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Developing Practical Knowledge and Skills of Online Instructional Design Students through Authentic Learning and Real-World Activities

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Abstract

Integrating authentic learning opportunities into online courses can be particularly challenging. These challenges have contributed to a lack of examples (i.e., case studies) of how online instructors have successfully integrated authentic learning into their courses (Vo et al. 2018). This article fills this gap by describing the process of redesigning an online graduate-level instructional design course to incorporate authentic learning activities. This course integrated authentic learning principles and a real-world project situated in a real-life context, allowing students to develop instructional design skills, including project management, stakeholder negotiation, and product design, development, and testing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Purdue University, 100 N. University St., Beering Hall, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Victoria L. Lowell

  2. Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Robert L. Moore

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  1. Victoria L. Lowell
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Correspondence to Victoria L. Lowell.

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Lowell, V.L., Moore, R.L. Developing Practical Knowledge and Skills of Online Instructional Design Students through Authentic Learning and Real-World Activities. TechTrends 64, 581–590 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-020-00518-z

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