Background
Over the last few years, I have focused on improving my teaching and instructional design skills. I slowly realized that throughout all of my past positions, the things I were good at and enjoyed revolved around helping others learn and grow skill sets. Being a researcher and trained librarian, I dug into the literature. I read paper after paper about learning theories, adult learners, and instructional development. Much of what I encountered was familiar and involved many skills I already employed, but simply put a name – instructional design – to my professional interests and strengths.
I knew I could not simply research forever. I wanted to grow my skills. I looked into several online programs and courses, and parsed through plenty of reviews. I ultimately found edX through the recommendation of a fellow librarian. I was drawn to the asynchronous, self-paced course, its preview content and roots in an established ID program, and the price point. I enrolled in LDT100x: Instructional Design and Technology: Learning Theories, the first course in the ID series, to get my feet wet.
The time commitment
Initially, I was worried about balancing my schedule. I work full time, volunteer, and juggle a couple of hobbies. LDT100x is eight weeks long with each week dedicated to a learning theory. Each week there are a number of required readings, discussions, and projects to complete, culminating in a basic online portfolio. Learners were allowed to choose which platform to use to host their portfolio, I chose WordPress.
LDT100x is advertised as requiring 8-10 hours a week. I found myself averaging between 6-8 hours. I already spend time reading and writing research papers, so it was not difficult for me to integrate a few additional articles a week. In truth, I spent most of my time absorbing the principles and implementing them in my portfolio projects.
The course content and projects
Similar to the amount of time required for reading, I was familiar with some of the learning theories covered by the course.
For each learning theory, I found the readings relevant and helpful. Readings included popular media, industry blog posts, and research articles. Most weeks we were tasked with brainstorming learning scenarios and activities, and applying the learning theory of the week. While the bulk of these assignments were written posts, we also worked with infographics, interactive visualizations, and micro-learning tools.
Overall, I wish I’d received more in-depth feedback from the instructors. On the flip side, I received helpful feedback from my peers whenever I shared my assignments to the class discussion board. These discussions were consistently helpful and encouraging. Connecting with professionals from different backgrounds really helped expand my views and approaches to instructional design work.
The end results
Ultimately, the course was a decent investment and I feel accomplished what I set out to do: I got my feet wet with formalized ID professional development, and I was introduced to new tools and tricks alongside theoretical frameworks. The course was certainly doable for my schedule and wallet, and the ‘cohort’ interactivity was a big motivator. I haven’t yet decided if I will enroll in the next course in the series – LDT200x Instructional Design Models – but I do know that I’ll continue learning.
If you’re interested in some reading, I compiled a Zotero library that contains course assigned readings as well as sources I found on my own. ✌️Click here to view my Zotero library.
Katie Barrick 