As a former educator and the mom of a precocious soon-to-be five year old, I've spent a lot of time since November 8th thinking about how to talk to kids about the current political climate in the United States. How are we as grown-ups to deal?
Facilitating design thinking: What it takes
For the past several years, I've had the opportunity to facilitate design thinking sessions for educators at the annual Big Ideas Fest. The conference requires its facilitators to tap all their skill and expertise to lead groups of educators through a user-centered design process. I've learned a ton about facilitation through this work, including what it takes to get groups of all sizes to stay engaged and collaborative.
My tips on how to build better online learning experiences
In October, I had the opportunity to present at the annual conference for the Association for Talent Development's Puget Sound chapter. My presentation, "Designing Better Online Learning Experiences," focused on sharing best practices for learning design.
Got Calm? Three tech tools that make it easy to get started with mindfulness
Traditionally, mindfulness has been taught, learned and practiced through independent self-study or through working with an expert. But these days, new technology solutions are springing up to help parents, teachers and other caring adults more easily share mindfulness with children. Here are three we like.
Think like an urban planner to create successful online learning communities
In education, we understand the power of relationships in driving our work. But often, when we try to create community online through discussion forums or social media, our efforts fall flat. To avoid this, start thinking of your online community as a mega-city and yourself as an urban planner.
Support Community, Mindfulness + Facilitation at SXSWEDU
We're associated with a number of proposals for 2017, all of which are focused on bringing equity and empathy to classrooms and learning spaces. We would really appreciate your support, not just for Open Classroom Consulting, but for these important themes in general.
Avoid This Common Mistake When Getting Started with Online Learning
So you’re considering moving your face-to-face learning content online. Congratulations! Teaching online can be a great way to reach new audiences and take advantage of the opportunities created by the latest learning technology. Unless you’ve got lots of experience with online learning, you’re likely feeling a little overwhelmed and unsure where to start. Don’t worry! Much of what you know about good learning design applies to both face-to-face and online learning experiences. But there is one common mistake many newbies make when first starting out, and it’s crucial that you avoid it.
Free Toolkit: Designing Better Online Learning Experiences
MOOCs and online courses have the potential to scale and democratize learning in unprecedented ways. But, MOOC platforms are often designed in a way that perpetuates ineffective models of teaching and learning. How might we create our own solutions to the problems we face in creating meaningful online learning? Download this free toolkit makes it easy.
The Secret to Writing Better Learning Objectives
Writing learning objectives is a true art, one that many instructional designers and educators are actually terrible at. We all learn in our teacher education programs that our learning objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-framed). But why do we so often fail to write objectives that meet this simple criteria? The trick I use when writing learning objectives is as simple as it is valuable.
The Unexpected Reason Why Teaching Online Can Be So Challenging
As a consultant who helps organizations develop meaningful online learning experiences, I find that there’s a lot of resistance towards moving programs that have worked in face-to-face environments into an online-only delivery platform. I hear “you just can’t do X online” multiple times a week. While I reject that any of this is true, I do acknowledge that there is something different about teaching online. It’s a simple difference, but it’s one that has big implications for online learning designers.
What Educators Can Learn from Big Business About Community
Educators work within and thrive off of communities. Our schools and classrooms are situated within neighborhoods and towns, connected with families, community-based organizations and local governments. Much of our professional learning takes place through PLCs -- sometimes in person, and sometimes on line. But when it comes to strategically creating and nurturing learning communities, there’s a good deal to learn from business about what communities are, what they can and can’t do, and how to manage them.
5 Ways to Include Student Voice in Learning Design
Just like any other well-designed experience, great learning experiences have to start with a deep understanding of your learners. But kids today...amirite? In all seriousness, it can be hard to understand the motivations and needs of youth you’re trying to reach. Luckily, there are some easy-to-implement tactics you can use to start incorporating student voice into your learning design right away.
The Real Reasons EdTech Hasn’t Closed the Achievement Gap
Last week, EdSurge published an article outlining some of the reasons why the EdTech boom hasn't impacted underserved students. The well-researched piece cites some compelling reasons, but it doesn’t paint the full picture. Because let's face it; EdTech doesn't work for underserved kids because it's not designed or even meant for them.
Six Key Questions for Learning Designers
So you want to be more intentional about the experiences you're creating for your learners. That's great! But where do you start? There are six simple questions to ask yourself as you're getting started.
Why Your Classroom is Like Your Favorite Restaurant (or Why it Should Be)
Ever wondered why your students will spend hours immersed in the virtual world of a video game, but have zero attention span when it comes to your lessons? Or why the teachers in your school will show up for happy hour at the local bar but wouldn’t be caught dead in your after-school PD workshops? The answer has at least something to do with Experience Design, and as a learning designer there’s a lot you can borrow from the field to get and keep your learners engaged.
Instructional Design is dead. Long live Learning Design.
Hi, my name is Melissa Jones and I am no longer an Instructional Designer. Don’t get me wrong; I do the same work that I’ve always done. I just don’t use the words “Instructional Design” to describe that work anymore. And it’s about time more of us educators did the same.