Blogs as Instructional Design Resources

There is a plethora of information and resources for Instructional Designers.  It is often hard to discern what will be helpful or, perhaps, misguiding.  Recently, I found three (3) bloggers that will be helpful in my career as an Instructional Designer - Clark Quinn, the Association for Talent Development, and Tim Slade.  For my first blog, I will delve into a blog from each that I found informative.

Clark Quinn - Quinnovation

Although the blog I chose from Quinn is from 2022, the information is still relevant to today's Instructional Designer.  Titled "Top 10 Learning Tools for 2022," this blog describes text, visual, social, and search tools that an Instructional Designer can use to build content and professional networks.  While familiar with most of the tools, I did enjoy exploring the visual recommendations and finding new ways to reach my end-users/learners, such as OmniGraffle and Keynote.  

Association for Talent Development - ATD

From ATD, I chose a blog written by Patty Gaul titled "Getting New Information for Your New Needs Assessment."  In the blog, she details why needs assessments should be performed periodically versus building learning content from an outdated survey.  A new evaluation will allow Instructional Designers to curate training based on the latest organizational gaps and needs.  While a timeline is detailed by Gaul in the blog, I recommend an assessment timeline of every 2-3 years, depending on organizational needs.  Also, including a survey tool at the end of training to assess validity can help an Instructional Designer stay on top of issues.

Tim Slade - E-Learning Academy

For the final blog, I chose Tim Slade's "4 Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in eLearning."  As an Instructional Designer in the medical technology field, it is easy to overload my learners with too much terminology or detail, leading to cognitive overload and reduced retention of information.  Slade recommends four (4) ways to help mitigate this issue.  

1. Structure the learning into smaller chunks
2. Create ways for the student to apply the knowledge through interaction
3. Use meaningful graphics with animations and audio to keep learners engaged
4. Design an interface that can be used intuitively by the end-user/learner

    
    At the end of the day, an Instructional Designer is only as good as their tools, skills, and knowledge.  Blogs like the three (3) will keep my skills and knowledge sharp while building my toolbag.  

Until next time, cheers.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 16, 2023 at 3:20 PM

    Dear Holli ~ This post is very helpful. Thanks for sharing. The E-learning academy resonates with me as I typically have the case of "Too Much Information" (TMI) when I am delivering my learning content.

    This also resonates with the post I made on my own blog regarding Micro-Learnings. Check it out here: https://designingandexecutingvisionforchange.blogspot.com/2023/07/instructional-design-in-diversity.html.

    I also that the point you made about "meaningful" graphics is poignant, given the topics I delved into regarding construct operationalization in the DEI space, for example.

    Thanks for sharing regarding Needs Assessments, too. It is helpful to know that they should be instituted regularly, every 2-3 years, to remain abreast of organizational needs and identify potential learning solutions relevant thereto.

    Best,

    Ayanna

    ReplyDelete

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