Converting a Webinar into a Learning Event with Google NotebookLM and Other Tools

The AAPG Enhanced Geothermal Systems webinar has been enhanced to make it possible to have an education version. The video now has learning objectives, multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, and a learning guide. Ideal for demonstrating knowledge in a quickly-evolving area of geothermal development and energy generation, and for incorporating in college / university courses in geosciences, energy, environmental science, an d more. The webinar was recorded using Zoom, and pdfs of the PowerPoint presentations were available, which was ideal since Google NotebookLM does not accommodate PowerPoint. 

Link to the webinar: https://youtu.be/mM3NtUAOyec

https://youtu.be/mM3NtUAOyec 

The learning objectives appear in the notes of the video, and the notes and assessments are available by request. Let's share the learning opportunity!

Here's the description of the webinar, and the learning objectives are listed below. I used Google LM to help me create them, and was impressed.  

Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) are dramatically changing the landscape of geothermal energy, and it is a place where oil and gas technologies are being successfully deployed in the development of the resource. Join geothermal experts to compare enhanced geothermal systems with other geothermal resources along with subsurface characterization. Then, we'll look at where there are currently knowledge gaps and challenges, and explore possible solutions and project economics. We will close with an overview of what the USGS is doing to develop prospectivity and assessment using USGS basin and EGS modeling. This webinar is presented by the AAPG EMD Geothermal Committee, led by Nicole Wagoner, University of Nevada-Reno. Eric Stautberg, Colorado School of Mines Jabs Aljubran, NREL Justin Birdwell, USGS Nicole Wagoner, University of Nevada - Reno Susan Nash, AAPG Would you like to use this webinar as a module in your course?

Here are LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify the key characteristics of EGS resources, including their reliance on engineering permeability in hot, otherwise impermeable rock units, often referred to as "hot dry rock".

• Describe the current state of geothermal energy in the US, including where utility-scale electricity is generated, its contribution to the national energy portfolio, and the US's global standing in geothermal production.

• Explain the basic concept of an EGS, including the process of creating an engineered reservoir through hydraulic, chemical, or thermal stimulation, and the circulation of working fluid to extract heat

• Differentiate between various power plant types used for geothermal electricity generation, with a focus on binary cycle power plants as the typical choice for EGS applications.

• Discuss the benefits of EGS, such as its potential to expand geothermal availability beyond traditional hydrothermal areas, provide clean, baseload energy with limited intermittency, and its low greenhouse gas emissions.

• Outline the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) methodology for assessing EGS potential in sedimentary basins, including the inputs used (e.g., heat flow maps, 3D temperature maps, bottom hole temperatures) and the consideration of various efficiencies.

• Identify specific sedimentary basins where USGS basin modeling tools are being applied for EGS assessments, such as the Williston Basin, Denver-Julesburg Basin, and Onshore U.S. Gulf Coast.

• Explain the concept of Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) as an economic metric for EGS projects and how recent improvements in drilling efficiency have impacted EGS cost

Assessments that tie to the learning objectives (Multiple Choice, Short Answer) are available by request. In addition, a learning guide is also available by request.

PROCESS NOTE: I enjoyed using Google NotebookLM https://notebooklm.google/ as a part of the process. It was remarkably easy to do so since I had an audio file from the webinar that I could upload. I could have uploaded the transcript of the webinar, too. I also had two PowerPoints. Google NotebookLM points to locations in the uploaded original instructional materials files that correspond to the learning objectives, the questions, and the learning guide.

In working with Google NotebookLM, it's all about the way that the prompts are phrased and created. The fact that it uses a RAG model approach makes it easy to check for accuracy if you're a course writer or instructional designer, and not the subject matter expert.

Teaching Technical Subjects Online? Tap Into the Brain’s Design Creativity Engine

Designing effective online courses—especially for technical disciplines like engineering, data science, and computer programming—requires more than organizing lectures, videos, and assignments. It demands creativity at every level, from course structure to learner engagement. But what kind of creativity are we talking about?

A fascinating 2018 paper by Leslee Lazar, "The Cognitive Neuroscience of Design Creativity," provides a roadmap. According to Lazar, design creativity is distinct from both artistic and scientific creativity. It’s uniquely tied to how humans solve complex, ambiguous, and evolving problems—what the paper calls “ill-structured tasks.” For instructional designers in the digital space, especially those working with technical subjects, this insight is profound. To truly prepare learners for the real world, our courses must engage their "design brains."

Embrace Ill-Structured Problems

In traditional education, especially in technical fields, we often rely on "well-structured" problems—those with clear parameters, predictable outcomes, and established solution paths. Think of solving an algebraic equation or calculating the flow rate through a pipe. While these tasks are useful for teaching fundamentals, they fall short of preparing students for the ambiguity and complexity of real-world challenges.

Lazar emphasizes the power of “ill-structured” problems—open-ended scenarios where both the problem and the solution evolve during the process. These are the kinds of problems that designers and engineers face daily: how to reduce waste in a city, optimize a software interface, or create a sustainable energy model. In online technical education, embracing this approach means offering scenarios that encourage learners to frame the problem themselves. Instead of handing students a tightly defined task, present them with a realistic challenge and ask, “Where would you begin?” This not only cultivates critical thinking but activates deeper brain networks associated with creativity and real-world problem solving.

