When I first started dabbling in the world of Instructional Design (ID) I came across two great blogs that helped me figure out what all of this eLearning business was about. The only past experiences I had had with online learning consisted of the health requirement for the college I had attended (I wrote papers about different health issues and exercises and almost lost my faith in the education system along the way) and the riveting OSHA courses I had taken at my previous employer. These weren’t the best examples of what is possible in the ID world and to say I was excited would be a flat out lie but, by golly, I was going to try my best.
The first great blog I discovered was The Rapid eLearning Blog which is hosted by Tom Kuhlmann who runs the community for Articulate. The blog covers everything from designing the right course to audio and visual tips. Tom also recommends different resources for ID’s to check out including books, webinars, and conferences. I’ve used this blog many times for layout inspiration. Don’t let the affiliation to Articulate scare you if you don’t use their products because this blog is not Articulate exclusive. It is written for anyone who is trying to create great eLearning lessons.
The second blog I started using as a resource was the Allen Interactions eLearning Leadership Blog. While I mainly use the Rapid eLearning Blog for design and graphic creation tips I use the Allen Interactions blog for planning process tips and resources. This blog, written by Allen Interactions professionals, gives its reader things to think about when creating eLearning lessons and some of the theories behind online learning. Because the blog is written by different Allen Interactions professionals it not only gives the reader a unique viewpoint of other ID’s but also of their media artists, strategic relationship managers, and the quality assurance specialist. What a great resource for those professionals who work for companies where they are all those positions in one (like me) or for professionals who own their own business and work from a home office. 
My third go to is a more recent discovery. I was on facebook and a lovely young woman I have not seen in some time posted a link to her blog about eLearning. Her name is Allison Nederveld and you really need to check her out. There are many reasons I have enjoyed this blog and have found it useful; the main reason is her process of taking the reader through her eLearning designs and explaining how and why she created it a specific way. Reading about her thought process for creating different projects has helped me think about my own process for creating courses. The other great thing about this blog is that she highlights different tech applications and programs and explains what they do and how you could use them. She also does a great job of mixing in a little learning theory here and there to add some spice to our food for thought. 
Last but not least, I also use Lynda.com for great tutorial video’s about everything from time management to creating great audio. Lynda video’s are done by professionals in all different fields with thousands of videos that you can choose from. The advantage being a virtual classroom that you can access anywhere and on your own time. The only catch is that you pay a membership fee to have access to all the videos but it is well worth the $40.00 a month and is cheaper than going to a conference or two day training on the same topic. If you have the means to do so I highly recommend it.
I am very early on in my journey to becoming a good instructional designer (like haven’t even left the station yet) but all four of these resources have helped me break out of the unknown to see the computer screen light of what great instructional design can be.
No comments:
Post a Comment