My Journey with course EDU-534

In taking the course EDU-534, many resources and tools were shared to become an influential Instructional Designer. While this course shared many tools, I will share some specific tools and resources that I found to be personally effective when creating an instructional design.

Becoming an instructional designer requires expanding the mind and a pool of resources that are ever-growing as technology changes. One key component for instructional designers is motivating learners to focus and engage in new content. As mentioned by the founder of the ARCS Model of Motivation, John Keller, There are four key elements that are used during the learning process to motivate and sustain learning. The four elements are Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction (Pappas, 2015). Some of these tools that I mention in this blog can foster motivational learning when creating an instructional design.

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” ~Nelson Mandela

Canva

Using Canva during this course was highly satisfying. I learned how to create an interactive presentation where animations and graphics can easily be placed within a presentation without any difficulties. The Canva website has many benefits that make designing instruction aesthetically pleasing and captivate the learner's attention. Some of the benefits of using the Canva site includes:

~ Simplicity, easy to use, and user friendly

~ Provides templates of the correct sizing for other online platforms

~ The site offers a variety of templates

~ Templates can be altered to be more custom

~ It is budget-friendly

Using Canva gives the designer the flexibility to create and design instruction without needing to hire an additional designer that can easily cost you $20-$25 an hour (Pienaar, 2020).

Infographics and Microlearning videos

Another great tool I learned in the EDU-534 course is the usage of infographics and microlearning videos. Many companies and organizations are limited in time and restricted in funding. As an Instructional Designer, one must get creative when thinking about tools that can be budget-friendly yet facilitate impactful learning. Using infographics is a great tool that can easily facilitate learning when there is no time for formal training. As mentioned in the eLearning Industry website, "Infographics in online training will only yield these benefits if

they include all of the essential elements.

They must be clear, concise, and compelling.

Above all else, infographics in online training have to condense information down to its most basic components, and make the data easily digestible for your corporate audience." (Pappas, 2016).

References

Pappas, C. (2015, May 20). Instructional design models and theories: Keller's ARCS model of motivation. eLearning Industry. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://elearningindustry.com/arcs-model-of-motivation. Pienaar, L. (2020, September 25). 10 advantages and disadvantages of Canva. LinkedIn. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-advantages-disadvantages-canva-liz-pienaar-bharo-/. Pappas, C. (2016, May 13). The 7 top benefits of using infographics in online training. eLearning Industry. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://elearningindustry.com/7-top-benefits-using-infographics-in-online-training.