Foster Divergent Thinking

One of the hallmarks of design creativity is the ability to generate many possible solutions to a problem. This process, known as divergent thinking, involves connecting seemingly unrelated ideas, drawing analogies, and pushing past conventional answers. It’s also associated with right-brain activation—particularly in the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal regions tied to memory and mental imagery.

To foster divergent thinking in an online technical course, instructors can build in brainstorming activities and reflection prompts that go beyond “what’s right?” to ask “what else could work?” For instance, in a course on systems design, pose a challenge like “design a water filtration system for a desert environment,” and invite students to submit five distinct conceptual sketches or approaches. Tools like digital whiteboards, collaboration platforms, and creative forums can provide the space for learners to explore without judgment. Emphasizing breadth before depth in the early stages of learning taps into this essential phase of the creative process and helps learners become flexible, innovative thinkers.

Balance with Convergent Thinking

While divergent thinking opens up possibilities, convergent thinking brings clarity. It is the process of narrowing down options, analyzing trade-offs, and making decisions. According to Lazar, this phase activates more analytical regions of the brain—primarily the executive control networks in the prefrontal cortex. Together, these processes form what researchers now view as a “dual-process model” of creativity: oscillating between the expansive and the focused, the imaginative and the evaluative.

In online learning, this means we shouldn’t stop at brainstorming. Learners also need structured opportunities to analyze and refine their ideas. For example, after generating a set of potential designs for a circuit or a software interface, students can be asked to evaluate each against a rubric that considers feasibility, efficiency, and user experience. Peer reviews, instructor feedback, and self-assessment tools can support this critical convergence stage, helping students internalize the skills needed to assess and refine their own solutions. Building this evaluative loop into course design teaches not only technical accuracy but the judgment needed for innovation.

Integrate Emotion and Intuition

An especially intriguing insight from Lazar’s review is the role of emotion in design decisions. During evaluation and final decision-making, brain areas like the medial prefrontal cortex and default mode network become active. These regions are associated with emotion, intuition, and personal preference—what designers often describe as a “gut feeling.”

This has profound implications for online learning. While we often focus on cognitive load and performance metrics, we shouldn’t overlook the emotional and intuitive dimensions of learning. Giving students space to reflect—through design journals, voice notes, or video reflections—can deepen their engagement. When students articulate why they chose a specific solution or how they felt about their learning process, they begin to integrate their analytical and emotional selves. This not only mirrors how real designers work but helps learners develop self-awareness and intrinsic motivation.

Use the “Design Brain” to Train Technical Brains

The neuroscience evidence is clear: expert designers think differently than novices. Their brains activate differently, especially in regions responsible for hypothesis generation, analogical reasoning, and mental imagery. Importantly, these skills can be taught—but not through lectures alone.

To help online learners move from novice to expert, instructors must model their thinking processes. Use screen recordings, narrated walkthroughs, or “design thinking in action” videos where experts tackle real problems. Make your own reasoning visible: how you define a problem, discard options, draw analogies, and iterate. This transparency helps learners build mental models of expert thought. Scaffold assignments with opportunities for learners to practice these same steps—first with support, then independently. Over time, learners will internalize the cognitive habits of expert designers, which are essential for mastering technical fields in the real world.

Conclusion: Teach Like a Designer

Teaching technical subjects online is a challenge—but also an opportunity. By drawing on insights from neuroscience and design cognition, we can create courses that mirror how real problem-solving happens. Instead of just transmitting content, we can build learning environments that activate the same brain systems used by innovative designers, engineers, and thinkers.

When we do this, our courses don't just inform—they transform. They help students become agile, creative, and confident problem solvers, ready to tackle the complex challenges of tomorrow.

So the next time you open your LMS or course builder, pause and ask: am I laying out a lecture... or designing an experience?

Reference

Lazar, L. (2018). The Cognitive Neuroscience of Design Creativity. Journal of Experimental Neuroscience, 12, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1177/1179069518809664

Why Neuroscience Matters in Website and eLearning Design

When it comes to designing websites and eLearning programs, it's easy to get caught up in tools and templates—but there’s something deeper that can really elevate your work: understanding how the brain responds to design. Neuroscience isn’t just for labs and textbooks. It offers practical, powerful insights into how users take in information, stay engaged, and remember what they learn. And when we apply those insights, we can create learning experiences that are not just functional, but impactful.

Keeping those neurons firing! (recorded on Juneteenth by Susan Nash)

Take something as simple as color and shape. A recent study by Nissen and colleagues (2024) used brain imaging to explore how people respond to different website designs. They found that blue-colored designs and rounded buttons made people feel more relaxed, less skeptical, and more likely to engage. Why? Because our brains evolved to associate blue with safe, calming environments like the sky and water, and to view rounded shapes as approachable and non-threatening. On the other hand, sharp corners and lots of red can trigger the opposite: alertness, caution, even discomfort.

Here's an example: an online learning platform revamped their interface, swapping out harsh red accents and boxy buttons for soft blue tones and rounded shapes. The result? Learner engagement and satisfaction scores climbed significantly. People stayed on the site longer and completed more modules. It wasn’t just about making things look nice—it was about tapping into how the brain naturally processes visual cues.

