Designing a lesson for online learning is tedious and tough. The toughness relies on how much skills and knowledge do we have to undertake and counter the challenges on the ‘three knots’ of lesson design. I understand that to create an effective instructional system online. I need to dive into the trench of the learning environment.
The nature of the three knots of lesson design rely on the Practice-driven conceptual ID models which “can be developed empirically using data derived from actual ID practices when relevant literature or scholastic experts have not yet been identified” (Lee & Jang, ,2014).
Before designing a lesson, one should have teaching experience. Through teaching experience, we know better how the learning environment looks like and how the students can adapt to the learning environment created by us, a teacher.
Lee & Jang (2014) stated that practitioners with ample experience in ID practices can provide great insights into various aspects of instructional design, and their expertise, when explicated, can be highly useful in constructing ID models.
So, I hardly suggest good instructional designers who want to be involved in the development of an online learning environment; they need to have teaching experience as what I may call a teacher, instructor, coach, facilitator, etc.
The three knots of lesson design is part of my experience developing online learning. Its comprises of two-cycle of development. In each cycle of development, I need to understand the nature of the components in it: the first cycle, the three parts; the learner’s preferences, content and lesson design. Data is gained from my teaching experiences. Sometimes we need to make assumptions which I refer to as the “hypothesis of the three knots of lesson design,” where we can get the answers after the development process. We can also obtain the data from the previous study to gain insight from it, to create an indicator of specification as a guide to create an effective online learning environment.
In the second cycle, which involves the Learning Management System (LMS), knowing the features and the anatomy of the LMS is crucial. Exploring the LMS features will enable us to create a better learning process based on our instructional strategies. Most LMS have similar characteristics with different User Interface. There are many ‘switches’ in the LMS that enable us to install the ‘nut’ and ‘bolts’ of our instructional strategies.
The third knot is the outcome of the development, where all learning mechanism is tested which affect the learners’ satisfaction on the learning environment and the ability of the learners to gain skills and knowledge after going through the learning process.
This article intends to share my experience, which may not fit your learning context and situations. May you have other suggestions? Please write your comments
Reference
Lee, Jihyun & Jang, Seonyoung. (2014). A methodological framework for instructional design model development: Critical dimensions and synthesized procedures. Educational Technology Research and Development. 62. 10.1007/s11423-014-9352-7.