Advanced Certificate in Instructional Design

Required (two courses - 6 units):

LDT 540 - Educational Technology

LDT 540 is a foundations course -- introducing the fields of educational technology, instructional design, and performance support. Students are oriented to systematic approaches to a) the design of materials, products, strategies and policies that influence individual and organizational performance; b) analysis of learning challenges/opportunities (and determination of and justification for appropriate solutions); c) development of different learning events and products, and d) development and assessment of outcomes as instructional objectives.

Students are also oriented to the varied roles LDT graduates (as human performance professionals) play within their organizations and the myriad of settings in which they work (corporate, K-12, higher education, government, military, nonprofit).

LDT 544 - Instructional Design

Instructional design (ID or ISD) is a core component of our field, and a foundational element of performance technology. The skills targeted in this course will help you develop instructional and training assets and the competence to tackle any aspect of performance technology you choose to undertake--performance support materials, coaching programs, on-the-job training, and so much more. You'll conceptualize and plan learning events that call for content development and media integration using simple, yet pragmatic, approaches that take into account an array of instructional and motivational theories.

Electives (12 units)

12 units from LDT courses numbered at the 600- and 700-levels only, as approved by the graduate adviser. Please note that LDT 690, ED 795A and ED 795B do not count toward certificate electives. Also, note that classes taken for the Advanced Certificate in Instructional Design do not count toward the master’s degree in Learning Design and Technology once the certificate is earned.

Potential electives include:

LDT 640 - Psychology of Technology-Based Learning

LDT 640 is designed to help us use an understanding of how the mind works to address some of the most salient professional challenges we encounter as we tackle learning and performance problems.

At the conclusion of the course, you will be able to:

• Explain key concepts related to memory and learning in formal and informal environments.
• Explain and apply research-based principles for improving technology-based learning environments through consideration of psychological factors including motivation, attention, metacognition, and emotion.
• Explain and apply principles for maximizing the effectiveness of instructional multimedia.
• Compare, contrast, and critique emergent learning theories and models including connectivism and Universal Design for Learning.
• Reflect upon the technologies used in this course, the principles and theories explored in this course, and your own experience to develop a personal learning guide for yourself.

LDT 650 - eLearning Design and Development

Theories and models of online learning at home, work, school and university. Analysis, design, and development of elearning courses and systems. Future societal and economic impacts of learning at a distance.

While some in our field make a living creating materials for face to face, stand-up instruction, most are deeply involved in designing digital learning experiences that are distributed far and wide. How can we maximize the benefits of elearning and take advantage of its unique affordances? In this course you will learn to design a complete online course and develop asynchronous and synchronous modules as part of that course. You will also become familiar with current tools and platforms for elearning and extrapolate current trends to anticipate the future of online education.

At the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Explain the characteristics, benefits and tradeoffs among teaching modalities like flipped classrooms, blended synchronous delivery and MOOCs in terms of personalization, transactional distance, and motivational requirements.
• Use action mapping to analyze a performance gap and identify opportunities to deploy elearning.
• Apply learning analytics tools to identify behaviors that lead to student success;
• Describe future trends in elearning technologies, platforms and policies;
• Create opportunities for learner engagement with carefully designed interactivity;
• Design and develop a complete elearning module using a variety of technologies.

LDT 670 - Exploratory Learning Through Simulation and Games

Design, evaluation, and use of simulations and games for education and training. Instructional applications of role plays and board games. Application of gamification to non-game tasks. Theories of motivation and interest.

LDT 670 deals with aspects of the design process that are sometimes neglected. To design an instructional game well, you must be both systematic and intuitive, analytic and artistic. In mastering the ISD process, you've learned to handle the cognitive side of instruction (which, almost by definition, is the most important). In LDT 670, you'll also learn to deal with the affective side of instruction. Throughout the course we'll be addressing the questions: What makes some activities interesting or fun? How can we maximize enjoyment without sacrificing instructional quality? It's a difficult and fascinating challenge for any learning designer.

