How do you use technology to support instructional design?

This is a critical and often rushed phase of content development. Many clients and SMEs want ID to initiate content creation once the source content is shared. However, a diligent needs analysis that includes discovering desired business outcomes, success criteria for the project, creating learner profiles and their characteristics, and in-depth study of the delivery platform and its constraints, enables ID to arrive at the best possible design approach for the project. The insights and data gathered in this phase generate the pointers necessary to create a learner-centric content design that meets the learning as well as business outcomes.

Instructional design and technology go hand-in-hand in today's e-learning landscape. LMS: Centralize and distribute content, track learner progress. Interactive Multimedia: Engage learners with videos, quizzes, and simulations. Adaptive Learning Platforms: Personalize content based on learner's pace and performance. AR & VR: Create immersive learning experiences, bringing concepts to life. Analytics Tools: Gauge effectiveness, refine courses based on real-time feedback. Collaboration Tools: Foster peer learning and group projects. Mobile Learning: Access content anytime, anywhere. Harness tech's power to make learning more effective, engaging, and tailored to individual needs. Dive into the digital transformation of education.

This phase is important to define the course. What is it that the company wants its learners to know? what is it that the learners are lacking? How can we design the course and make it more relatable to the learners so that they actually learn and apply it in their day-to-day lives and help achieve the overall goals set by the company.

It's not enough to just understand the needs of the stakeholders when designing the learning goals, it is the job of the designer to find the middle ground where the learning objectives meet the needs of the organization and the learners. Instructional designers are the bridge between these two worlds.

Always Prototype the content. Technology can enhance the accessibility, interactivity, and personalization of educational content, ultimately leading to better learning outcomes. when we've a prototype of the design. A rough design idea lead by effectively integrating technology into instructional design can create more engaging, effective, and efficient learning experiences for learners.

Also, AI scripting tools like Chat GPT (content curation), Tome (for PPT designing), Rytr (for Audio or transcripts). Other like Grammarly (for grammar check) and Quillbot for sentence reframing are a big help

Identifying the right tool for the right phase of development is critical. Outlining the design map at the beginning is imperative to avoid scope creep, followed by a mock design on PowerPoint, and then a visual storyboard before developing it on an authoring tool. This can be backed by using machine audio to get a sign-off on the build before getting the professional audio recorded and incorporated to avoid unnecessary cost of re-recording or hours for resources.

Technology is used throughout the ID process. Right from the research phase till the end stage. For e.g; Research: Google for Google articles, research papers, Youtube videos Analysis: OneNote, Excel, and learning management systems to gather learner data. Design: Storyboarding on Excel, Google sheets, Powerpoint Development: Articulate Storyline, Rise, Camtasia, Lectora Implementation: LMS, Wordpress, virtual classrooms or web conferencing tools. Evaluation: Quizzes, KC’s within LMS or the inbuilt ones, survey forms, feedback forms

One of the areas that needs to be considered here is the accessibility of the content. Accessibility can mean a few different things here so let me define. Ensuring that the content can be accessed by those with disabilities is an important consideration. Additionally, accessibility could also mean that the content is being delivered in a format and platform that aligns with the learning needs of the community. A robust LMS or content management platforms may be necessary to help facilitate a course effectively.

Also, AI-generative images are all the rage. With platforms like Synthesia AI generated presenter. Also, AI generative images of people can help in designing real-life use case evaluations without any copyright issues.

An important consideration overlooked here is that tools must work in harmony to produce a learning experience that feels streamlined. I have seen lessons that on occasion combine too many tools, resulting in not only a disjointed lesson, but one in which the learning outcome becomes learning to use the tools, not using the tools to engage with content or apply learning.

Most of the data about the learner's lesson evaluation is taken from LMS or the platform on which it is available. However, evaluation is usually built into the authoring tools, although, overall feedback can be taken separately. The examples provided in the article are usually used to take research in-depth at the start. However, dashboards and scorecards can come in handy in visualizing these LMS-generated insights in a much more user-friendly way.

Content curation has become easier Data access has become available Quality has increased User analysis has become easier Scripting has become easier More relevant images are at hand

Well, in my role, I use a variety of tech tools to help make my training programs stick. Since micro learning is a modality that has been embraced by learners the most, my storyboard typically contains byte-sized videos. Then there's cool stuff like VR and AR for immersive learning experiences. Oh, and let's not forget about gamification – you know, badges, character-based stories, overarching themes and points to keep things fun. And I keep tabs on how everyone's responding to different visuals (things on screen). Lastly, we've got chat rooms and forums for learners to chat and help each other out. Key thing is to make learning exciting and accessible!

Identify areas for improvement - Based on the evaluation, pinpoint areas where the course can be improved. This might involve updating content, incorporating more interactive elements, adjusting the delivery method, or focusing more on areas where learners demonstrated less proficiency.

It is important for students to be able to apply what they learn to new situations. Discussion forums and peer feedback can help participants broaden their awareness from hearing different perspectives. Then choose a LMS or other tool that fits the learning activities.