...]
Are Your Online Tests Valid?
How to Improve Test Validity
You can't make it through a year of designing eLearning without having to write test or assessment questions. If you don't have formal training in this area you may not be familiar with test validity. … [Read more...]
How to Write Instructional Design Case Studies for Your Portfolio
One aspect of a portfolio that can make yours stand out is to provide the proper context for every work sample. You can achieve this by adding instructional design case studies to your portfolio. Case … [Read more...]
How To Be More Creative At Work
For Learning Experience Designers
If you continuously come up with compelling and novel ideas at a moment's notice, you won't need to read this article. But for the rest of us, there are times when it's difficult to be creative on … [Read more...]
How to Build an Instructional Design Portfolio
Creating an instructional design portfolio is a way to demonstrate your skills to future employers or clients. It is also a personal record of your work and growth. Your portfolio can be a dynamic … [Read more...]
Using Thumbnail Sketches In eLearning Design
What do you do when you need to think through visual ideas, a story or an interactive exercise? One of the best techniques I know for design and generating ideas is to create small rough sketches, … [Read more...]
Creativity In Instructional Design
A Creative Instructional Design Model
One of the reasons I fell in love with instructional design is that it's both analytical and creative. You might start the day deep into an instructional analysis and you might be ideating a creative … [Read more...]
Writing Multiple Choice Questions For Higher Order Thinking
One of the biggest criticisms of multiple choice questions is that they only test factual knowledge. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can also use multiple choice questions to assess … [Read more...]
Using Critiques To Improve Learning Experience Design
How to Run Design Critiques for Learning Experience Design
Critiques for learning experience design are beginning to catch on. The input from others can bring new perspectives and insight to a draft or beta version of any work. Critiques are a collaborative … [Read more...]