Big News! Today, InSync Training hosts our first-ever Instructional Designer Day celebration. Moving forward, we will dedicate the third Wednesday of March to highlighting the important contributions of those who create training programs of all sizes and types. Each year, this informal holiday will include kudos and tips shared on social media using #InstructionalDesignerDay, complimentary content and events, and more. We encourage you to join the virtual party by using the social media hashtag to give shoutouts to colleagues, commenting on this blog, and extending the festivities to your organization!
Have you ever attended a learning program that helped you build new skills? Have components of a blend that captured your attention and engaged your brain? Have you walked out of a classroom and thought, “Wow! I learned something valuable today!”? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you need to thank an instructional designer!
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Topics:
Design,
Instructional Design
Today’s workforce is more global, mobile, and social than ever before. This presents unique challenges to training professionals, most notably: how do we best support these learners?
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Topics:
Virtual Classroom - Instructional Design,
Design,
Modern Learning,
Learner Engagement
Games have been a hot topic in education and industry since the early 2000s, with more organizations seeking to apply games as a way to motivate and engage clients, trainees, and professionals seeking new learning opportunities. But, even though the design process might seem all “fun and games” on the surface, it’s more nuanced than it looks.
When it comes to effective instructional game design, much relies on how we define games and instructional roles they can fill. It might help to think of gamification as applying particular game elements or mechanics (e.g., badges, points, leaderboards) to a learning environment as a form of behavioral reinforcement (something learning scientists call “operant conditioning”).
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Topics:
Design,
Gamification & Game-Based Learning
Establishing yourself as an effective instructional designer or facilitator requires that you are knowledgeable, effective, and dynamic in the virtual and blended classroom. Unfortunately, while navigating new and emerging technologies, focusing on learning needs can sometimes fall to the wayside. Even understanding what participants need in order to successfully complete an online learning initiative can prove to be challenging. And, as we all know, if you can't engage your learners, your learning initiative will likely fail.
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Topics:
Virtual Classroom - Instructional Design,
Design,
Virtually There,
Podcasts and Videos,
Learner Engagement,
Enabling Virtual Learners by Design Series
On June 22, 2015, Candice Kramer shared her insights into "Learning Across the Performance Spectrum," with the InSync BYTE series attendees. (Click here to view the full recording of the session.) During this session, Candice shared some key insights that deserve reiteration.
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Topics:
Design,
InSync BYTE Recording
Virtual instructional designers manage the development of learning solutions for live, virtual classroom-based instruction. Without the designer there would be no content to deliver. They connect client needs to solutions through analysis and execution of an effective design process. They make the material come alive by adding context to the content through teachable stories and engaging activities.
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Topics:
Virtual Classroom - Instructional Design,
Virtual Classroom,
Design
To ensure success, end-to-end project management is critical.
Congratulations! You’ve created an instructional design plan that 
includes validated learning goals and objectives and an assessment plan, and maps the learning outcomes to the most appropriate delivery methodologies. The next step is to get this plan off of the virtual drawing board and into development.
Developing virtual and blended learning programs is not a “plug-and-play” scenario. Most organizations are relatively new to blended learning, and chances are no one individual has the expertise or time to develop or launch a blended curriculum. To ensure success, end-to-end project management is critical.
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Topics:
Blended Learning,
Design
This is the fourth post in a series of six which examines how to enable virtual learners. The first post introduces the series.
In a previous post, I discussed that blended learning is not a passing fad, and implementing blended learning is key to enabling virtual learners.
We have many options available to us when creating blended training programs. We can build self-paced programs using learning portals, websites, and e-learning. We can develop moderated discussions using social media, discussion boards and email. Finally, we can create real time events using traditional classrooms, videoconferencing, and virtual classrooms. The trick is learning what technologies to use and how to facilitate the blend.
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Topics:
Blended Learning,
Design,
Virtual Learners,
Enabling Virtual Learners by Design Series
This is the third post in a series of six which examines how to enable virtual learners. The first post introduces the series.
A key to enabling virtual learners is to design opportunities for learners to interact and collaborate. But how do you make virtual learning a collaborative experience?
The answer sounds simple: find ways to bring participants together for social interaction or to solve a problem. Unfortunately, building collaborative exercises remains a major stumbling block for instructional designers when creating virtual or blended programs. Let's look at some techniques you can use to ensure that your virtual programs, both self-directed and live online, hit the mark.
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Topics:
Design,
Virtual Learners,
Virtual Collaboration,
Enabling Virtual Learners by Design Series
At InSync Training, we often provide informational sessions to workgroups in the midst of adopting a virtual training or blended learning strategy. After the session, we summarize the questions sent in via chat and provide more in-depth answers in a follow-up email to the client.
I thought the answers to the most commonly asked questions might be of interest to my readers so here they are!
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Topics:
Blended Learning,
Cultural intelligence,
Virtual Classroom,
Design,
Facilitation,
Webinars,
Learner Engagement
