10 Super Powers of the World’s Greatest Instructional Designer

Any professional eLearning designer would agree that users are always at the heart of what they do. The bulk of our articles last year focused on users. But what about designers themselves? That’s why we’re going to start the year with this quick list of super powers every excellent instructional designer has: 1. Instructional designers share a passion for learning. They constantly seek new topics to learn and teach, no matter which area or industry. 2. Non-professionals might have an idea of how people learn. In sum, they design for how people learn. 3. The human brain, take note, is primarily visual. 4. The ability to write well, they say, reflects the ability to think well. That’s why people should seriously consider their writing abilities before they begin a career as an instructional designer. 5. Most of the time, super-powerful instructional designers are tasked to solve learning issues. 6. Exceptional IDs have an eye for detail. 7. 8. 9. 10.

M-learning The term m-learning ("mobile learning"), has different meanings for different communities, covering a range of use scenarios including e-learning, educational technology and distance education, that focuses on learning with mobile devices. Mobile learning is defined as "learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices” [1] (Crompton, 2013 p. 4) In other words, with the use of mobile devices, learners can learn anywhere and at any time.[2] M-learning technologies include handheld computers, MP3 players, notebooks, mobile phones and tablets. M-learning focuses on the mobility of the learner, interacting with portable technologies, and learning that reflects a focus on how society and its institutions can accommodate and support an increasingly mobile population. M-learning is convenient in that it is accessible from virtually anywhere. M-learning, like other forms of e-learning, is also collaborative. History[edit] 1990s[edit]

Common Core and the Underpants Gnomes It’s amazing how some very smart people can commit billions of dollars and untold human effort to something like Common Core without having thought the thing through. How exactly did they think this was going to work? Didn’t they have meetings? Didn’t someone have to write a paper articulating the theory of change? Didn’t any of them ever take political science classes or read a book on interest group behavior? As I have repeatedly said would eventually happen, the teacher unions are turning against Common Core in New York and threatening to do the same in other states if high stakes tests aligned to those standards are put in place. Here is what I expected would happen and I believe is coming true: As I have written and said on numerous occasions, Common Core is doomed regardless of what I or the folks at Fordham say or do. How did the political strategists at Gates and their DC advocates think this doom would be avoided? —Jay P.