IDEAS April DigestEvery month, we aim to post an IDEAS digest to share some of the resources,...
IDEAS April Digest
Every month, we aim to post an IDEAS digest to share some of the resources, tips, tricks, and tools that our team has come across over the past month. I.D.E.A.S. is an acronym for Instructional Design Educational Activities Summary. Below are some reflections/resources from our team of instructional designers that might be helpful in your course design.
Instructional Designer 1
Articulate 360 is used within many different projects for clients for learner engagement and interactivity; thus, take some time to learn about the accessibility-related concerns you may have when using Articulate 360 products.
Instructional Designer 2
Sometimes getting your ideas down is all that is needed, so two amazing mind mapping tools are:
1. Mindmeister – wonderful for independent planning but you can share your maps
2. Coggle – outstanding for collaborative brainstorming
Instructional Designer 3
Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) 1.0 is a great source to read over at least once to understand are standards for accessibility for a website while stating excellent practices that should be included when designing/auditing content online. The five steps for the evaluation procedure point out everything that needs to be addressed from the start and final testing of the website. It’s a great starting point to learn about accessibility and points to consider when making recommendations.
Instructional Designer 4
One of the recent highlights is the launch of the [Archived Content] Escape room available in the Brightspace Learning Center for free, for all our clients! It's a great example of how gamification can be done within Brightspace, while also teaching the learner about release conditions available within Brightspace.
Instructional Designer 5
With my recent projects, I have been exploring online platforms and tools to create gamification elements. One of the resources I found helpful and useful is Genial.ly, since the website is designed to provide ideas for interactive and engaging content.
Instructional Designer 6
Recently I learned that within Brightspace when creating new course awards within set-up there is a section called “create your own award image” which leads to classical badge designer allowing you to create simple badges that can be added to any of your courses!
Instructional Designer 7
We have used H5P as a third-party tool within different courses over the years, some new features that are worth sharing: The Chase, AR-Scavenger, Cornell Notes and Structure Strip released!