Another real-world example: a global logistics company redesigned its compliance training. They color-coded content so users could instantly recognize urgency—red for critical warnings, green for safe actions, and blue for instructions. These visual signals aligned with how the brain reacts to color in high-stakes settings. The results were clear: learners performed better on scenario-based tasks and made fewer errors. Neuroscience explains this: when cognitive load is reduced through intuitive design, people can focus more on the content and less on figuring out what to do next.

Verbal processing matters too. Research on language areas of the brain (Amunts et al., 2004) shows that when information is structured in logical, semantic categories, people are better at remembering and using it. This has huge implications for how we write eLearning content. Organizing lessons into clearly defined themes, using consistent language, and providing visual anchors (like icons or mind maps) can support the brain’s natural way of retrieving meaning.

Why is the dog wearing a black sock? (sketch by Susan Nash) 

Now, imagine a virtual high school biology course that uses subtle attention cues—like pulsing highlights or animated arrows—to bring learners’ eyes back to key information when they start to drift. These cues could be timed to match typical attention cycles (about 10–12 minutes). While hypothetical, this kind of design could increase quiz scores and completion rates by keeping learners mentally “in the room.” It’s a simple, neuroscience-informed strategy with a big potential payoff.

One caution: just because something sounds scientific doesn’t mean it is. Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), for example, often uses fancy terms like “neuro” and “programming,” but as Roderique-Davies (2009) points out, it lacks real scientific backing. That’s why it’s important to focus on design practices supported by solid, peer-reviewed research.

In the end, understanding a little neuroscience goes a long way. It helps us create websites and learning experiences that feel intuitive, engaging, and even enjoyable. And best of all, it helps learners get what they need faster—and retain it longer. For anyone involved in design or training, that’s a win.

References

Amunts, K., Weiss, P. H., Mohlberg, H., Pieperhoff, P., Eickhoff, S., Gurd, J. M., ... & Zilles, K. (2004). Analysis of neural mechanisms underlying verbal fluency in cytoarchitectonically defined stereotaxic space—The roles of Brodmann areas 44 and 45. NeuroImage, 22(1), 42–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.12.031

Nissen, A., Riedl, R., & Schütte, R. (2024). Users’ reactions to website designs: A neuroimaging study based on evolutionary psychology with a focus on color and button shape. Computers in Human Behavior, 155, 108168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108168

Roderique-Davies, G. (2009). Neuro-linguistic programming: Cargo cult psychology? Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 1(2), 58–63. https://doi.org/10.1108/17581184200900014

Quality Checklist for Training and Professional Development Courses for Associations

The members of associations and professional societies share common goals and interests; the most important of these tends to be professional advancement, enhanced knowledge, and networking.

At the center of achieving professional development is often formal training taught by experts, with credits officially awarded at the end, and records maintained by the organization.

Because the organizations represent the profession, they are under an ethical as well as a practical obligation to maintain high quality. However, it’s not always easy to develop a course template or set of criteria.

For convenience, here is a quick checklist of content and quality attributes to be sure to include in your courses.  Keep in mind that this is simply a quick checklist. If you would like a more detailed description, and an explanation of how to build the course itself for online, on-site, or hybrid delivery, there are a number of in-depth guides which I refer to at the end of this post.

Checklist of Content and Quality Attributes
Here are the essential elements that you need to include in your courses.  You may wish to formalize the list, format, fonts, etc in what is commonly referred to as a Course Design Document (CDD), which also includes instructional design guidelines. 
At the same time, you may wish to create a template.

•    Title of the course and the reason for its relevance
•    Learning objectives:  What will the measurable outcomes be?  What should the learner be able to do or demonstrate at the end of the course? What are the criteria for success?
•    Overview / brief description of the course
•    Bullet point of topics covered
•    Course materials:  Map them to the learning objectives

        * Main content
        * Engagers
        * Check your knowledge / interactive activities

•    Collaborative and individual activities:  Map them to the learning objectives
•    Assessment strategy:

•     Activities in course – do they count?  How much? Why?
•     Class participation and collaborations – How do they count?
•     Final projects or exams

• Rubric
• Minimum passing score
• Practice for multiple choice

Checklist of Instructor Qualifications 
In order to satisfy quality standards, it is important that your instructor and main subject matter expert(s) and that they have pertinent experience.
•    Relevant Experience
•    Educational qualifications
•    Experience in instruction

Checklist for Utilizing Learning Analytics and Effective Evaluations to Ensure High Quality Training:
As you review your course and the way you anticipate that the students will interact and engage with it, take a moment to develop a profile of your learners, their attributes, and learning goals. What are their needs?  Understanding the audience will help shape the following:

• Learning Outcomes
• Course outcomes
• Course Design Document to tie LOs to content and assessment
• Types of analytics that are available
• Mastery learning
• Time on task
• Collaborations
• Discussion
• Formative evaluations
• Engaging analytics (Did You Know?)
• Summative evaluations
• Assessments tying to learning outcomes

As you plan the courses, be sure to make sure that they are up to date, relevant, and they address current and emerging needs and trends.

References (please contact Susan for a free pdf of each).

Nash, Susan S. (2009) E-Learner Survival Guide. Norman, OK: Texture Press.

PDF (free)
http://zenzebra.net/elearner-survival-guide.pdf

Nash, Susan S. (2013) E-Learning Success: From Courses to Careers. Norman, OK: Texture Press.
https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Success-Courses-Careers/dp/0985008105

Interview with Syreena Mortimer, Instructional Designer: Innovators in E-Learning Series

How can you bulletproof yourself in a quickly evolving world?  One of the best ways is to continually evolve by reinventing yourself.  But how? That is where the instructional designer does his or her magic.

