This book delves into two divergent, yet parallel themes; first is an examination of how educators can design the experiences of learning, with a focus on the learner and the end results of education; and second, how educators learn to design educational products, processes and experiences. The book seeks to understand how to design how learning occurs, both in the instructional design studio and as learning occurs throughout the world. This will change the area's semantics; at a deeper level, it will change its orientation from instructors and information to learners; and it will change how educators take advantage of new and old technologies. This book is the result of a research symposium sponsored by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology [AECT].

Dee Fink poses a fundamental question for all teachers: "How can I create courses that will provide significant learning experiences for my students?" In the process of addressing this question, he urges teachers to shift from a content-centered approach to a learning-centered approach that asks "What kinds of learning will be significant for students, and how can I create a course that will result in that kind of learning?" Fink provides several conceptual and procedural tools that will be invaluable for all teachers when designing instruction. He takes important existing ideas in the literature on college teaching (active learning, educative assessment), adds some new ideas (a taxonomy of significant learning, the concept of a teaching strategy), and shows how to systematically combine these in a way that results in powerful learning experiences for students. Acquiring a deeper understanding of the design process will empower teachers to creatively design courses for significant learning in a variety of situations.

Products, technologies, and workplaces change so quickly today that everyone is continually learning. Many of us are also teaching, even when it's not in our job descriptions. Whether it's giving a presentation, writing documentation, or creating a website or blog, we need and want to share our knowledge with other people. But if you've ever fallen asleep over a boring textbook, or fast-forwarded through a tedious e-learning exercise, you know that creating a great learning experience is harder than it seems. In Design For How People Learn, you'll discover how to use the key principles behind learning, memory, and attention to create materials that enable your audience to both gain and retain the knowledge and skills you're sharing. Using accessible visual metaphors and concrete methods and examples, Design For How People Learn will teach you how to leverage the fundamental concepts of instructional design both to improve your own learning and to engage your audience.

An ideal textbook for instructional designers in training, Real World Instructional Design emphasizes the collaborative, iterative nature of instructional design. Positing instructional design as a process of simultaneous rather than sequential tasks with learner-centered outcomes, this volume engages with the essential building blocks of systematically designed instruction: learner needs and characteristics, goals and objectives, instructional activities, assessments, and formative evaluations. Key features include a Designer’s Toolkit that includes tips and approaches that practitioners use in their work; vignettes and narrative case studies that illustrate the complexities and iterative nature of instructional design; and forms, templates, and questionnaires to support students in applying the chapter content. With updated examples, this streamlined second edition presents a timeless approach to instructional design.

What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.

In offices, colleges, and living rooms across the globe, learners of all ages are logging into virtual laboratories, online classrooms, and 3D worlds. Kids from kindergarten to high school are honing math and literacy skills on their phones and iPads. If that weren't enough, people worldwide are aggregating internet services (from social networks to media content) to learn from each other in "Personal Learning Environments." Strange as it sounds, the future of education is now as much in the hands of digital designers and programmers as it is in the hands of teachers. And yet, as interface designers, how much do we really know about how people learn? How does interface design actually impact learning? And how do we design environments that support both the cognitive and emotional sides of learning experiences? The answers have been hidden away in the research on education, psychology, and human computer interaction, until now. Packed with over 100 evidence-based strategies, in this book you'll learn how to: Design educational games, apps, and multimedia interfaces in ways that enhance learning Support creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration through interface design Design effective visual layouts, navigation, and multimedia for online and mobile learning Improve educational outcomes through interface design.