eLearning & Instructional Design for Beginners

In the latest podcast episode, we continue the conversation with Kim Tuohy, the visionary founder of Belvista Studios, an innovative instructional design and eLearning studio. Kim and her team use a human-centered approach to aid organizations in developing their employees for the future. During the podcast, Kim shared insights about her childhood dreams of owning a business and emphasized the importance of recognizing early signs of one's true calling.

She encourages those considering a career change or embarking on their own journey to explore their interests and passions from childhood. Kim's interest in instructional design and eLearning ignited her business venture as it aligns perfectly with her skills and interests. Running a successful instructional design business requires consistency and a proactive mindset. She stresses the importance of spending time each day on business-building activities from promoting one's services on platforms like LinkedIn to nurturing relationships with previous clients or creating content like blog posts or YouTube videos.

Building strong relationships within the industry is significant because instructional design often relies on word-of-mouth referrals and personal connections. Kim places great importance on storyboarding as part of instructional design as it allows designers to pause, plan and ensure solutions solve the right problems, align with learner needs and goals and simplify complex information. Storyboarding helps designers stay accountable and remain focused on the important elements that drive effective learning experiences.

For Kim, the most satisfying aspect of a career in instructional design and eLearning is the alignment of her passion for solving problems and fostering creativity with her daily work. She advises those interested in entering this field to design their ultimate life, envision how they want to live and work and plan accordingly.

Belvista Studios is an instructional design and eLearning studio founded by Kim Tuohy. With a human-centered approach, they help organizations develop their people and provide end-to-end instructional design solutions. Kim's passion for helping people and her love for creativity led her to discover her calling in instructional design and eLearning.

Despite lacking academic qualifications in the field, Kim encourages aspiring instructional designers to pursue their passion and gain experience through job opportunities. Belvista Studios has experienced significant growth and success in the past five years, thanks to a dedicated team that complements each other's strengths and shares the same values. They actively contribute to the industry's development by sharing knowledge and insights on platforms like YouTube.

Belvista Studios aims to inspire learning through client services and add value to the instructional design industry as a whole. Whether you're an aspiring instructional designer or an organization in need of eLearning solutions, Belvista Studios offers high-quality services and a commitment to excellence. Check out their YouTube channel and Creator Hub for valuable content that will enhance your learning journey.

Marina Arshavskiy, an award-winning instructional design and elearning expert, shares valuable insights for beginners in the field. She emphasizes the importance of clear copywriting in creating engaging elearning experiences and highlights the benefits of adopting an agile approach for course development, which involves continuous feedback and iterative changes.

Marina also addresses the unique challenges of remote employee training and provides tips for success. She recommends on-demand, bite-sized training that focuses on goals and provides a centralized platform for all training materials. Marina emphasizes the significance of providing comprehensive feedback to learners to enhance their understanding and progress.

In addition, Marina advises beginners on building a strong instructional design portfolio. She suggests organizing experiences and showcasing a variety of samples that demonstrate writing, design, and development skills. Marina also encourages continuous learning and practice to become a proficient instructional designer.

Overall, Marina's expertise and dedication to the field of instructional design make her a valuable resource for both beginners and experienced professionals seeking to improve their skills and create impactful elearning experiences.

In the continuation of last week's podcast episode, Dr. Ray Pastore discusses various aspects of instructional design and online learning. He acknowledges the challenges faced by teachers in terms of financial stability and advises against pursuing a teaching career solely for monetary reasons. However, he hopes for positive changes in the future, advocating for better pay for teachers. Dr. Pastore emphasizes the importance of tailoring instructional design approaches to the specific project rather than adhering to a single model.

He mentions the potential impact of AI in the field but believes that AI will likely assist instructional designers rather than replace them. Looking ahead, he predicts continued growth in the instructional design field, driven by the rise of online learning and the increasing demand for instructional designers in various industries. He encourages beginners to invest in formal education or training to gain the necessary skills and knowledge.

Dr. Pastore emphasizes the need for continuous learning in this dynamic field and advises individuals to follow their passions and focus on areas that interest them the most. He concludes by highlighting the importance of understanding the history of the field and learning from experienced professionals to achieve success as an instructional designer.

Dr. Ray Pastore, a professor and program coordinator at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, discusses his journey into instructional technology and online learning. He highlights the growth of the e-learning field and the public's limited understanding of instructional designers.

The conversation explores the importance of gamification, clarifying its distinction from game-based learning. Dr. Ray emphasizes the benefits and pitfalls of gamification when properly implemented. Identifying training needs within organizations is also discussed, emphasizing the value of thorough front-end analyses.