The world of the instructional designer is challenging, constantly evolving, a wonderful place to express your creativity in a way that builds human capital through effective training, education, and knowledge transfer. 

Welcome to an interview with Syreena Mortimer, an instructional designer who has recently earned her Instructional Design Certification from Rollins College. 

1.  What is your name and your relationship to e-learning?
My name is Syreena Mortimer and I am an instructional designer.

Syreena Mortimer

2.  How did you become interested in instructional design?
I became friends with an instructional designer several years ago. She told me all about her job and introduced me to other instructional design contacts. They each shared unique perspectives about their job roles in academic, federal, and commercial projects. I was really inspired by the all of the different ways they shared information with their learners. Because I was looking for a way to expand my career, I realized that instructional design is a rapidly expanding field with many opportunities. My background is in library science and I wanted to explore ways to organize content and teach others, so I decided to pursue the Instructional Design Certificate at Rollins College.

3.  What are some of the uses of instructional design that excite you?
I love to teach others, so I get really excited when I get to chunk and structure content to make it more accessible to learners.

4.  When you worked on your certificate at Rollins College, what were some of the aspects that were most interesting to you?  What were the courses that you took?

I took six courses for my Instructional Design Certificate at Rollins College: Introduction to Instructional Design, Learner Motivation and Engagement, Learning in the Connected Age, Learning Technologies, Introduction to eLearning, and a Capstone class.

I was particularly interested in the Learner Motivation and Engagement course because I was exposed to the key concepts of learning psychology. I studied some thought-provoking theories and applied them in my daily life for designing learning, working in a team, and setting personal goals. The capstone course was the most useful to me because we created and enhanced our professional portfolios- something crucial for an instructional design career!

5.  How did you use your instructional design knowledge gained from the program?
The knowledge that I gained from the program directly supported my job interview performance as well as my daily work.  I was familiar with instructional design terms and processes, able discuss learning theories, and was ready to share my portfolio. In my daily work, I use these skills to contribute to my team instructional design team in order to create, develop, and implement web-based training.

6.  What sorts of opportunities have you been able to explore as an instructional designer?
I’ve had fun working on different types of projects over the past couple of years. I had an informal internship with an instructional design mentor at a publishing company, and I helped her create quick reference guides. We also interviewed stakeholders in order to update training guides. When I worked for a consulting company, I got to participate in planning meetings about the instructional design process for a commercial client, and then I was staffed on a military client. I traveled onsite to meet with client representatives and worked with a small team to create web-based training. I will be transitioning into the hospitality industry to be a learning designer, where I will create and conduct in-person and online trainings.



 

7.  What is the most enjoyable experience that you've had so far in designing instruction?
There have been many enjoyable experiences! One that stands out is when I learned how to use an eLearning authoring tool by watching videos online, and then I taught my team members how to use the tool- all within two weeks. When I taught them, first I shared an example of the end product, then demonstrated the development steps, and then I had the learners practice alone (with feedback for any questions). The training was a success and my team members were able to create mini-presentations using the tool within 1 hour.

8.  Please list the cloud-based apps you find most useful and fun.

Marvel App: great for collaborative prototyping
http://marvelapp.com/

Thing Link: fun and easy way to make pictures interactive
http://www.thinglink.com/

Creatley: design diagrams and charts
http://creately.com/

Prezi: create engaging presentations
http://prezi.com/

Canva: make infographics, posters, advertisements, and other graphic designs
http://www.canva.com/

Interview with Patti Shank, Innovators in E-Learning Series

Welcome to an interview with Patti Shank, a learning programs innovator whose ability to bring clarity to the design and implementation process is extremely useful in a time of rapid technological change, and a context of constantly shifting knowledge needs.

1. What is your name and your relation to e-learning?
    Patti Shank, PhD, CPT.  I got into e-learning before there was an "e." ;-) We just called it using technology to support learning or digitally enhanced learning or something like that. We simply had a need (in health care) to reach people who were busy (clinicians, patients) and started using technology (mostly video, at the time) to reach them. The Internet was just becoming available but it was complex to use and not ready for prime time.

    BTW, I think it's long past time to drop the "e." The technology piece is just part of the solution. It's never the entire solution. It never should have been split out in the first place.

2.  How did you get interested in e-learning?
    When the Internet became more widely available, I started  looking into it. But in some ways, we went backwards before going forward again. The Internet was mostly text at first.

    And we're finally getting to the point where we can move social interaction into place where it should be. Learning from and with each other is a natural part of learning. I'm hoping that purely asynchronous learning will start becoming more hybrid in the near future.
 
3.  What are the most overlooked issues in developing good learning programs?
    Using good instructional practice is the most overlooked issue! It's sad how much "instructional content" (text, video, audio, etc.) is not sound from a learning perspective. A recent research project I worked on showed that learning sciences may not be as available or easy to read as we think. Practice certainly shows that it doesn't get used as much as we'd hope. (I hope to change that, one person at a time.)

4.  What are key questions to ask when putting together an educational program?
    The key question for organizations is:

    1. What business and human performance outcomes are needed? 

    Here are some others:

    2. How do you know this is a problem? (What are the signs and symptoms?)

    3. What would you consider a "fix" for this problem?
    These are very high level. There are ton of others and I could go on for hours.

