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Explore the First Entry of the Developer Diaries
In the Creator+ Community Group, you can follow instructional designer, Joey Stapleton, as he shares his tips and tricks for the Creator+ suite in his Developer Diaries series. Even if you haven't started using Creator+ yet, many of the best practices he shares can be applied to your own design and build processes!…
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A Bird, Some Berries and Lots of Branching Scenarios
Yum! Just look at those tasty berries hanging temptingly from that branch. I’d be right on that branch if I was that bird too! When I was looking for images to represent branching scenarios, this one appealed to me as much as those berries appeal to our feathered friend. What are branching scenarios? They’re like those…
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Faculty Buy-In Is Complex. Let’s Talk About What’s Helping.
Faculty buy-in is a recurring theme in conversations with instructional teams. It remains one of the most nuanced and evolving parts of our work. It is inherently complex, rarely linear, and often manifests differently across institutions, departments, and even individual courses. Common Challenges From our recent…
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Storytelling as a Framework for Learning Design
When I worked as a filmmaker, my job was to tell stories that moved people. A successful film does more than present information. It creates tension, invites identification, raises questions, and leaves the audience changed in some small but lasting way. That mindset still shapes how I design learning experiences today.…
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A Productive Rivalry With AI
Life as an Instructional Designer: A 4-Part Series Part Part 4: A Productive Rivalry With AI AI has become a regular part of how I work, and overall, I support it. It helps me move faster, think differently, and unblock myself when I’m stuck. Whether I’m refining language, brainstorming ideas, or working through a problem,…
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Surviving and Thriving at Conferences
Life as an Instructional Designer: A 4-Part Series Part 3: Surviving and Thriving at Conferences By the time a conference really gets going, your day is already full. The schedules are packed, sessions move quickly, and the networking never really stops. It’s easy to feel overstimulated, no matter how social you are. And…
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Using Creator+ Without Overcomplicating Things
Life as an Instructional Designer: A 4-Part Series Part 2: Using Creator+ Without Overcomplicating Things Creator+ includes a lot of small features that can make a big difference, especially when you’re working with long or information-heavy pages. Not sure where to start? I have found that sticking to one or two…
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And Just Like That… I Left the Classroom
Life as an Instructional Designer: A 4-Part Series. Part 1: And Just Like That… I Left the Classroom Teaching in a K-12 setting can be incredibly rewarding, but it wasn’t for me. As much as I loved the idea of “summers off,” every educator knows it rarely feels like a reward when you spend the first half recovering from…
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Choosing the Right Brightspace Creator+ Interactive: A Practical Guide for Instructional Designers
Not long ago, choosing an interactive for online learning was often constrained by media availability. Before AI image generation and before high-quality, free images were easy to source, design decisions were shaped by what visuals were on hand rather than what the content truly needed. Today, instructional designers have…
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“Overcoming AI Trepidation” or “Surviving Awkward Chats About AI Over Christmas Dinner”
As I write this, the holiday season is approaching. And as excited as I am to spend time with my loved ones, there is one thing I’m not looking forward to: talking with my family over Christmas dinner… And the loaded gun on the table: artificial intelligence. I’m dreading the moment my Uncle Joe launches into a lecture…
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Design Thinking: A Fresh Lens for Instructional Designers
When you hear Design Thinking, you might picture product developers or tech start-ups. However, the truth is that Design Thinking is just as powerful in Instructional Design (ID). At its core, it’s a human-centered problem-solving approach, and since IDs spend much of their time solving learning challenges, design thinking…
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AI app request
Would anyone be able to recommend an app that we can upload a script and it makes a training video? We've already looked at Synthesia and Speechify, but we're hoping to find another option. Thanks in advance for everyone's ideas!