The gratifying aspects of working in instructional design, including good salaries, job variation, continuous learning, and access to technology, are highlighted. Opportunities in academic and corporate sectors are compared, considering factors like salary, work pace, and job security.

The suitability of teachers as instructional designers is acknowledged. Dr. Ray reflects on the joy of finding solutions to organizational problems and the continuous learning aspect of the field.

In this episode, we hear about Dr. Ray's inspiring instructional design journey - the highs, lows, and everything in between.

Gamification offers benefits such as increased learner engagement, behavior change, and socialization. Learners feel a sense of accomplishment and progress through game elements like badges and levels. Gamification encourages active participation, competition, and learning from peers. It also promotes positive behavior change, as seen in Volkswagen's speed camera lottery study. Designers must align gamification with learning objectives, prioritize meaningful choices for learners, and avoid detracting from course content.

Various tools can be used in e-learning to make it more game-like: achievements, avatars, badges, boss fights, collections, combat, unlocking content, gifting, leaderboards, levels, points, quests, social graph, teams, and virtual goods.

The core elements of gamification are points, badges, and leaderboards. Points measure progress, provide feedback, and offer data. Badges represent achievements, importance, and can function as credentials. Leaderboards foster competition but should be used carefully.

Designing a gamified e-learning course involves identifying objectives, target behaviors, understanding players, developing activity loops, prioritizing fun, and using the right tools.

Gamification enhances engagement, motivation, and effectiveness in e-learning courses when thoughtfully implemented.

Gamification can be used in online courses to enhance engagement and provide learners with the ability to make choices.

Gamification can be a powerful technique for changing behavior habits, and it encourages people to keep returning to the course and participate actively.

It encourages competition, community building, and socialization, which is why it is useful in online courses where engagement is crucial.

Course creators need to understand game design techniques and how to think like a game designer. Game Design is a state of mind, and it is a skill that can be cultivated.

In this episode we'll talk about how implement gamification effectively by understanding how to create goals, rules, and real-world game activities into your online courses.

In continuation of our last week episode with an interview with Read Coburn, this week he shared his journey from being a teacher to an instructional designer. He stated that his master's degree in instructional design was the most important thing that helped him transition to the new career path. The program he chose was practical and hands-on, which helped him develop his instructional design portfolio. He emphasized the importance of developing a portfolio with an instructional design process to back it up, with all the theory, steps, and different instructional design theories.

He completed his portfolio throughout the program, which was project-based, and everything was built around creating a portfolio. He recommends finding projects to work on, even if it's for free, to apply the instructional design process to solving a problem or performance gap, recording everything and keeping all notes, plans, storyboards, deliverables, and anything related to evaluating or implementing the solution. He added that working on these types of projects will make one feel more comfortable with the design process and have something impressive to show potential employers, which is the key to getting any instructional design job.

Read Coburn is an instructional designer who shares his journey in this interview, highlighting his experiences teaching English as a second language (ESL) in China. After completing his degree in English, He moved to China where he worked as an academic director and began designing course materials, sparking his interest in instructional design. He pursued a master's degree in instructional systems and learning technology after returning to the United States. Currently, He works as an instructional designer at Hilton Grand Vacations where he creates learning materials for various business units.

Read's experiences teaching ESL in China have taught him the importance of cultural understanding and adapting teaching methods accordingly to create a more inclusive and effective learning environment. He highlights the benefits of instructional design, including creating engaging and effective learning materials that cater to learners' needs and preferences. He believes that while technology can be a powerful tool in education, personal interaction and engagement should not be overlooked. His passion for creating engaging and effective learning materials, his appreciation for a supportive team and engaging work, make him a valuable member of the instructional design community.

In continuation of last week's podcast episode about AI in education and professional development, Luke further discusses the importance of incorporating more learning strategies. He emphasizes the need to focus on research and theories to create a successful learning experience for adults. He also highlights the importance of knowing how adults learn and applying those theories to instructional design.

The conversation then shifts to the path of becoming an instructional designer, and Luke emphasizes that there is no right or wrong way to do it. He encourages individuals to follow their passions and not give up, even when facing challenges. He also mentions the importance of being able to sell their ideas and accomplishments to potential employers.

Moreover, Luke's website, www.drlukehoston.com, contains a wealth of free resources, including blogs, videos, and podcasts related to instructional design. He also discusses the benefits of podcasts as a medium to escape reality and further their learning in instructional design.

Overall, the conversation highlights the importance of incorporating various learning strategies and theories, knowing how adults learn, and following one's passion to become a successful instructional designer.