Free learning design kit

St. Petersburg College and Smart Sparrow have partnered to launch the Learning Design Starter Kit, a free tool designed to help faculty create their own digital learning resources.

“Smart use of adaptive learning has to start with faculty-led planning and instructional design,” said Dawn Joyce, professor of communications at St. Petersburg College, in a prepared statement. “The Learning Design Starter Kit is an important resource because it gives faculty an opportunity to see how engaging adaptive learning technology is for students. Change is always intimidating, but the Learning Design Starter Kit helps faculty in this transitional phase by providing resources and support every step of the way.”

“With the toolkit, faculty will learn how to design online resources rooted in cutting-edge learning science, capture user data to evaluate student engagement, and create rich, interactive, and adaptive courseware,” according to a news release.

Features of the toolkit include:

  • Resources on learning design;
  • Adaptive lessons focused on planning and designing for each student;
  • Case studies from faculty and instructional designers;
  • The opportunity to create rich, adaptive and interactive courseware; and
  • Other tools and support.”

Details about and access to the Learning Design Starter Kit is available here.

Online Ed Skepticism and Self-Sufficiency: Survey of Faculty Views on Technology

The  highlights of new report  from Gallup is out (they surveyed 2,799 faculty members and 288 academic technology administrators in August and September 2014). The full report is available online, but you will need to provide your name and email address. Are you optimistic or somewhat skeptical? I am always amazed how people who never taught are eager to provide their opinion on how inferior online learning is…

 

New Instructional Design for New Instructional Technology

Though the contributors in this book are not all higher education people, their advice is till relevant for any learning organization.

In this eBook 21 learning professionals who have successfully melded new instructional design with new instructional technologies give us their best tips. Regardless of what technologies you’re using currently, you’re bound to find tips that will help you design more effectively for those technologies. The 84 tips cover topics including:

  • Putting learning goals and needs before technology
  • Planning for and managing new instructional technology
  • Developing with and blending instructional technologies
  • Leveraging instructional technology for language learning
  • Learning games and gamification
  • Driving learning with graphic novels
  • Making learning mobile
  • Using MOOCs
  • Sharing learning-technology expertise”

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P.S. The file is about 8MB, so please be patient with download.

Instructional design

In brief, the field of Instructional Design (ID) lies at the intersection of at least three disciplines: education (how people learn in formal and informal settings), psychology (how humans learn and develop), and communication (message design and communication). The field is not new; depending on the source you use, you can trace it back to the 1940s.

There are at least 40 different ID models (!) used in education, corporate, and government settings. All models share the same underlying process of Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation, also known as the ADDIE process. This model was developed by Drs. Dick and Carey, who used to be faculty at the FSU College of Education. It is a world-recognized model, and I am proud that I was Dr. Dick’s student (a long time ago). There are other wonderful mentors and experts in the field (Marcy Driscoll, Bob Reiser, Walt Wager) which greatly contributed to my growth as instructional designer. Please access my diigo collection on ID.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

It is not a new concept in education or professional training. The taxonomy was developed in late 40s and then revised in 2001. It is widely used in education to map and align learning objectives, outcomes, and assessment to make sure outcomes have been achieved. And a very useful framework to think about learning.  What’s great, there are many resources available which suggest what technologies might be used to facilitate student learning and achievement of outcomes. Let’s start exploring!

Higher education evolution: Student life in 2023

eCampus News released the 1st part of 2023 predictions today. So, how students will be learning in 10 years? To read this publication you need a free account. In brief, these are the major trends and highlights:virtual modes of learning, artificially intelligent adaptive learning softwareBig Data, eTextbooks, data-driven apps (imagine an app which suggests a student a different reading or instructional activity based on his/her emotional stage at that time).

The next part will examine how the role of instructors and professors will change by 2023. Cannot wait to read the predictions!