Principles of Design for Online Learning: A Short Guide

Design matters. 

There are rules, guidelines at the very least. You can’t just create something the morning of class, pick your favorite colors, throw in some clip art or stolen Google image search results and expect magic. Aesthetics matter.

We live in the world of screen. Our students live in the world of interactive, clamoring for attention, screen. Not paper. Paper is increasing quaint. Worksheets in a popular 1990s font detailing the Mar’s rover landing screams, well, anachronism.

And this isn’t change for the sake of change. There are some real problems the guidelines address. Problems that get at the heart of teaching – that is, 

how do I help the learning process?

This is important. Teachers will always create learning objects for their students (as will students create their own learning objects). Increasingly, those objects will be digital.

It’s good to have context on quality.

Why

The purpose of this guide is to walk folks through simple principals of design. Make better content and see the rewards.