-
The Value of Teacher Guides in K-12 Classrooms: Enhancing Learning with Brightspace
When it comes to setting up a smooth-running, engaging classroom—whether in person, online, or somewhere in between—one unsung hero deserves more credit: the teacher guide. These behind-the-scenes powerhouses help educators feel confident, prepared, and supported as they deliver meaningful learning experiences. Especially…
-
AI Image Generation for Instructional Designers: A Beginner’s Guide
Did you ever try to generate an image with AI, but didn’t know where to start? AI image generation tools offer creative freedom like never before. We see hyper-realistic AI-generated images on websites, in videos, or on social media and often wonder: How do people make something so detailed without being graphic designers?…
-
Finding Structure After the Dog Days of Summer
For many of us in the world of education, summer brings about some much-needed rest and relaxation. When we consider our K-12 learners, however, summer break can be enriching in some respects but lacking in others. Inequal access to activities and learning opportunities means that the gap in skills and competencies can…
-
“Please and Thank You, Computer”: What Star Trek Taught Me About AI and Intentional Design
When I was a child, I watched a brief exchange from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that has stuck with me. In “Q Who?”, a junior officer named Sonya Gomez approaches the replicator and says, “Hot chocolate, please.” Her superior, Geordi La Forge, teases her: “We don’t ordinarily say please to food dispensers…
-
What We Don’t See: Designing for Learners in Real Life
There was a time when a traumatic event shook my family’s foundation. Unexpectedly, I had to work two jobs to support myself and my two young children. Homework time, in theory, should’ve been a chance for me to help them learn, but in reality, it just wasn’t possible. They were too young to work independently, and I was…
-
Learning at Home, Learning at Work: How Parenthood Shaped Me as an Educator
As a parent in the education field, I thought I knew learning, but trying to teach my baby to eat with a spoon taught me that I didn't know as much about teaching and learning as I thought. Parenting brought a new awareness of what it feels like to learn: the frustration, the joy, the non-linear messiness. I like to think…
-
Rewriting the Lesson Plan: Making the Leap from SME to Instructional Design
I started out as a classroom teacher back in the mid-2000s, long before online education became the norm. My lessons lived on whiteboards, in binders, and on printed handouts carefully photocopied each morning. I loved seeing the spark in students' eyes when a concept clicked. But as digital learning tools grew more…
-
Giving Voice to AI: Lessons from Writing Scripts for Avatars
When I began adapting content from online learning materials into scripts for AI avatars, I expected the process to feel familiar, like writing narration for a video or voiceover. I quickly realized that scripting for synthesized speech is a different kind of challenge. What looks good on paper can sound robotic out loud,…
-
Accessibility Quick Tip—WEBVTT for Captioning Audio and Video Content
Audio and Video with Audio instructional assets are incredibly popular and valuable ways to present content in your courses. I don’t think I need to say much more than that—audio and video content exists in the courses you design and build. However, audio and video content are not inherently accessible. In seeking to meet…
-
Welcome to the Brightspace Community: Your Learning Adventure Begins!
Now Streaming! Step into a world of learning and connection with the Brightspace Community, where every educator, administrator, and learner is a star in their own right. Imagine it as a hit series — a mix of Abbott Elementary meets The Mandalorian — but for edtech enthusiasts. Here’s your exclusive behind-the-scenes tour.…
