Instructional Design Essentials

Incorporate Real-World Applications

Leverage Assessments Effectively

Gamify Elements

Focus on Usability

Incorporate Interactivity

Use a Mix of Media

Align Activites to Objectives

Understand your Audience

Click each shape to learn about the key elements involved in making a course engaging and impactful for all learners.

Instructional Design Essentials

Learning doesn't have to be dull. Badges, rewards, leaderboards, or even creative stories can take a course to the next level. Gamifying elements of your course can also foster friendly competition, boost motivation, and engage learners to learn through storytelling or adventure.

Gamify Elements

Not all media is created equal and some media types work better for certain topics. Use videos for storytelling and tutorials, keeping them short and captioned. Text typically works best for detailed explanations in clear, digestible formats. Enhance learning further with high-quality audio for storytelling and interactive graphics like charts or diagrams to simplify complex ideas.

Use a Mix of Media

Adding interactivity can create opportunities for the learner to gauge their progress. Quizzes are great for reinforcing learning and evaluating comprehension. Simulations can also be used to allow learners to practice real-world scenarios in a safe environment. Discussion boards offer a great opportunity to facilitate peer-to-peer learning.

Incorporate Interactivity

Understanding your audience is crucial for the success of any course. By designing a course that caters to the diverse backgrounds, skills, and learning styles of your audience, you significantly enhance engagement and effectiveness. Remember, without a deep understanding of your audience, the chances of your course succeeding diminish greatly.

Understand Your Audience

When a learner takes any course, they will consider WIIFM: what's in it for me? Including opportunities to practice newly learned skills in a safe environment will go a long way to building learner confidence. Real-world applications can be done with case studies, role-playing activities, or even projects.

Incorporate Real-World Applications

All courses should be accessible on-demand and compatible with various devices, such as computers, tablets, and cell phones. Course navigation should be simple and streamlined, making the user interface intuitive, and clear, step-by-step instructions should be provided for each activity.

Focus on Usability

Course activities need to align to learning objectives so students can focus on what really matters and build the skills they need to be successful. When activities align to objectives, it’s easier to stay on track and actually achieve the goals of the course.

Align Activities to Objectives

Leverage Assessments Effectively

Assessments are not only used for interactivity. Pre-assessments can gauge existing knowledge to track learner growth. Knowledge checks can be a pulse check for retention and, in some cases, allow for mastery paths. Summative assessments can provide actionable feedback and next steps to move the learner towards using their newly learned skills in their role.