Dr. Chris Show

After talking about storyboards the question came up “What is a wireframe” so in this video I answer that question and ask another, can we put together a quick and dirty wireframe prototype of a mobile customer service training module in ten minutes or less? The answer is no, but in this example of how easy it is to put something together, I was able to toss something that illustrates the point together in about 15 minutes.

Today there is an important question. Do you storyboard? And with that what’s your favorite type of storyboarding? Do you have a favorite tool or method? How much detail do you put in your storyboards? If none of these questions make sense watch the video. #instruction #technology #onlinecourses #instructionaldesign

A question that instructional designers need to ask early in every project is: Are you building an activity or are you building a presentation?

And this is important for a number of reasons but the biggest one is that we shouldn’t try to fool ourselves. If we are building a presentation then we should build a great and engaging presentation. And if we are building an activity then we need to make sure our students are actively engaging with the materials.

And finally if you’re building a presentation, don’t feel bad about it, just be sure that you want to be doing a presentation and the decision is intentional.

When it comes to copyright it’s important to be as honest as “Honest Abe Lincoln”.

This is especially important with your public portfolio. While it may be fun to include images from popular culture as “decorations” in a course it can be deadly to your career.

You’ll want to keep your projects copyright-clean.

There are several ways to do this. You can create the images yourself, you can commission it to be made for you, or you can hunt for a royalty-free image or something that has been released with an appropriate creative commons license.

Below are two collections of sites that I personally use when I’m looking for free audio or images.

When you’re looking for images or media of any kind to use in a project it’s important to remember to check the authenticity of the sites and the information you are using.

http://www.christopherbergeron.com/50-copyright-friendly-image-sites-teachers-students/

http://www.christopherbergeron.com/find-free-audio-effects-music-classroom-use/

I was walking out the door today while the video I recorded was uploading but I decided to delete that one and make a new video with some practical advice. Today I wanted to tackle one of those classic “do as I say not as I do” topics. The importance of an instructional design portfolio. Most of the job postings I’ve seen in the past few years are almost entirely focused on the portfolio of work. So what should you include in your instructional design portfolio? The answer is a bit of everything with a spotlight on the type of specific work you want to be doing. So let’s all make a pact together. And make this be the summer that all of our portfolios become something we are excited to show off.

Hi everyone, today I wanted to chat about a tiny little part of project management and instructional design. But it’s a tiny detail that when handled correctly can save you from headaches and confusion. And that is the concept of a deliverable. In this quick video, I share my super simple tip on what makes a good deliverable (hit, take the word at its literal meaning).

Today I wanted to take a break from sharing Instructional Design Theory and share a tool that I use often in my own instructional design work. Scrivener.

Formative evaluation can fit in a lot of different places and in a lot of different ways. In this short video, I give some examples of formative evaluation techniques that can be used to enhance instruction at the design phase, in face to face instruction, and in eLearning.

Assessment typically falls into one of two broad categories. Formative Assessment which hopefully in”forms” your teaching and allows for minor course corrections. And Summative Assessment which sort of “sums up” how you did with your instructional design and instruction. Both are important but I’ve found that formative assessment is often neglected. In this video, I share my thoughts on formative assessment and how it can be used to save time and money.

There is more to a learner analysis than just determining “entry level skills” evaluating “prior knowledge” and the other aspects of a formal analysis. Those are all important but there is are important intangible insights that you can gain when you are able to break through the barriers and actually sit down with your potential students and have an actual conversation. Far too many instructional designers (especially those who are new) are almost afraid to go sit down with potential learners and have that informal and frank conversation. It can be a game changer.