Here's how you can enhance your instructional design skills for creating engaging online training modules.

Basics are always important. If you are stuck at anything, you have to go to the basics to solve the situation. Let’s say you are having a bad health, what do you do? You focus on nutrients to recover. Nutrition is basic. Along with that, you do physical health and you sleep well. Similarly, when you have a lot of content that you need to make into a training module, you need to understand basics which are cognitivism, behaviourism, and constructivism. Along with that ADDIE is important. Therefore, stuck with anything, go back to basics of that field.

"Learning style" is a term and a concept that is unfortunately frequently overlooked. Instructional and reference material for staff and customers must be designed in a way that the recipient can comprehend and digest it. One way to address this issue is to create and deliver material in multiple ways. For example, when conveying learning material, having a written guide, a video tutorial, and live demonstrations for hands-on learning opportunities, rather than just one of these three methods, will reach and be retainable by a much wider audience.

To enhance your instructional design skills for creating engaging online training modules, start by understanding your learners' needs and preferences through surveys or interviews. Apply principles of instructional design, such as clear learning objectives and structured content, to ensure the material is organized and focused. Incorporate interactive elements like quizzes, discussions, and multimedia to keep learners engaged. Use a variety of formats and technologies to cater to different learning styles and maintain interest. Regularly seek feedback from learners to continuously improve and adapt your modules. Lastly, stay updated with the latest trends and tools in e-learning to integrate innovative approaches into your designs.

Understanding the basic components of instructional design will influence and direct your career as a trainer and instructional designer. Behaviorism believes that learning happens while observing your environment. Cognitivism takes the view of humans being analytical and strategic beings that can learn by being provided information. While constructivism states that learner create understanding a knowledge bases off of previous experiences and information. Trainers will likely lean towards one or a combination of these theories, but can not let their preference over take the needs or wants of the participants. Proper needs analysis can direct trainers to shift their learning theories to fit the preferred training methods of learners.

We live in a world in which meetings and learning sessions are conducted over online platforms such as Zoom or Teams meetings. In this atmosphere, engagement is more challenging for facilitators. Quizzes do help ensure a certain degree of engagement. It can also be helpful to request "cameras on" during a meeting so you can identify multiple tasking during critical learning sessions. Keeping material directly relatable to participants positions and tasks is certainly a key. Stopping at certain points, (at the end of each concept) and asking what questions the participants have is also helpful. "What questions do you have about what we have just seen?" This verbiage assumes there are questions, and prompts participants to ask them.

Multimedia platforms have many tools available, and it is helpful to learn how they work so we can be prepared in meetings to use them. In the 14 years I have been a facilitator, one of the procedures I like to use is to schedule a meeting on my calendar for only myself. When I log in, I take the time to go through all of the options on that platform to familiarize myself with how they operate. Tools like "Break out rooms", "White boarding", and others can make the meetings more engaging, and permit the participants to get more involved in the session. Their involvement will help increase their retention level.

As a frequent user of Microsoft Teams, I’ve found it to be an excellent platform for this purpose. Here are some practical tips: Use Teams Meetings for Live Training: You can conduct live training sessions using Teams meetings. It allows you to share your screen, use a digital whiteboard, and interact with participants in real-time. Leverage Breakout Rooms: For group activities or discussions, use the breakout rooms feature. It allows you to split your Teams meeting into sub-groups to facilitate smaller discussions. Record Sessions: Teams allows you to record your sessions, which can be useful for those who couldn’t attend or for review purposes.

Feedback is very helpful for us to continue to improve our sessions. Having post session surveys is great method for collecting feedback, and in addition I will ask at the end of a session if anyone has any suggestions for improvement. It is also important to be open about any changes made based on feedback. If I change something in a session I will say, "We changed this based on feedback we received during our last session. Let me know what you think." Also, it's powerful if you give credit to the person or persons who provided the feedback that prompted the change. People like to be part of the improvement process, and giving credit where it is due, can increase participants involvement level.

Instructional design plans need evaluation plans. Evaluations provide feedback, identify additional hurdles external to the learning environmental and incorporate individual and organizational goals. Level 1 evaluations track how learners felt about the training and general participation. Level 2 evaluations review the amount of actually learning and confidence gained over the course. Level 3 evaluations are often skipped by L&D professionals because of the amount of effort required to develop and track good Level 3 tools. At this level organizations are looking for direct behavioral changes and the level of competency gained by learners. At Level 4, trainers are evaluating for long term training impacts on the organization as a whole.

ID is an ongoing process and can never lead to a finished product. Promoting the culture of seeking feedback can foster continuous improvement. It will be effective if we use different types of feedback like beta testing of the course, end of course surveys, post assessment reviews etc.

This is a great point. Having SME's present for sessions increases participant engagement. One also never knows where we end up years from now. I have been able to shape my career with the benefit of friendships I formed with SME's I met in a meeting 15 years ago at another company. Knowledge is very valuable, and we can gain a great deal of knowledge from our SME's. Asking SME's to participate in a session also helps you craft material collaboratively to drive the key points home in your material.

Here are some practical tips for effective reflection. Self-Evaluation: After each training session, take a moment to evaluate its effectiveness. Did the learners engage? Were the learning objectives met? What could have been done better? Feedback Collection: Collect feedback from the participants. Their insights can provide valuable information about the strengths and weaknesses of your training module. Peer Review: Have your instructional design projects reviewed by peers. They can provide a fresh perspective and constructive criticism. Journaling: Keep a reflective journal. Document your thoughts, ideas, successes, and challenges after each project. This can be a powerful tool for tracking your growth over time.