In the spirit of celebrating my strength as a learner, this summer, I decided to create a space to share and write about the intriguing content I come across during my work.
Hopefully you too can enjoy some of the amazing projects, articles, and other content, preferably while inside and away from the summer humidity.
Expect new posts every week and forgive my typos.
Clean desk goals?
Every now and then, it is a good idea to clean out not just our physical desks, but also our virtual ones. This summer, I’m going through YEARS of data in Dropbox and old LMS spaces I haven’t touched in years. Although it is tedious, I’m surprised by the number of “oldie but goodie” lesson plan and activity ideas I come across.
To keep the spirit of learning and sharing alive, I’m planning to share some of my favorite activities here. Feel free to modify and adapt them to fit your needs!
One of the best parts about the summer, has been the opportunity to FINALLY work my way through the backlog of books and articles I have saved. The books below are just a few that you may find helpful, that I finished reading this week!
What I read this week:
Content Strategy for the Web - Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach 2012
The Content Strategy Toolkit - Megan Casey 2015
Leaving ADDIE for SAM: An Agile Model for Developing the Best Learning Experiences - Michael Allen 2012
The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age -Cammy Bean 2014
I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the lessons I have learned from Leaving ADDIE for SAM while updating my portfolio and thinking about my own personal design goals for the next year. First, it is a great book for ideas on how to get started on re-working your own course design methods to incorporate more AGILE, iterative design models. For my own course (which blended design thinking , 3d printing and the composition process), I found that modifying my 1 month units into 2-week sprints offered my students more time for constructive feedback sessions (both giving and receiving).
I will say that if you are creating experiences that aren’t quite as digital-focused, it may be a bit overwhelming, but that is the beauty of these models and frameworks. Do not feel as though you have to adhere to each phase, or that the framework will work for your needs in that moment.