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From Compliance to Compassion: Rethinking Accessibility in Online Learning
As instructional designers, we talk a lot about meeting accessibility standards, ensuring our content passes contrast checks, includes alternative text, and is screen-reader friendly. These are essential practices, and compliance matters. But if we stop there, we risk missing a deeper opportunity: designing for people, not…
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The Anatomy of a Good Multiple Choice Question
While many of us rely heavily on multiple choice questions to evaluate learning, not all quiz questions are created equal! In this article, we will walk through several examples to learn the key characteristics of a good multiple choice question. 1. Provide ample context The root of your question should provide enough…
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What I Learned from AI Failures Part 2: The Lessons Learned
In What I Learned from AI Failures Part 1: My Hapless Plan, I laid out the context of a project I recently had the pleasure of working on. It was an ambitious 32-course uplift aiming to augment existing video lectures with succinct summaries as well as a series of formative and summative assessments. To achieve these…
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What I Learned from AI Failures Part 1: My Hapless Plan
If you’re an educator, you know that failure is not something to be feared but rather one of the most powerful teaching methods around. You also know that artificial intelligence (AI) is not just a wave that has been washing our shores but a presence as sure as the tide. With all the outstanding successes and advancements…
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Lockdown Browser & Monitor on an Assignment
Our English department is trying to combat students cheating on written assignments. I was hoping we could use Respondus on Assignments, but that isn't an option. I know instructors could set up a quiz with a Written Response option, but by the time students write several drafts of each component of an essay, they won't…
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Quick Wins to Elevate Learning Experiences
We all want learners to have the best possible learning experiences in the courses we design. However, designing and maintaining the best content takes time and effort, which is often in short supply. Wherever we invest that time and effort, it must have an impact. Starting with “Quick Wins,” or low-effort changes with…
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Gauging Student Participation
Is there a seamless way to gauge student participation in Brightspace? It should be authentically meaningful to students and instructors.
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Learning Loops, Not Lectures: Systems and Design Thinking with Brightspace and AI
The first year I planted a kitchen garden, my plan looked flawless: neat rows, companion charts, perfect spacing. Then reality happened, shade I hadn’t noticed, soil that held water unevenly, pests that loved my plants more than I did. What saved the season wasn’t more seed; it was changing how I looked. Systems thinking…
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Finding Your Niche Part 2: Roles That Work Alongside Instructional Designers
Expertise often grows through cross-disciplinary partnerships, which is something that was never more true for me than when I was creating a media-rich course with looming deadlines and a number of stakeholders in the project. Our work felt less like it was rooted in a classroom and more like it was anchored in a…
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Finding Your Niche Part 1: Focusing Expertise in Instructional Design
Most of us who work as instructional designers didn’t dream of this career path when we were kids. Many of us thought of being teachers, but there are a few members of the Learning Services ID team who came from somewhere other than the classroom: one from Lululemon (seriously. Yes, we all asked her how she could possibly…
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Keeping It Real: Maintaining the Personal Touch When Building Courses With AI
As a lifelong Garfield aficionado, I am wondering if using AI in course creation is like making lasagna. When you make a lasagna, you have loads of choices about how much of it you are going to do yourself. Will you roll the pasta yourself or use lasagna sheets from a packet? Will you make both sauces yourself, or skip the…
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Rethinking the Checklist Tool: A Secret Weapon for Instructional Designers
When you hear Brightspace Checklist, do you immediately picture it as a student-facing tool? Most of us do. But what if I told you the Checklist tool could actually make your life as an instructional designer easier, too? Inspired by its use in the Course Blueprint product created and delivered by D2L’s Learning Services…
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Designing for Complexity
Designing effective courses is no simple task. Some may even say it’s quite…complex. And just like effective course design, learning is often complex too. Presenting your content in digestible chunks is a good first step, but complex learning also requires creating meaningful learning experiences where learners get to…
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Custom GPTs in Learning Services: A New Kind of Teammate
By Vicky Nesbitt (with considerable assistance from Mr. Smith) If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be co-writing an article with an AI assistant who corrects punctuation, quotes style guides without being asked, and gets sassy if his instructions are too vague—I might’ve smiled politely and changed the subject. And…
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Integrating AI in Course Development: Three Practical Tips for L&D Teams
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a fixture of conversations about teaching and learning. Recent research shows that 74% of organizations struggle to scale AI practices, and 52% of workers worry about AI. Trust remains a barrier to adoption – a phenomenon often called ‘algorithm aversion’. Rather than resisting,…
