How can you design for mobile learning in your instructional design portfolio?

2 Design for mobile devices

The next step is to design your mobile learning content and activities with the characteristics and limitations of mobile devices in mind. This means that you should consider the screen size, orientation, resolution, bandwidth, and battery life of the devices that your learners will use. You should also optimize your content for readability, usability, and accessibility. For example, you may use responsive design, adaptive design, or progressive enhancement techniques to ensure that your content adapts to different devices and browsers. You may also use simple and clear fonts, colors, images, and icons to enhance your visual design. You may also provide captions, transcripts, and alternative text for your audio and video elements to support learners with different needs and preferences.

3 Apply mobile learning principles

The third step is to apply mobile learning principles to guide your instructional design decisions. Mobile learning principles, based on the research and best practices of mobile learning experts and practitioners, can help create engaging, effective, and meaningful learning experiences for learners. For instance, microlearning, which delivers learning content and activities in short bursts, can help learners retain and transfer information better while fitting their learning into their busy schedules and contexts. Gamification, the use of game elements to motivate and reward learners, can also help learners enjoy and immerse themselves in the learning process while tracking their progress. Additionally, social learning through social media can facilitate collaboration and communication among learners while allowing them to share their insights, experiences, and questions. Finally, context-aware learning with sensors like GPS, camera, and microphone can provide learners with relevant and personalized content and activities based on their location, environment, and situation.

4 Showcase your process and results

The final step is to showcase your mobile learning samples in your instructional design portfolio. This means that you should not only provide the final product, but also the process and results of your mobile learning design. You should document and explain your design rationale, methods, tools, and strategies, as well as your evaluation and feedback methods and outcomes. You should also provide screenshots, videos, or links to your mobile learning samples, as well as testimonials, reviews, or ratings from your learners or clients. This can help you demonstrate your skills and knowledge in mobile learning design, as well as your impact and value as an instructional designer.