Instructional Design and Online Learning Environments ― Design Alchemy

The provision of online learning is increasing almost exponentially, with both established and emerging educational institutions creating new and revised courses to meet the needs of students demanding flexible access and delivery. However, the staff recruited to support this development often does not have the design skills or experience to generate courses that bear the hallmarks of effective online learning experiences While the principles associated with the practice of instructional design provided pedagogical guidance for these design efforts, it remains commonplace for courses to present as little more than information delivery with no clear strategies for student engagement and interaction. The purpose of this book is to expand on the design concepts documented by the lead author and to present both a design framework and design strategies that will allow organisations to provide courses that embed the affordances of the online, social environment and maximize opportunities for engagement and learning in formal learning contexts. The authors contend that to truly achieve the potential of learning in an online environment, designers need to be alchemists - ensuring the current face-to-face classroom "gold" is not turned to lead and to transform those "leaden" online courses that do not engage or provide interaction into motivating and engaging "golden" learning experiences.

Dr. Roderick Sims began working with the PLATO computer-based learning system in 1979 and subsequently has held senior academic posts in Australia universities before commencing consultancy services to higher education, specializing in design strategies for online learning. His current clients include public and private educational providers in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.Dr. Lisa Marie Johnson is a lifelong learner who serves as an Academic Trainer and Consultant with Pearson eCollege and eTeaching Institute faculty. She has taught and designed online and eLearning web based training in a variety of formats since the early 2000's for a variety of organizations and institutions. Lisa Marie also teaches courses in social sciences and education in higher education and considers it an honor to be a part of anyone's educational journey whether that journey is formal or informal in nature.