Reflecting on the Learning Design Process

The Instructional Design Project 

Our instructional design team was asked to create instructional materials for a faculty development course focused on creating, editing, and embedding an introductory video into an online course. The goal of the project was to increase instructor presence in online courses at the University of Skaro. The instructional materials we created were developed using Google Sites, a free web development platform that allowed our team to collaborate in real-time. We included a module overview that explained the purpose of the training for faculty and a set-up page to help faculty get their materials in order before starting the training. The bulk of the online training included three pages of instructional text, videos, infographics, and knowledge checks on the topics of editing their video, exporting it, and embedding it into Canvas. The final page in our instructional module focused on assessment and included peer review instructions, guidelines, and a rubric for faculty participants to learn from each other’s experiences. 

Triumphs and Challenges 

Throughout this process, the aspects that resonated most with me were writing the instructional objectives, creating our detailed design document, and designing the online module. Our team effectively drafted one terminal objectives and three instructional objectives for the online module and refined them using artificial intelligence. We made sure to align our objectives with our task analysis, learning activities, and assessments. After creating our instructional objectives, our detailed design document brought our ideas together and helped us begin to conceptualize what our training would look like. Designing the online module was the most enjoyable experience because we were able to be creative and bring our work to life. On the flip side, there were some challenging aspects to this project, particularly the task analysis and establishing team dynamics. The task analysis challenged us to dissect the instructional design need and organize it so that it could be utilized effectively in the next stages of our project. With feedback from subject matter experts in a form of expert review (Calhoun et al., 2021), we revised and improved the task analysis. While engaged in the task analysis and expert evaluation, establishing team dynamics proved to be a learning curve. Juggling work schedules, family responsibilities, holidays, and communication preferences was a barrier at first. Our team communicated well and established a regular meeting time to make progress on each aspect of the project. I believe we all emerged from these challenges and successes with more instructional design experience and with skills that we will be able to leverage in our future courses and careers. 

Alignment with Design Case 

This project helped me realize that when evaluating a learning experience, it is essential to determine its alignment between the instructional need and the instructional materials (Calhoun et al., 2021). The instructional need was that instructor presence in online courses at the University of Skaro needed to be improved. Our online training, developed at the request of Dr. Mott, addressed just that issue. We developed instructional materials aimed at guiding faculty to edit, export, and embed their newly developed introductory videos into their online Canvas courses. The learning experience we created also included formative assessments such as knowledge checks and peer review, so that learners could monitor their progress throughout the training. 

Another aspect of evaluation that has become increasingly important to me is learner experience and usability (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Our team successfully designed a visually appealing and easy to navigate online training on Google Sites. Our instructions are clear and easily followed by faculty, and our content is engaging. We utilized principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) when creating our training content to provide faculty participants with multiple means of engagement with content (e.g., text, videos, infographics) and expression of learning (e.g., knowledge checks, peer review). In hindsight, we could have improved upon our accessibility of videos and infographics by adding subtitles and ensuring PDF files were screen-reader ready. Based on feedback from our connoisseur-based formative evaluation (Calhoun et al., 2021), we can hypothetically say that our training would lead to our desired learning outcomes. 

Improvement Opportunities and Next Steps 

As with all learning design projects, iterative improvements are necessary. If I had more time, I would love to explore interactive elements for the training. Knowledge checks on Google Forms served our formative assessment purpose, but developing real-world scenarios for faculty to engage with or linking out to an external online activity could have been more interesting and active for learners. I would also want to collect feedback from learners at the end of the training to determine their perceptions and constructive critiques. Since this would be the first iteration of the online module, it would be essential to gather insights from faculty participants for the next installment. 

This learning design project taught me that I have many of the tools that learning designers need to be successful in the LDT field. I have in-depth knowledge of learning theory and experience writing terminal and instructional objectives that I can leverage moving forward. I also have web design experience and expertise in content creation that will come in handy when I design online modules and infographics. On top of my existing skills, this project helped me learn more about the learning design process and the steps within it such as task analysis, creating a detailed design document, and drafting instructional materials. I am now more confident in the ADDIE process and excited to move forward with this mindset as I engage in future courses and apply to LDT positions. 

References 

Calhoun, C., Sahay, S., & Wilson, M. (2021). Instructional design evaluation. Design for learning: Principles, processes, and praxis. https://edtechbooks.org/id/instructional_design_evaluation 

Kirkpatrick, J. D., & Kirkpatrick, W. K. (2016). Kirkpatrick's four levels of training evaluation: Association for Talent Development.

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