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20 06, 2018

Subject Matter Expert: Use In-House or Outsource?

By | 2018-08-23T15:46:47+00:00 June 20th, 2018|Curriculum Planning, education, Educational Content, subject matter expert|0 Comments

When designing curriculum, a subject matter expert, or SME, is called upon for their expertise in the subject area. There are two routes to choose from when selecting SMEs: Using a SME that is already a part of your company Outsourcing a SME Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages. Being aware of the pros and cons of each will help you to better navigate while working with a subject matter expert. In-House Let’s begin with the good stuff. If you are working with a subject matter expert in-house, you may experience a faster response time. The in-house SME has likely worked on another project before and has developed a rapport with the team. Since they may already be familiar with the workflow, this may save time explaining to them how to document suggested changes and navigate the content of the course. It also may be easier to communicate with an in-house SME. There are some drawbacks to using in-house SMEs, however. For example, they may already be the dedicated SME on several other projects. [...]

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13 06, 2018

Best Practices for Custom Art in Education Content Development

By | 2018-06-11T18:28:38+00:00 June 13th, 2018|Art, education, Educational Content, Instructional Design|0 Comments

Whether it is a flowchart that helps break down a difficult concept or icons to help cue the learner’s memory, the purpose of art in education content development is to help deliver an instructional message. Instead of creating custom art to decorate a page or sell a product, art should be created with the learner in mind. Mayer’s Multimedia Principle says that “People learn better from words and pictures than from words alone.” The images graphic designers create can play a big role in the learning process and help learners recall information. A collaborative study with Seoul National University and the University of California found that graphics generally help learners have a more positive experience, but the type of graphic makes a difference. There were two types of images that did not help the students recall information after the initial assessment: images that were considered simply “decorative,” such as an aesthetically pleasing icon that did not directly pertain to the lesson, and images that were “seductive,” such as an interesting picture that was not tied directly [...]

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30 05, 2018

Supplemental Materials in Curriculum Development

By | 2018-05-30T14:49:57+00:00 May 30th, 2018|curriculum, Curriculum Planning, education, Educational Content, Instructional Design|0 Comments

How can we help teachers excite students? For that matter, how can we help teachers get excited? One way is through the use of supplemental materials that help students learn textbook information in different ways. If we rely on textbooks to help teachers teach, we limit their ability to teach the students. Textbooks give information, but they do not give students a means of moving that information off of the page and into real life. Materials and activities that ask the student to move beyond the textbook help them learn (Reddy, 2013). The added materials offer instructors useful resources and activities to help design lessons that will engage students. Activities used with textbooks help students practice what they are learning. While some supplemental materials help students work with the content, others offer instructors activities that can increase interest and learning. Some examples of helpful materials include worksheets, group discussion prompts, and hands-on activities. These materials help reach more students and are written with different learning styles in mind (Reddy, 2013). Supplemental materials such as lesson plans, [...]

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23 05, 2018

Why Outsource Education Content Writing?

By | 2018-05-23T20:43:31+00:00 May 23rd, 2018|Course Writers, Curriculum Development, education, Educational Content, writing|0 Comments

The Worst Fake News Story in Education Ever: Those Who Can’t Do, Teach Any professional associated with education knows that teachers not only can do but must do much more than teach. Do some of these roles sound familiar? Conflict resolution specialist Data analyst Administrative professional Diplomat MC/Entertainer Communications manager And we haven’t even discussed content or curriculum development yet. In a 2014 study, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that teachers spend less than half of their time in school actually instructing students. Some of those non-teaching moments are unavoidable and necessary. But according to the same study, the second largest use of time by teachers is individual planning and preparation of lessons. What if we could reduce that time? What could teachers accomplish with those extra hours? Is it even possible to reduce prep time? It is--if educators take the leap and decide to outsource some content creation. We’re not talking about finding some faceless Internet vendor whose only experience with a classroom has been as a student. There are writers out [...]

