I am an instructional designer with a specialty in online learning. I believe that instructional technology has the potential to create educational experiences for learners that surpass many traditional learning environments. The research is there. We know how to do it–  Continuous authentic practice with quick feedback to move knowledge and skill from short term to long term memory. Scaffolding so they experience success. Measurable learning outcomes with frequent assessment so we can monitor progress. All in an environment where instructors and technology can efficiently do what they do well. See figure 1. And on the backend, well-structured data streams to capture both individual and aggregated learner behaviors so we can find problems and fix them.

Figure 1. Reliable and valid assessment is possible at the blue levels (1-3) using quantitative assessments, like quizzes. At the orange levels 4-6), qualitative assessment with rubrics is required. Source: Designed by me, Geof Boyle. Graphic by David Clarke.

My proposal above is possible to do with just about any LMS and a modest budget. For me, it’s fun to learn new content with the guidance of SMEs, design and configure interactions,  and see how students react. Then we analyze the data and iterate to an even better v2.

In short, solid, effective online learning environments are within reach. I want to help build them.

I explain my role in creating learning environments in The Designer Story, a video my department made to showcase the talents on offer. And I’ll mention here that creating accessible videos on YouTube is pretty quick with its autotranscription and edit function. Turn on CC to see the edited closed captioning.