You're considering advancing your career in Digital Learning. What paths should you explore?

I see instructional design as taking a complex subject and making it consumable by delivering it in bite sized chunks. While an ID may not be an SME, the ID has a way to deliver information so that the neophyte can understand. The content is structured so that it is engaging and it builds upon itself. I appreciate humor and the production of computer based training. However, I still follow the same format. Give the learner an objective, tell them about the objective, test them on the objective, and summarize what they learned about the objective.

Instructional Design is the core of projects. It shapes the learner experience. It's the driving force for all of the other departments. It's important to get this part right, otherwise everything else will not come together smoothly.

Instructional design is the core of learning experiences; if the design is lacking the experience will also be lacking. You must always begin with the learner in mind, which means you have to start with the data. What story is the data telling you about what the learner needs? This may be contrary to what everyone involved in the process wants, including you as the designer, but the data doesn't lie. As you build a career as an Instructional Designer always remember this: Build from the needs and the experience will be spot-on.

Yes! Focus on developing skills in curriculum design, multimedia production, and learner analysis. Embrace new technologies and methodologies to craft tailored, impactful educational content that enhances learner outcomes.

Unlocking the Future: The Learning Analytics Frontier. Imagine you're a detective, but instead of solving crimes, you're decoding the mysteries of how people learn. In this cutting-edge field, you're not just observing education, you're dissecting it. Armed with data as your magnifying glass, you'll uncover patterns in learner behavior that others miss. You'll predict student success, pinpoint where courses falter, and revolutionize how we approach digital education. It's a role that marries the precision of data science with the impact of education. You'll be the bridge between raw numbers and real-world learning breakthroughs.

There are many areas that a person can pursue. 1. Instructional design - Assembling the course and ensuring it does what it is supposed to do for the user. 2. E-ELearning Development - this is the technical side of it where they create the interactions, understand Scorm, XAPI etc. 3. Learning Experience Designers - tend to be more experienced and knowledgeable, a more holistic knowledge, working with the ID's and Developers Others: 4. Education Specialists 5. Dedicated Online teaching specialists 6. Specialised Corporate training 7. LMS Administration 8. Digital content creators - creating videos, animations etc 9. Data Analysts - analysing the reports etc 10. Consultants

Sharpen your skills in authoring tools, multimedia integration, and user interface design. Stay updated on emerging trends to build engaging, scalable courses that meet diverse learner needs and drive educational success.

Absolutely! Develop expertise in technology adoption, vendor management, and strategic planning. Focus on aligning tech solutions with educational goals, ensuring effective use of tools, and driving innovation to enhance the learning experience.

Certainly! Focus on creating interactive lessons, fostering student engagement, and adapting teaching methods to various online platforms. Embrace continuous learning to refine your techniques and stay current with educational technology trends.

In 2009, I taught my 1st virtual class & I cried after it. I had taught adults for almost a decade by then. I cried b/c I wanted to see the faces nodding, the physical hands raising, and hear people laughing at my jokes. The only platform back then was Adobe connect and Internet bandwidth couldn’t handle sharing your screen & camera concurrently. In 2013, I became a certified virtual learning expert w/ InSync. There are extremely important vILT best practices. The tip for today is - don’t talk about the tech you’re doing, i.e. “let me close this window, and open up another screen.” Silence is golden in virtual teaching because folks need time to digest what you’ve said/taught because you’re not standing right in front of them.

Like the old adage goes, if you don’t measure it, it didn’t occur. In my consultation with clients, large organizations struggle with measuring learning because their size and the disconnection of their learning ecosystem. But, if you keep it simple, anyone can do it . The classic is Kirkpatricks 4 levels: 1. Anyone can measure the reaction of the learners via anonymous survey. 2. Measure the skill before the learning and then after it to determine skill increase as a direct result of learning. 3. Enlist folks to observe the learners on the job and give them a rubric to make it measurable to occur @different intervals, post training. 4. ROI is the most costly, so do it cheap by asking, “was this worth your time away from your daily job?”

Focus on mastering data collection, analysis techniques, and interpreting metrics to drive decisions. Use insights to enhance course design, personalize learning experiences, and measure the effectiveness of educational interventions.

It's good to see this topic emerging. We have a tendency to throw everything we have at building a learning experience and either forget the analytics completely or tag them on as an afterthought. There needs to be as much, maybe even more, effort given to understanding what the data is saying as there is to creating beautiful learning experiences. What do you learners truly need? What are their responses telling you they lacked in their training? Look beyond Level 1 evaluations and down the road to how the concepts presented in training are being applied. Look for the long-term behavior changes. There are data points to inform the design and future plans for training all over the place. Remember to listen to what they're saying.

The digital learning field offers a wide range of opportunities, from hands-on content creation to strategic roles in educational technology implementation. As you consider advancing your career, it’s essential to identify which aspects of digital learning resonate most with your skills and interests, allowing you to chart a path that is both fulfilling and aligned with industry needs. Instructional design is now an antiquated term as it covers about 5% of that is done today. it was basically "designing the instruction" based on provided content, to make it flow and do what was instructed. It is more complex today.