5.  What is your latest book? What is it about?
    My last book isn't on learning so might I talk about what's coming out soon? I'm working on how to easily apply learning sciences in everyday instructional content.

    We're taking the most common problems of learning content (text, video, audio, etc.) and showing how to apply learning sciences to those problems. And we're writing it so anyone who writes learning content (teacher, trainer, subject matter expert, etc) can do it.

6.  What are some of the things that you have found out about yourself and life in writing the book?
    We found it's hard to make difficult topics easy. (Duh. We know this!) So it took us a while to figure out a good process. But it's been super rewarding with many eureka moments!

7.  How can the ideas in the book help the individual reader?
    We want the materials to help the average instructional content builder build instructional content that makes it easier to learn. A lot of instructional content doesn't, which we know by the number of frustrated people.

8.  What are the key secondary messages in the book?
    There are some key ideas in the learning sciences that when applied well, make it FAR easier for people to learn.

9. What are your plans for the future?
    Expand on what I am talking about in 5-8. I'll be rebuilding my site (pattishank.com) in the very near future (next 3-4 months) to make this project available to all who need it. We want to make it easy for all people who teach others to make it easier to learn. Simple as that. I feel like it's the culmination of my life's work.

        Thank you!!

Using Web 2.0 in Online Courses: Creating Mystery & Engagement with a Collaborative Story Line

One interesting way to engage students is to put together a PowerPoint presentation that can be shared via social media, and which gives the opportunity to create a response presentation, and which includes a mystery / adventure story line.

In this case, which was for a basics of petroleum geology course, I created a six-slide PowerPoint presentation which I shared using Slideshare.  The story is based on a real-life class action suit in Oklahoma that had to do with the underpayment of oil and gas royalties. 

The learning objective was to discuss royalty payments on oil and gas production. 

To build the presentations, I used photographs I took in Istanbul as background graphics. I used cutout figures from eLearningArt.com, and I modified graphics using PicMonkey.com.  

I then uploaded it to SlideShare.com, and I shared the link via an email announcement in the course, which uses Blackboard. I encouraged students to post responses in the Discussion Board area.

http://www.slideshare.net/beyondutopia/underpaid-royaltiesconv

Here’s the concept and call for collaboration:

Incident in Istanbul: The Secret Files & the Case of the Underpaid Royalties 

Zounds! Maria has stumbled across secret files – they have information that shows that a midstream transportation company has been underpaying royalty owners by deducting line charges.
This could be one of the largest class action suits in her state’s history. But, she needs to explain the situation.

Help her explain what is going on and how oil and gas royalty owners are paid for production.
    Who is involved?
    Who pays the royalties? How much?
    How are the payments (and the deductions determined?
    When are they decided?)

We need your expert help! Please create a presentation that helps a royalty owner, or potential jury member (in the case of a Class Action lawsuit) understand what has happened, and also what kind of information Maria needs to collect.

***
This example was also used in an Instructional Design Certificate program (Rollins College) to provide an example of how simple storyline presentations can be used with Web 2.0 tools, and to boost engagement and collaboration.

Design for Learning in E-Learning: Making the Notion of "Quality" Concrete and Implementable

Design for Learning focuses on how to transform existing educational situations into desired situations where it is easier to achieve learning outcomes (Guislandi & Raffaguelli, 2015). The emphasis is on quality, and in doing so, the approach links the vision of how quality should be enacted in a program to the actual activities and procedures that are built into the learning program.

In the learning design, it is important to think of how the design of the course can affect ways of knowing, and also how to connect to improvements in practice.

Breaking Down "Quality" into Recognizable Elements

It is really all about breaking down quality into recognizable elements, and moving "quality" from an abstraction to something that can be recognized, measured, reviewed, and remediated (McNaught etal, 2012).

1. System: Make sure that the system used in learning is of high quality.  This means that it is necessary to review the learning goals and the potential users of a learning system (whether it be a learning management system, or a LMS-free approach) to assure that it can deliver what it needs to deliver.

2.  Experience:  Make sure that the learner / user experience is a positive one, and that it is friendly, not just for the learners, but also for the facilitators.

3.  Culture:  What are the institutional values? How and when are certain high-quality elements perceived?  What is the definition of quality?  How does it extend to a sense of respect for diversity, as well as efforts to build an authentic structure that can help learners and facilitators feel confident about their ability to achieve the mission of the organization and their goals as they relate to the institution.

4.  Flexible and Forward-Looking Vectors of Communication and Change:   Be willing to adapt existing structures to ones that are more flexible, and which accommodate changing technologies and locations. Ideally, learning organizations should be able to accommodate and even welcome individuals in all situations with a minimum of disruption. Further, the quality elements should extend to encouraging experimentation and innovation, with a high tolerance for failure (and success, which can bring about its own stresses and stressers).

University Degree Programs / Field Research Courses

Here's a concrete example. Let's say that we are a geology department in a state university, and we have a number of field courses. We've been intensely impacted by technology, not only in the way in which we communicate our findings, but also in the way in which field investigations are conducted.

