Inspire Blog Tag: Course Design Ideas

9 Ways to Start Thinking Like a Game Designer

What can instructional designers learn from video game design? This might seem like a silly question—what do video games have to do with learning? Why might we use video games as an inspiration in pedagogy? As instructional designers, faculty often come to us with a variety of problems to address in their course designs—a lack of student interaction, how to improve student application of a given topic, and many more. While there are many tools at our disposal, I’d like to propose an extra tool belt for our kit: what if we thought more like game designers? Video games excel at creating engaging and motivating learning environments. Hold on a minute, I hear you saying, video games don’t teach anything! … 9 Ways to Start Thinking Like a Game Designer
by · March 6, 2019

Experiential Learning in Online Instruction

What is Experiential Learning? You may have heard the terms experiential education and experiential learning. Both terms identify learning through experience as a foundational understanding. However, experiential learning is associated with individual learning. Traditionally experience-based learning in higher education has been presented as educational opportunities complimentary to classroom instruction. These experiences might include clinical experiences, cooperative education experiences, apprenticeships, fellowships, field work, volunteerism, study abroad, practicum and internships, service learning, and student teaching experiences. These types of learning experiences are offered in and across many different disciplines (Giesen, 2012). These familiar experiential education programs demonstrate the value of individual experiential learning. But, the question remains: Is experiential learning a viable approach for online instruction? Understanding the potential for experiential learning … Experiential Learning in Online Instruction
by · February 6, 2019

E-portfolios: Highly Engaging, Powerful Tools for Learning and Assessment

“A well-executed e-portfolio program is an incredible tool for higher education. They provide institutions with authentic assessments of student learning and promote the deeper learning that we want for our students…” -Candyce Reynolds, associate professor, Post-Secondary, Adult, and Continuing Education, School of Education, Portland State University, from PeerReview: Emerging Trends and Key Debates in Undergraduate Education What Is an E-portfolio? There are now more ways than ever to showcase one’s work as a student or professional. Long gone are the days of lugging around an actual folder full of plastic sleeves containing paper prints. Today, students and professionals routinely choose electronic contexts to house their best works. This digital context for storing selected pieces is referred to as an electronic portfolio … E-portfolios: Highly Engaging, Powerful Tools for Learning and Assessment
by · December 21, 2018

Exploring Podcasting For Online Courses

One of the common ideas instructors have to bolster student-content engagement in a course is to add media. Podcasts are a type of media element that can support learning in a number of ways. It is relatively easy to link to an established podcast. Planning and producing your own podcast is more involved. This post explores the idea of producing a podcast for your online course. Is it something you should consider? Prior to diving into the value and purpose of podcasts it is useful to understand what a podcast is…and what it isn’t. The term podcast is a portmanteau of “iPod” and “broadcast”. This blended word says a lot because a podcast is a digital recording that is produced … Exploring Podcasting For Online Courses
by · August 3, 2018

The Guest Expert Video Interview: Planning & Production

This article is the first of a two-part series on producing video interviews featuring guest experts for online courses. Part I focuses on planning while Part II will address the faculty role in the video interview production process. Part I: Planning With A Purpose Interviews of guest experts are valuable forms of course media because they can serve a number of instructional purposes. Traditionally classroom instructors might consider including guest experts as part of instruction to… Connect learning with an authority in the field. Communicate what the practices are in a given field. Describe the nature of work of a professional in a given field. Show important work environments or processes. Introduce a second, collaborative voice to instruction (Laist, 2015). … The Guest Expert Video Interview: Planning & Production
by · February 23, 2018