June 30, 2017

10 Sources of Inspiration for an Instructional Designer

If you are an instructional designer, you are in constant search for new ways to present information. This is both ups and downs of our work, because sometimes all your ideas fade away. Proven and tried-out schemes are boring. The only thing that seems to change in every new course is the colors of the buttons and the order of words.

I believe that this state of mind indicates that you need to slow down, close all tabs, windows and programs, and concern over your inspiration. There is a variety of useful resources. I would like to share my own list of them with you:
1
I visit these websites for new visual images. I usually search by keywords or topics, associated with the project. I keep a collection of all worthy ideas. Sometimes, the idea should wait for its project.
2
Сollectui.com
This website stores a collection of UI and UX design examples. They are very useful when developing an interface for a course, tasks, and interactive elements. UPD: Sorry, the site is down now.
3
It is often enough to look through these colorful cards, so one of them would catch your eye and bring you an idea. They are especially useful for story writing.
4
Storycubes or Brainsparker applications
They are useful for plot creation and storytelling.
5
The pack of cards, which describes about 50 different game mechanics. You can mix the cards and create a foundation for various types of games. It is a great tool if you plan to use gamification in the course and want to go beyond points and badges.
6
Game educational applications, such as Lumosity and Duolingo.
I mix business with pleasure: at the same time study and look for elements, that can be used in my courses.
7
The websites of other educational designers and e-learning companies
Shift is one of my favorites.
8
Go to museums
In particular, I fond of museums of contemporary art, where you can find out how to combine the uncombinable
9
Our LEVEL Team
Some cool ideas for courses have come up in the discussions, conversations, or in real life. The right people around are the best inspiration.
10
Silence
Stop, do not search for anything, stay in silence. Sometimes, it is the best tool to generate new ideas.
A personal selection of inspiration helps you break the deadlock. But the list is not the most important part, it's much more important to know how to use it. Your active actions only will bring to result.

Wish you inspiration!
by INESSA ABRAMYAN