Creating an elearning portfolio

I have been struggling with the idea of putting my personal online elearning portfolio together for months. I just finished my Masters degree and I needed to market myself in Instructional Design. But the problem was that I didn't have the material I really wanted to put together something that really represented me and my skills.

The problem is that I didn't really know what should be represented. I didn't have samples of the development work I did at my previous job two years ago, and I didn't want to show sample of the projects I was currently working on.

Tom Kuhlmann again posts a relevant and timely blog article on the importance of developing a personal elearning portfolio.

Now I have a starting point to pull together samples, or to create new ones that showcase the important elements:

• Instructional Design
• Graphic Design
• Diversity of projects
• Project Management
• Writing
• Technology

I'll start...right after my vacation.

Teach them how to think, rather than do

Telling ain't training. It's been said before many times. Yet, many courses still take the approach of 'just tell them what they need to know'.

Well, Cathy Moore brings up a good point when she says "It’s easiest to just tell them what to do, but what we need to do is to teach them how to think."

Adult learners want to know that the time they invest in training will be immediately valuable to their job. Part of accomplishing that is to present scenarios that do not portray solid black-or-white instances. Let there be some ambiguity, because that's what real life is, right?

Remember, the goal of training is to change behavior. So give learners a chance to make decisions and then show the results of those decisions. Not all of them will be the correct ones, but by understanding why it was incorrect and how to improve upon it will be more effective than just clicking through multiple choice quizzes.

What Everybody Ought To Know About Instructional Design

Article: What Everybody Ought to Know About Instructional Design

It answers the question “What is the role of the instructional designer? And how do I convey that to my clients and subject matter experts?"

The article is worth the read, but I’ll summarize:

• The instructional designer is to help learners make sense of the new information they get [from e-learning courses].
• ID’s help the learner focus on very specific pieces of information by providing context and perspective.
• ID’s help compress the learning process saving time and money.
• ID’s present a clear and meaningful purpose for the learners.