As a freelance instructional designer, you are no stranger to managing multiple projects, deadlines, and clients all while trying to maintain a healthy work-life balance. However, with so many tasks at hand, managing your time and prioritizing your workload can be overwhelming. In this article, we will explore some effective strategies that can help you manage your time and prioritize your tasks as a freelance instructional designer while minimizing stress. These strategies will help you stay on top of your workload and achieve your goals efficiently. 12 Expert Strategies to Manage Time and Prioritize Tasks 1. Set clear goals and priorities - To effectively manage your time and workload as a freelance instructional designer, it is crucial to set clear goals and priorities. Start by identifying your goals and objectives for each project, and break them down into smaller, manageable tasks. Once you have a list of all the tasks you need to complete, assign a priority level to each … [Read more...] about Managing Time and Prioritizing Tasks as a Freelance Instructional Designers
Gamification
Top 5 eLearning Trends You Should Be On The Lookout For In 2022
In some ways, the eLearning market had no choice but to grow exponentially over the last two years. The pandemic made it clear that regardless of how long people would have to live trying to minimize contact with others, it’s a good idea to delegate anything online when you can. The promising $243 billion market projection from Statista certainly hints so. And as the attitude towards eLearning is changing, so is the realization that it’s not confined within online video classes and Learning Management systems anymore. Businesses need to prepare their employees through far more complex technology and tools. If you’re a business owner or someone in the eLearning industry in charge of preparing course content for businesses, you need to be intimately aware of the ever-evolving trends. Let’s look at the eLearning trends that are sure to stand out in 2022. 1 . Artificial Intelligence Significant strides have been made in the development of Artificial Intelligence. If put simply, it’s an … [Read more...] about Top 5 eLearning Trends You Should Be On The Lookout For In 2022
4 Ways To Apply Behaviorism Principles to Your ELearning Materials
As instructional designers apply behaviorism principles to create courses for virtual settings, it is important to keep in mind that the driving force behind progress is reinforcement. 1. Repetition Take audio visual presentations as instructional methods employed in virtual classrooms. People learn through observation, so audio or video presentations are an efficient way to enable learners to understand the subject, organize their own thoughts around that subject, and ultimately present their own analysis of the matter. In behaviorism, only the response to the information received can be measured, so it is a good idea to develop materials that promote drill tasks. This involves teaching concepts by presenting a series of steps that lead to expected outcomes. For example, in a database class, the lessons would entail presentation of various data types as well as the commands for specific functions. Step by step video tutorials would be provided, guiding the learner as to … [Read more...] about 4 Ways To Apply Behaviorism Principles to Your ELearning Materials
How to Design eLearning Games that Drive Results?
While eLearning is an effective teaching method, lack of interaction is one of the biggest challenges that instructional designers face when developing online courses. This is where gamification comes into play. Gamification adds fun to eLearning modules while also helping learners absorb the material. Here are some tips that many eLearning professionals find useful when adding gaming elements to their courses. Apply realism to your games In the UK, the award-winning eLearning developer, Kineo, developed a realistic and fun game for teaching McDonalds’ trainees how to improve their customer service. The Till Training Game is set in a virtual restaurant. It has appealing stories and characters that stimulate emotional engagement. The “customers” behave as if they were real people. The trainees are being timed during exercises and are encouraged to continue practicing until they completely satisfy the customers. Story-driven games must have branching … [Read more...] about How to Design eLearning Games that Drive Results?
How to Gamify ELearning Courses through Virtual Worlds
Instructional designers often search for ways to gamify their eLearning courses quickly and efficiently without hiring professional developers and graphic artists. We all know that gamification can get expensive! So, what can you do if your client wants to get an engaging product and, at the same time, does not want to pay a fortune? Luckily, there is a rapid solution that can make everyone happy. Virtual Worlds have been around for quite some time now and many designers have been successfully incorporating them in their eLearning lessons. With Virtual Worlds, the sky is the limit. There are many avatars and settings that you can choose from. All you have to do is choose a Virtual World you want, find the characters that best meet your needs, find settings and create your story around that setting. One of the best features of Virtual Worlds is that you can maneuver your camera very quickly to capture your characters at different angles. You can easily change and capture their … [Read more...] about How to Gamify ELearning Courses through Virtual Worlds
ELearning Gamification Techniques That Work!
As eLearning specialists, we always look for ways to make our courses fun and engaging. Many eLearning specialists find that by gamifying their courses they can achieve the desired outcome and increase content retention. In this article, we will look at some of the popular gamification techniques. Narrative – This is the key to successful gamification. Not only that narratives tell stories, but they also offer real life examples that help learners understand main concepts that games are trying to teach. The art of storytelling is the main challenge that instructional designers face here. Not only that they need to think of a plot relevant to what is being taught, but they also have to incorporate protagonists and antagonists to ensure proper flow of the game. Rules – Just like any other type of activity, games must have rules. Without rules, learners will not know what to do and what to expect. Instructional designers should make sure that all the instructions are clear … [Read more...] about ELearning Gamification Techniques That Work!