At the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Explain the overall process of learning game design and distinguish it from other formats for teaching.
• Explain theories and models of motivation and affect including Malone & Lepper’s intrinsic motivation taxonomy, Csikszentmihalyi’s flow, and Mehrabian & Russell’s model of emotions.
• Design and develop a tabletop game to achieve specific learning outcomes.
• Define gamification, provide examples, and apply gamification principles to an authentic situation to motivate behavior.
• Apply proven learning design principles to the design of an online game.

LDT 671 - Learning Environment Design

LDT 671 provides a comprehensive and deep review and extension of the process of learning design. It views our field in ways similar to the ways in which architects do their work: not as a set of steps to be checked off, but as a complex, wholistic process requiring multiple points of view. It the course we will examine the process of design and look at learning environments as a system of people, places, environments, tasks, interactions, communications and outcomes.

At the end of this course you be able to:

• explain the history and research on active learning in both face to face and online contexts;
• describe techniques for collaborative and competitive activities that lead to learning;
• explain how room arrangement, furnishings and media can be optimized for learning;
• use creative design techniques to analyze needs and opportunities and generate ideas that are both novel and useful;
• document an innovative design for a course segment including the online and physical spaces in which it would be conducted.

LDT 680 - Evaluation Technologies for the Performance Technologists

LDT 680 is a practicum that orients you to fieldwork. You will consult with clients, familiarize yourselves with the high-tech tools on which today’s evaluators rely, and read and reflect on evaluation theory and practice. It has a performance technology spin. Client challenges will vary; as important (and as you might imagine), few will be crystal clear. You’ll emerge from this course ready not only to design, develop, and implement performance interventions ... but also to determine their worth or merit and ways to improve them. LDT 680 is organized around four phases:

• Planning the evaluation
• Collecting data
• Analyzing and interpreting the data
• Reporting

LDT 684 - Management of Educational Technology

LDT 684 covers the basics of project management and, more specifically, how it is employed in the field of instructional design. School teachers responsible for setting up a network or conducting in-service workshops, technical writers charged with preparing interactive help manuals, and instructional designers involved in designing just-in-time support systems all exemplify people who will benefit from this course. As part of a team, you'll:

• respond to a Request for Proposal (which includes a timeline, task breakdown, staffing plan, budget, etc.).
• learn how to address pressing issues common to project managers ... and deal with unanticipated contingencies.
• create performance support tools that assist project managers tackle everyday task.

LDT 685 - Performance Technology

LDT 685 introduces educators, instructional designers, instructional technologists, learning managers, training and development professionals, and HR people to Performance Technology (PT) -- with the goal being improved individual, group/team, and organizational performance. Students deepen their their analytical skills and are better able to a) identify and then introduce instructional, non-training, and environmental or logistical interventions, b) improve relationships with solution partners, vendors and clients, and c) design and ‘sell’ systems to achieve strategic results.

LDT 700 - Seminar in Learning Design and Technology

LDT 700 is a variable topics course covering advanced content for master's and instructional design certificate students. It is most often offered in 1-unit chunks, though 2- and 3-unit sections are possible. LDT 700 is used to tailor theory-informed and cutting-edge content to specific groups of student. Examples of recent offerings include: Adding Social Media to the ID Toolbox, Developing Interactive Job Aids, and What's your EQ?

LDT 775 - Directed Internship (requires Graduate Advisor approval)

Directed internship offers advanced master’s students the opportunity to hone their technical and interpersonal skills while giving members of the community access to trained, enthusiastic interns. LDT interns, in fact, possess significant acumen in instructional and informational design, educational computing, new media and web development, distance learning, performance improvement, and evaluation.

Students who qualify for internship opportunities have completed at least half the master’s program and typically worked with at least one community-based client on a signficant instructional opportunity or performance issue. That means you'll have built tutorials, designed websites, carried out extensive needs assessments, conducted evaluations, or developed games and simulations. What distinguishes the directed internship from other learning experiences is its intent: allowing you to actively participate in day-to-day activities within a professional setting. Enrollment requires graduate advisor approval.

LDT 798 - Special Study (requires Graduate Advisor approval)

Independent study is an opportunity to work closely with a professor on a project of mutual interest. Independent studies can focus on curriculum development, program or product evaluation, needs assessment, etc. The faculty member who supervises your work also serves as mentor of sorts — helping you develop skills that will serve you well in future courses … and in your professional career. Enrollment requires graduate advisor approval.