Okay, so there are definitely more than 10 things to be considered in instructional design, and not all of them are limited to just the digital mode, but for what it's worth here is what I consider to be a short list of some of the more important things you might like to think about...
1. Consider the potential of downloadable lesson 'kits' rather than lessons spread across web pages. The Internet and LMSs don't always work as well as they should, but material that can be stored in a hard drive is only at risk in the case of power blackouts.
2. Master PDF creation and formatting for accessibility, presentation, control, interactive features and consider the merits of the 'one page' lesson - everything on or linking out from a central screen of tasks, all of which are visible from the one interface.
3. Get colourful: you're not paying for print outs or photocopies, and going with plain white space and black text is like sticking a tradtional printed workbook onto the front of a monitor. You can bring life and vibrancy to your digital material in ways you never could when limited to ink marks on slivers of tree.
4. Include relevant course details to help with audit situations but also out of basic respect for your learners in letting them know how lesson activities link directly to their course requirements. It's nice to know what you are doing is relevant to your course aims, who made the material, when, and why.
5. Think about layout and organisation, use of sections and colouring, alignment. Sloppy or amateurish-looking formatting can create a similar impression of our teaching quality. It needs to look and feel professional, but also needs to be organised for accessibility and quick guidance.
6. Nothing beats video for engaging input. But like any other content, there is good/effective video and there is poor video. Use it as much as you can, but take the time to source excellent and appropriate content.
7. Think about the tasks you are including, how you are presenting them, and whether the sequence allows learners to engage with them according to their own preferences.
8. Apply both consistency and variety in both presentation and task types. Rhythm and routine help to make learners feel safe and comfortable, but there needs to be 'freshness' (and fresh challenges) with each lesson.
9. Whenever and however possible, try to faciliate personalisation and specialisation so that lesson material can target or incorporate individual learners' specific interests, occupations, backgrounds, etc.
10. Facilitate cumulative skill and knowledge building. A skill in lesson 3 should help the learners do a task in lesson 5, for example. What the learners know based on lesson 4 could help the learners extend their knowledge in lesson 6.
The video tutorial below demonstrates all 10 of these tips or principles in action with actual materials that were recently developed for a course unit on sustainable work practices:
Feel free to agree/disagree or add/subtract to the list!
If you're looking for more design tips and demonstrations, you might like to also check out the materials design masterclass series I made for people looking to develop their MS Word and PDF application skills, and/or the extensive list of Moodle tutorials I've put together here on the blog.
Happy designing!
;-D