We require all our graduate students to go out into the field and map outcrops and retrieve samples. However, our administration as well as our insurance providers have recently pulled the plug on the way that we were doing things in the past. They claim that there is not enough quality control in the design of the courses, so what the students bring back from the field are of dubious quality. Worse, they're considered dreadfully unsafe; only last month one student tumbled off a cliff and impaled herself on a cholla cactus. She was alone, and it was a minor miracle that she made it back alive. One might say it was only sheer luck that the escarpment was only 15 feet high, there was a ledge that partially broke her fall, and the cholla cactus plant was small and it broke apart upon impact. The weather was chilly and wet, so she was wearing pants and rain gear, which help minimize the impact of the cactus spines.

Details and luck notwithstanding, what happened to her was a clear indication that the department needs to go back and revisit Design for Learning and look at the four criteria:

1. System:  It's possible that the system itself is not giving people an opportunity to plan their research projects well. There may not be effective templates, and it may be important to customize the approach, given that each student's research project will be slightly different.

2.  Experience:  What is the user's experience? For the female student who fell down an escarpment and impaled herself on cholla cactus, it's less than ideal.  But it could have been worse.  Her experience in the field should not be confused with the learning design; the design should be developed so that she had a positive experience in planning and implementing her learning program.

3.  Culture: If the culture of the organization puts a high priority on eliminating all risk and all potential exposure to liability, then they may lose students. They will certainly lose innovative impulses, and many of their creative, inspired (and inspiring) thinkers will be drawn to different places, where they will potentially contribute transformative breakthroughs which could tangibly / substantially positively impact the institution itself and affect its persistence / viability.

4. Flexibility:  Communication could be improved. How about requiring digital inspections before going into the field and maintain an archive of photos of the sites (all of which are geotagged) and the gear.  Also, it would be possible to use low-cost satellite phones if there is no cell phone coverage. It's not always possible to work in teams, and so it's necessary to at least have a digital nanny.

Conclusions & Observations

Design for Learning articles are often cloaked in rather obtuse language which can be less than concrete. In order to really grasp the importance of the concept and the potential contribution to an organization, to learners, instructors, and a community, it's important to look at case studies. The concept of Design for Learning does, in fact, provide a powerful mechanism for operationalizing "quality" by breaking it into observable, measurable actions and by providing a platform for dissecting case studies with the idea of incorporating them in one's own learning programs.


REFERENCES


Ghislandi, Patrizia M. M.; Raffaghelli, Juliana E. Forward-oriented designing for learning as a means to achieve educational quality. British Journal of Educational Technology. (Mar2015)  Vol. 46 Issue 2, p280-299.

McNaught, Carmel, Paul Lam, and Kin Cheng. (2012)"Investigating Relationships Between Features Of Learning Designs And Student Learning Outcomes." Educational Technology Research & Development 60.2: 271-286. Professional Development Collection. Web. 11 June 2015.

The Best Possible Collaborations in the M-Learning Space

I've been doing quite a bit of thinking about the way in which new needs and technologies are impacting the way education and training are prepared, delivered, and administered. All the advantages of m-learning come to the forefront: on-demand, ubiquitous (esp with wifi), and practical. There are also new advantages as well, which have to do with the way in which multimedia and social networks make collaboration and the use of multiple types of content possible.

As a result, there are some significant changes in the way in which materials are developed and deployed, and there are also differences in expectations of the learners / users.

The high-definition, high production value end of the instructional materials spectrum. Materials for m-learning can also be collaborative and created by learners.

Changes in Development / Deployment: Because the technology changes quickly and because instructional materials emerge quickly, it's very important to have a quick-to-market platform which incorporates existing multimedia and resources.

Here are a few considerations:
    * The LMS will be a shell from which content is accessed
    *  It may be desirable to develop programs that do not use an LMS, but instead, utilize a bundle of products, such as Google materials
    *  Assessment can be done via a lite version of an LMS or via collaborative archiving (GDrive, Dropbox, etc.)
    *  Social media can be used for communicating with group members and making them aware of resources (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook), but not for confidential elements
    *  Instructional materials will be available in a "just in time" manner, and not necessarily developed months or years in advance
    *  Courses respond to changing needs (regulations, new technologies, new job opportunities) and so are often in flux

Implications for Credit Evaluation:
    * It may be necessary to evaluate the *type* of materials, and be comfortable with the fact that a textbook will not be the only materials
    *  The educational institution would simply provide representative samples

Increased Focus on Collaboration:  Collaboration is important and with new technologies students have more flexibility than ever to learn from and with each other.  This changes the nature of tasks and assignments, and also the way in with learning takes place.

Here are a few considerations:
    * Increased number of games and gamification that should be situated and purposeful (ties to learning objectives) not random or simply amusing
    * More interactive uses of shared texts, images, maps, and videos that are produced by students and posted in social media (youtube, instagram, etc.)
    * More need for informal communication done quite quickly (via Twitter, Google Hangouts, WhatApp, Skype, FaceTime, etc.)
    *  May not be possible to evaluate the nature of the collaborative processes -- but important to provide guidelines
    *  Will be important to have examples of products / projects to be completed by students
    *  Rubrics may seem a bit subjective, and so the process itself should be important and students need to reflect on their learning journey, and focus on meta-cognition
    *  Experiential learning / prior knowledge are easily incorporated in collaborations

Implications for Credit Evaluation:
    *  Rubrics should take into consideration the process as well as the final product
    *  Incorporate meta-cognitive strategies for instruction and evaluation
    *  Games / gamification should focus on situated learning that can build on prior knowledge

Changes in Assessment / Evaluation:  M-Learning makes assessment via gamification, interactive quizzes, and collaboration very convenient.

