Beyond the Classroom

  Blended learning is an educational approach that combines traditional face-to-face classroom instruction with online learning activities. In general, this kind of approach can be more flexible and can create a better personal experience for students, especially taking into consideration the benefits of engaging them in a face-to-face perspective and a digital perspective.  However, we normally see blended learning in an educational setting like K-12 and higher education. But blended learning is not just for the academic setting. Corporations can benefit from using the practice too.  Tim Slade, one of my favorite instructional designer "influencer", has a video on designing blending learning for the corporate world.  The main takeaway from this video is how, and why, to use blending learning in the corporate world is: Learning evolves – our teaching should too. It's an ongoing process, not a single event, and needs a flexible approach. You can beat the forgetting ...

I recently discovered Design Thinking, which is a great approach to structuring designs, especially for corporations. Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that prioritizes empathy, creativity, and iteration. This process is what we do all the time. There are five stages of Design Thinking which are:  Empathize,  Define,  Ideate,  Prototype,  Test Here's an infographic I made that delves deeper into the approach. This short Youtube Video titled "Design Thinking and How it Can Help Instructional Designers" should be watched for a visual explanation of what Design Thinking is and how you can apply it in your own work. He also recommend further learning into this by mentioning a d school workshop which I am also including. It is a bit longer but well worth the watch! Design Thinking enables instructional designers to create learning experiences that resonate with employees' needs and preferences. Designers can explore unconventional approa...