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Enhancing Online Learning with Avatars
As instructional designers, we are continually seeking innovative ways to engage learners and facilitate meaningful learning experiences. One powerful tool that is worthy of consideration is the use of avatars. Avatars offer a range of benefits in online learning, from personalization to enhanced interactivity. In this…
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BrightSpace quiz question types inadequate
While I suppose that this forum "Instructional Design Best Practices" is intended for discussions about how best to use existing technologies to achieve our intended outcomes, I am in a quandary. Because, as it stands today, the quiz question types we have available to us in BrightSpace as well as the workflows required to…
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Finding What’s Missing – how to evaluate what’s not in your course but should be!
There’s a playground I love taking my children to. It has swings, slides, climbing equipment, a field for running around and benches for me to rest when my children tire me out! It isn’t until the hot sun is beating down on me that I think about the fact that this park needs some shade. Instructional design, as a creative…
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Creating a "Quiet" Online Space
Have you ever tried to navigate through three to four websites in search of something? Maybe a specific product or piece of information that needs confirmation. When you are going through this process of navigation, how many roadblocks do you hit? These could include broken web pages, advertisements that refuse to leave…
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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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Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)
Hello, Does anyone have a RSI infographic? I like the OLC image, but I was hoping to look at a few others or possibly create my own. Best, Kathleen
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Feedback in Brightspace Quizzes
We all know the value of giving learners descriptive feedback. As educators and instructional designers, we also recognize that there isn’t always time to write detailed, individualized feedback for every assessment. Sometimes an auto-graded quiz is necessary. But this doesn’t have to be an either-or dichotomy; the Quizzes…
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Will D2L be reconsidering how students can upload images?
In my mind, there are chronic limitations when it comes to uploading students' uploading images to both WR question types (in quizzes) and "Text submission" assignments. One, the process differs significantly between the two, and two, there does not seem to be any streamlined workflow for a student to add an image…
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How to Make the Most of Your Media Budget
Have you ever looked at a page, and it's just a wall of text that immediately fills you with dread? Media is often an overlooked part of Instructional Design. What value does graphic design (GD) bring to learning design? How do you go about using graphic design within your work? Continue reading to learn how to enhance…
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Upcoming Community Event: Learning Through Story
When you think back to your educational experiences, what do you remember most? Do you remember the facts, statistics, and dates that you learned, or do you remember that one teacher who told stories that enraptured the class? The idea that our mind remembers stories more than specifics is the foundation of the Learning…
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The Art of Effortless Instruction: Leveraging Automation in Brightspace
Education has become an increasingly complex and demanding landscape, requiring instructors to juggle numerous administrative tasks alongside their core teaching responsibilities. But, lucky for you, one of the key advantages of using Brightspace to administer learning is its automation capabilities, which can…
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Auto-Generated Captions and the Media Library
The Media Library is best described as a Brightspace tool that offers media processing, storage, and streaming options for all audio-video materials. It can be used to create, view, edit, and manage all your audio-video content in a course. The Media Library can also be used to provide a necessary, but often overlooked,…
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How Much More Time Could We Spend in the Design Phase?
Creating content has never been faster…and it will only get faster! With the use of HTML templates and Creator +, authoring content within Brightspace has never been faster or easier. Now, with the coming of AI text-generating software, the ease of creating large amounts of content will greatly increase. This change could…
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Why Web Accessibility Matters
What is Web Accessibility? Most people are aware of web accessibility and the inextricable role that it plays in online learning. Simply put web accessibility ensures that our courses and tools are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. But web accessibility also benefits people without…
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Upcoming Community Event: New Content Experience Updates!
D2L is continuing to expand the options available in their different experiences, and they have exciting new updates to the New Content Experience! Note: Not sure which content experience you are using? Refer to this resource for the ins and outs of each of the content experiences. Join the Community Event on November 22…
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How Text-Generating Software Still Needs Human Guidance
ChatGPT and other text-generating software have undoubtedly appeared on your radar in some form to support your teaching practice. Perhaps you’ve heard about how quickly it can help you create a rubric for your course or how it can help you brainstorm topics for classroom discussion. Text-generating software may speed up…
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Needs Assessment – “A Compass for Effective Design"
Needs Assessment – “A Compass for Effective Design”As an instructional designer, you will no doubt be familiar with systematic approaches to design such as ADDIE or SAM and you'll also know that analysis is a critical first step in the design cycle as prescribed by these models. This article is all about the work that…
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Curious About Creator+?
If you are thinking about designing and developing your courses in Brightspace, then you might have heard about Creator+, D2L’s new authoring tool. Creator+ customers have the ability to easily create engaging content and activities right in the HTML editor. Curious to learn more? Check out the Creator+ Community Group for…
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Small changes would improve UX
I am adding a Discussion Forum in a widget and have "Render in iFrame" checked. This is what I see: So my question is: Why do we need that right arrow in a circle and the nav bar on the bottom? There is nothing over to the right to navigate to. It would be far better from a UX point of view if this iframe were responsive…
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End with a Bang!
As instructional designers and instructors, we put a lot of thought into the content of our courses. We think about the best format for the content, how to assess it, and how to make it engaging. But after learners have gone through all of our carefully crafted content, what do they do next? Often, we prioritize the…