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16 05, 2018

eLearning 101

By | 2018-06-11T16:29:54+00:00 May 16th, 2018|collaborative learning, digital content, education, education technology, Instructional Design, Uncategorized|0 Comments

If you are new to the eLearning creation world, there are some basics you need to know in order to get your bearings. The field of eLearning is composed of many theories, skills, and technologies that combined produce an online course. We will focus on the basics of eLearning creation, or online learning. Instructional Design Instructional design is the systematic process for developing content that is instructionally sound and engaging for the learner. It involves multiple steps, including: Analyzing the audience Creating learning objectives Designing material Developing material to be online Evaluation Implementing improvements Interactions The use of interactions in an eLearning course transforms the experience for the learner. Interactions can be defined as any instance where the design of your course is triggering the learner to engage with the material by clicking or hovering their mouse or finger (if on a touch screen). Instead of passively watching the content, the learner can drag and drop material, click on content to reveal more information, or trigger the lesson to show new animations or progress to the [...]

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9 05, 2018

Three Qualities of a Great Content Writer

By | 2018-05-22T02:22:02+00:00 May 9th, 2018|Course Writers, curriculum, Curriculum Planning, education, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Today’s headlines seem to focus on everything that’s wrong with education. “American Schools vs. the World: Expensive, Unequal, Bad at Math”–The Atlantic “Wake-Up Call: U.S. Students Trail Global Leaders”–nbcnews.com “Obama Administration Spent Billions to Fix Failing Schools, and It Didn’t Work”–The Washington Post The list of objectives for educators at all levels seems to have no end: increasing access to high-quality education closing achievement gaps raising graduation rates preparing students to excel in a globalized economy keeping pace with rapid educational reform Creating new educational content to enhance choice, keep students engaged, and measure growth is vital. But if they are continuously asked to do more with less, how can educators keep pace? One answer is, simply, with help. Professional educational content writers use their expertise to develop tools that any superintendent, curriculum manager, and content developer can use. The objective is to facilitate educators in reaching their goals. And it’s those in the field who have had experience with successful students that know how to help students succeed. These writers can develop courses, curricula, and [...]

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2 05, 2018

An Easy Way to Correlate Open Educational Resources (OERs)

By | 2018-06-07T21:35:20+00:00 May 2nd, 2018|classroom teaching, content development, education, OER|0 Comments

So many free and open educational resources exist on the Internet that can be utilized to enhance learning activities.   What is an open educational resource? Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are free of copyright or license and publicly available online for anyone to use. OERs include full courses, course modules, lectures, lesson plans, homework assignments, tests, lab and classroom activities, games, simulations, and more.   OERs can be correlated to existing curriculum maps and used to supplement or reinforce lesson plans. Some best practices for the curation of open educational resources include: Consider contexts of the content Identify the type of resource (media, text, or classroom materials) Validate the resource based on core competencies, outcomes, and/or objectives Evaluate the resource based on the 5 Rs criteria: retention, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute View the video below to learn more about OERs and how they can be correlated to your existing curriculum. Find Review Evaluate Tie to standards or lesson plans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bViSNnE662c

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18 04, 2018

eLearning and Interactive Assessments: Increasing Student Engagement

By | 2018-05-31T07:32:00+00:00 April 18th, 2018|assessment, curriculum, Curriculum Planning, education, Instructional Design, interactive, Interactive Learning|0 Comments

With the advance of technology, students and educators have options outside of the traditional classroom experience. Online learning, or eLearning, is a fresh educational setting that provides more opportunities for engagement and sets the stage for an inviting learning experience. Interactive assessments through eLearning are also transforming the way learners and educators exchange information. An effective online course ensures that varied learning styles are considered so that the learner remains engaged enough to complete the course. Since there is usually no instructor to guide the day-to-day activity, both the content and the related assessments must be engaging. Interactive assessments are assessments that involve interaction on part of the learner. This can be as simple as an immediate response that displays “Correct!” or “Good Job,” but the most effective interactive assessments require the learner to participate in the learning process. When this is done effectively, learners not only engage in the processing of content but are able to test their knowledge of the content almost simultaneously. Examples of interactive assessments in eLearning include the following: Drag and [...]

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