Here are some considerations:
    * Gamification should be easy to implement and change in order to maintain maximum situatedness
    * Portfolios can include multimedia, with clear tie-ins to learning objectives
    *  Rubrics need to be clear and also to incorporate a learning journal to reflect on metacognition
    *  The process of collaboration itself should be a part of the assessment, and can be done by means of a learning journal
    *  Interactive quizzes should be of the appropriate difficulty
    *  Quizzes should work easily on all devices
    *  Collaborative efforts (portfolios, projects, etc.) need to be clearly situated in the learning setting / goals, and appropriate scaffolding needs to have been developed
    *  Collaborative efforts need to clearly tie to learning objectives
    *  Allow students to build on prior knowledge and experience when possible, and form collaborations so that they can incorporate experiential learning

Implications for credit evaluation:
    *  Need to be clearly tied to learning objectives
    *  Higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy often represented in collaborations
    *  Interactive quizzes can be effective for the lower level Bloom's taxonomy elements (identification, etc.)
    * Institutions need to provide a backup / contingency assessments in case of massive technology fail   

Final Thoughts
It is hard to predict the future, except to know that there will be changes, and the demand for new information, skills, and education will continue to be strong. There seems to be an increasing sense of urgency, and those institutions that are nimble and can provide knowledge transfer and skills building in a quick, effective, easy-to-implement and easy-to-complete manner will be the most successful of education / training providers. Entrepreneurship will always be rewarded, especially for those entrepreneurs are particularly adept at recognizing, assessing, and taking advantage of opportunities.

Susan Smith Nash eating fresh coconut, thinking about training and education that includes collaboration and can be accessed via smartphone, laptop, tablet, or regular computer, and which does not require much bandwidth.

Interview with Jeff Kissinger, Rollins College Certificate in Instructional Design: Innovators in Instructional Design Series

The need for innovative instructional design that works in many different types of organizational settings for many different types of learners is surging now with the advent of mobile devices. Welcome to an interview with Jeff Kissinger, Rollins College. Jeff designs and administers new programs in one of the nation's most innovative college, which is known for its passionate approach to instruction and learner engagement.

What is your name and your relation to elearning?
Hi, my name is Jeff Kissinger, Jeff, and what is my relation to eLearning?  Well, at my core I am a curious learner and teacher, always have been.  I am fascinated by how we make sense of the world around us, interact with each other, and attempt to gain novel insights.  eLearning, to me, is connected learning, which I suppose one could easily say of all learning; that it doesn’t happen in isolation and is always situated.  But, for the sake of the topic and this question, and your blog Susan, eLearning might be considered connected, social, omnipresent learning enabled by various technologies and ecosystems.

My relation to eLearning is quite simply my love of teaching, learning, and tools and creative ideas that serve these. I began to develop a true passion and connoisseurship for this convergence many, many years ago teaching students with exceptionalities applying adaptive technologies for their diverse needs at an urban high school in Orlando.  I got to see first-hand how creative uses of tools and technologies could enable higher student learning and outcomes, but more so than that how it changed their lives.  From that teaching experience alone I knew that I had to always be striving for better understanding, competence, and capacity to help create the best learning opportunities possible.  So, again, to me, I see eLearning as a shortcut to describe the learning in our connected age, whether formal or informal, and where modality is not the predominant defining factor.
  
What do you consider your core philosophy of elearning?
My philosophy of elearning, and simply learning, is based on a solid foundation of open access to knowledge, critique, and creation.  I began my career teaching English in a rural area of Florida but truly began to develop a connoisseurship at the nexus of pedagogy and technology while teaching students with exceptionalities in an urban high school.  This experience planted the seed for a life-long thirst to uncover, explore, and share novel learning affordances of emerging teaching/learning practices and technologies.

At the core of these inquiries is a focus on Connectivism and the omnipresent social layer of our modern existence and the necessary literacies we must continuously hone.   In my teaching, regardless of context or modality, I see the world through a multidisciplinary lens, where technology and tools serve the learners and seek to improve how we learn. 

How do you decide what kinds of instructional technology to use?  
Drawing on my resourceful, scrappy years teaching in special education I was always searching for creative ways to enhance student learning opportunities with whatever tools and technology I could get my hands on.  Ironically, in those days most of us wanted more PC-based tools, and I had a bunch of hand-me-down Apple LCIII’s in my adaptive technology classroom/lab.  So, I learned early on to use what I had, in the best possible way, however what this helped me fine-tune in my own teaching was to focus on the learner and not the tool.

The tool will present itself if you have this non-technocentric lens.  This perspective has served me and my students well over the years guiding key decisions in instructional technology selection and application.  I guess the other thing I would say, and why I feel Apple technologies align so well with teaching and learning is that the tools need to become common and fold into everyday life and use.  We can’t have environments and tools that create needless cognitive overload or distractions that get in the way of why we are here, which is to learn, create, share, discover…

Where do you think that elearning is going?  I think when one looks out on the learning landscape we see plate tectonics shifting.   There is a mad gold rush within ed tech, and it seems like there are new ideas and tools popping up daily, which I love.  The challenge will be to make sense of it all, in a sober fashion, to best serve learners.

