Model the use of instructional design principles with educators to create effective digital learning environments
Evidence in support of this standard primarily takes the form of two different applied learning activities.
- In August of 2021 I created a professional learning workshop for resilient pedagogy (RP) geared towards higher education instructors. To put it simply, RP is an instructional philosophy/course design strategy which has educators creating learning experiences that are as flexible and resistant to disruption as possible. RP has many prescient implications for online learning in digital learning environments in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic (or any other crisis situation). The workshop introduces the basic tenets of RP to participating instructors, offers practical examples for RP, provides inspiration and opportunity for implementing RP, and, ultimately, helps build resilience in educators in the long term.
- In March of 2021 I created a presentation template for an information session geared towards prospective educators seeking certification in a graduate teacher education program. Rather than just presenting information lecture-style with some slides in a digital environment, I created an interactive experience wherein the attendees were treated as students and best practices in online learning were modeled for the benefit of their learning. These best practices include establishing social presence, facilitating student interactions, providing space for student voice, and modeling the use of digital tools.
In addition to these two examples, in the April 2021 post Resilient Pedagogy: The Professional Development Opportunity Educators Need Now More Than Ever I discuss what it means to design a course for flexibility. In a nod to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, designing for flexibility means that a course is structured to meet a variety of student needs and learning styles, even before knowing specific individuals in a given class.