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Using AI with Ethics in Mind
AI is everywhere. We are reaching a point where, whatever personal misgivings we might have, using AI remains an essential skill. There is no denying the power of generative AI. But it is also clear that AI has issues. There are real ethical concerns at play: environmental impacts, data privacy and security, inaccuracies…
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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?…
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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…
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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…
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“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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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.…
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Foreign Language Class
Hello Everyone, We have an online Arabic class that is using quizzes. Some of the questions are multiple choice others require the students to answer in Arabic. I am currently at a loss as to how the students will write in Arabic to answer the questions. Any thoughts about how student can use the HTML editor to write in…
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End-of-Year Reflections: Making Space for Celebration, Gratitude, and Growth
A Season for Reflection For me, as an educator, the end of the school year smells like bumblebees visiting spring blooms—bursting with the excitement of summer, yet tinged with nostalgia. It’s a time to look back on the progress and accomplishments of the past months, to celebrate the hard work of both myself and my…
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Taming AI Hallucinations: A Guide for Instructional Designers
“It sounded so confident… but it was totally wrong.” If you’ve used ChatGPT or another AI chatbot, you’ve likely seen it confidently provide incorrect information. That’s an AI hallucination—when the model invents facts or distorts details. As instructional designers, we’re increasingly using large language models (LLMs)…
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Let’s Build Together: A Friendly Guide to the HTML Template
As your course development journey continues, we're excited to share a tool that can elevate your course experience—our HTML template. Whether you're an experienced course designer or just getting started, this walkthrough will help you confidently use, customize, and share back your HTML templates in Brightspace. This…
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Why Instructional Designers Are the Master Chefs of Online Learning
Just because someone has access to a kitchen and ingredients doesn’t make them a chef. The same is true for course creation. While many professionals have access to tools, like the many features of Brightspace, and plenty of content at their fingertips, turning those raw materials into an engaging, effective learning…
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Using AI to create branching scenarios
If you're new to branching scenarios (choose-your-own-adventure learning experiences), you may want to check out an earlier post A Bird, Some Berries and Lots of Branching Scenarios. If you're familiar with branching scenarios already and are looking for a way to develop them more quickly with AI, stay right here! With…
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Sound Advice: Enhancing Course Narration Through Better Audio
In online learning, audio quality plays a pivotal—yet often underestimated—role in learner engagement and comprehension. Clean, clear narration helps learners focus, reduces cognitive strain, and supports a more professional, polished learning experience. Whether you're an instructional designer, educator, or content…
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ChatGPT and Bloom’s Taxonomy: What AI Can and Can’t Do
As Instructional Designers, AI tools like ChatGPT are becoming more integrated into our workflows. While this is happening, many of us are asking: How can we use these tools and what are their limitations? With AI increasingly assisting in tasks like content development, learning objective generation, and feedback…
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In-Person, Blended, and Fully Online Learning in K–12 Education: A Closer Look
As education continues to evolve, K–12 schools are adopting a variety of instructional formats to meet diverse student needs. The three primary models—in-person, blended, and fully online learning—each offer unique experiences for students, families, and educators. Understanding the strengths and challenges of each…
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HTML Template Library
A well-designed digital platform is essential for engaging audiences and ensuring a seamless user experience. One way Learning Services helps clients achieve this is through the use of HTML Templates. However, we know that not every project has the resources for a fully custom HTML design. That’s why we’ve created the HTML…
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Weaving Social Learning into the Fabric of Online Courses
If you’ve been designing online courses for a while, you’ve probably wondered: how can I replicate the organic, spontaneous social interaction of in-person learning in an asynchronous online environment? You can lay out great content, structure modules beautifully, even add interactive elements—but giving learners…
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Fostering Engaging and Authentic Interactions with the Brightspace Discussion Tool
Online learning offers remarkable flexibility and access—but without intentional design, learners can drift into isolation or disengagement. Enter Discussions: a powerful tool for connection, when used well. In Brightspace, Discussions can become more than a course requirement—they can be the beating heart of an engaged,…