Practically speaking, I see analytics beginning to emerge in useful ways, a continued move to learner-centeredness, and a unbundling and disaggregation of resources, services, and paths.  Designs, practices, and enabling technologies that foster this organic unbundling of available learning options, focusing on competencies and more authentic higher levels of learning and assessment, will be the successful models that emerge and persist.   

What is Rollins College's new Certificate in Instructional Design? Who is it for?  
The Rollins College Instructional Design program is a learning experience comprised of 5 online courses and a capstone course that is offered in a 6 month sequence.  Designed for adult learners by expert practitioners and leaders in the learning and training field.  These courses are taught by faculty and leaders from higher education, k12, and workplace training.

The learning outcomes are:

• Apply project management principles for local and virtual workgroups
• Develop connoisseurship for learning technologies along with current and burgeoning theories and practices
• Effectively employ technology in the design, development, management, and evaluation of knowledge creation
• Participate in the professional growth of the learning design and training communities of practice.
• Develop and practice a reflective commitment of continuous improvement to creating quality learning opportunities

6. Create an instructional program for a defined population and purpose
The topics covered include: instructional alignment, learning motivation and engagement, assessment, mobile and social learning, eLearning, learning technologies, analytics, and authoring. 

Why now? What makes this ID certificate unique?
The Rollins College Instructional Design curriculum has been a labor of love and has been a culmination of my and my colleague’s years of experience teaching and learning.  What we looked out at the ID job market we saw a misalignment with programs, degrees, and certificates.  We wanted to create an experience for learning professionals, or those seeking to break into these careers, that gave them the foundational knowledge to make effective learning design decisions that produced tangible outcomes.

Employing practical, authentic learning activities and assessments, the curriculum is designed to serve professionals in workplace training, k12, and higher education.  Unlike many of the ID programs we saw, which were heavily technocentric and didactic, we designed a set of learning experiences that we would have wanted years ago that affords graduates the confidence, skill set, and connoisseurship to be successful. 

Interview with Aashita Jadhav, School in Mobile, Innovators in E-Learning Series

Mobile learning via smartphone has been a possibility for learners since the earliest smartphones (T-Mobile Sidekick was an early example), but the the recent explosion in apps, access, and the essential ubiquity of mobile devices, there is a growing demand for instructional content that meshes with the learner's lifestyle and learning habits. In a smartphone world, developers can no longer simply try to make their content mobile-friendly (early example: smartphone science class). Developers have to think of the mobile environment first, and then make it also accessible via laptop. The best schools now must incorporate new strategies for delivering m-learning. One innovator in mobile learning is Aashita Jadhav, whose SchoolinMobile.org has developed a platform to enable expanded access to instructional content that is both engaging and effective. 

What is your name and relation to elearning / mlearning?

My name is Aashita Jadhav, the founder of the SchoolinMobile.org 

What is School in Mobile? 

School in Mobile ( SchoolinMobile.org) is a FREE educational platform (accessible by web and as an FREE Android App)

OUR MISSION - Every Student in the world to have access to learning material, the green way.

School in Mobile provides the following benefits:

•                Fast - Students can learn a chapter in less than 30 minutes including test.

•                Useful - Helps students pass the STAR test and thus helps improve the school rating.

•                Fun - Students get cool badges for getting good score from the quiz.

•                Green - As the content is in digital format , it helps the environment.

What needs does School in Mobile address?

I consider that we are fortunate to be at the time of  three big revolutionary shifts - - mobile, social and cloud. Every industry is trying to make the best use of these advancements. School in Mobile is helping the Education sector with this shift to make learning an engaging process.

Students have been caring heavy textbooks around for decades. Today technological advancement make it possible to change this.

School in Mobile provide ease of access , speed of completing a chapter and finally helps them pass the grade tests.

What kinds of devices does School in Mobile work on?

School in Mobile is practically available on all devices.

•                A FREE Android app is already present on Google marketplace.

•                For all other devices ( including Apple devices) , it can be accessed through the web link

•                We just launched FREE Chrome Web Store app

What are the underlying learning strategies and philosophies in School in Mobile?

School in Mobile is not just provider of content in form of books or videos.

It is an end-to-end platform for student to learn as well as test their knowledge.

Proven research shows that students learn by going through summary notes and retain the knowledge for longer duration.

School in Mobile provides

•                Ready to use summary notes in text as well as movie format. 

•                Once the students have studied a chapter at school. They can revise it on School in Mobile in less than 30 minutes including quiz test.

•                Engagement is increased by this quick and easy tool. Also the cool badges which students get from test makes it fun.

How can you overcome the problems of access to the cloud? What happens when students do not have wifi access to the cloud or wifi connectivity?

Currently School in Mobile is available on the cloud and accessible everywhere. We are working on the next phases to make it easy to download on the device making it available without wifi connectivity. This is crucial for developing countries.

What are the next steps for School in Mobile?

The  steps are really exciting for us.

We are working on enhancing  the platform by several ways like

•                Making  more grades, subjects and chapters available

•                Add capability to login using facebook and google accounts

•                Open the platform to allow teacher add content. We are partnering with more teachers . Any teacher can reach us at info@schoolinmobile.com

Also we are working to deploy this to other countries.

How can students and teachers try out School in Mobile?

You can download the Android App from Google marketplace.

OR 

Access the web version ( for all devices including Apple) from our website ( SchoolinMobile.org)