Learning Design and Technology Minor

Required (two courses - 6 units):

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.

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).

Electives (three courses – 9 units) chosen from the following:

LDT 525 - Virtual Reality, Imaginary Worlds and the Future of Learning

Analyzing and designing learning experiences using virtual worlds and virtual reality. Theories and models of social interaction, sensory perception and cognitive load in novel environments. Implications of virtual interaction.

Someday soon, you’ll pull a visor over your eyes and forget where you are. You’ll use this headset to play games, explore other parts of the world, hobnob with friends, and learn new skills. While covering your eyes and ears, you’ll open yourself up to worlds that could barely be imagined by your parents. Virtual reality, augmented reality, and virtual worlds are moving from the labs and geeks to the mainstream. How will this change entertainment, news, and education? In LDT 525 you’ll explore these questions. In this course, you’ll…

• create spherical photos to allow others to learn about a place you’ve been to;
• compare and contrast the features of Oculus Rift, Hololens, Playstation VR, Google Cardboard and other virtual and augmented reality technologies;
• analyze the experience of interacting with others in Second Life, High Fidelity, Altspace VR and other virtual worlds;
• design a learning environment in a virtual world.

LDT 515 - Games, Play and Learning

Analyzing games from social, cognitive and motivational perspectives. Designing games and simulations to optimize learning. Virtual and augmented reality.

Games, Play and Learning is designed to deepen your understanding of the natural human activities of play and learning, as well as the deliberately designed structures of games and learning environments. It will give you new lenses through which to look at the games you already play and make you a better evaluator of games you might want to buy.

After completing LDT 515 you'll be able to

• Analyze and evaluate games using theories and models of game mechanics, motivation, and cognition.
• Design a simple card game to address specific learning outcomes.
• Explain the experience of playing a game in terms of constructs such as control, challenge, fantasy and competence.
• Revise and re-imagine an existing game to make it an effective teaching tool.
• Explain how digital storytelling can be used to develop understanding of complex situations.
• Develop a branching story that is both compelling and effective at teaching a set of principles.

LDT 596 - Consciousness Hacking

Most of us habitually overlook or take for granted our own conscious awareness, though it's the foundation of everything we do in our professional and personal lives, Critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, relationship building, and collaboration — all happen within awareness. That awareness can be clear and effective, or it can be muddy and inefficient.

The goal of Consciousness Hacking is to shine the spotlight on this essential inner resource, and to provide students access to practical tools to awaken awareness and drop limiting, egoic patterns of thought and behavior in work and personal life. You'll investigate and experiment with useful approaches such as meditation, self-inquiry, mindfulness, and yoga ... as well as related methods for fostering perceptual acuity, clarity of mind, balanced emotional response, and healthier identity.

We'll examine the growing body of research indicating enhanced physiological, psychological, interpersonal, and societal health and well being resulting from enlivening consciousness.

Employers are increasingly looking for intelligent, creative, balanced individuals who can help creatively solve problems in collaborative settings. Consciousness Hacking provides access to knowledge and life-long skills for fostering those strengths.

LDT 572 - Technology for Course Delivery

Although technology is becoming commonplace in schools and training sites, most instruction in most places is still delivered and managed by a single instructor working face to face with an intact group of learners. Given that reality, how can technology be used to enhance the design and delivery of instructor-led courses? That is the central question in this instructor-led course. LDT 572 will:

• extend your knowledge of instructional design by showing you how to develop teaching and training for a variety of settings (K-12 classrooms, higher ed, industry, and government).
• introduce you to some of the latest technology tools for developing engaging instructional activities.

LDT 572 will enable you to apply the instructional design and media design processes to prepare a program of systematically designed, aesthetically pleasing, wholly usable, instructor-led, and media-enhanced lessons.

• LDT 570 - Advanced Teachings with Technologies
LDT 561 - Advanced Multimedia Design for Learning

Educational visualization with digital video, animation, sound, 2D and 3D graphics for mobile and web-based learning.

In LDT 561, you’ll learn to create short videos and HTML5-based animations in a variety of formats to achieve a variety of learning outcomes. Along the way, you will learn and apply visual design principles and instructional design strategies. The course starts with the manipulation of still images, moves on to a range of video creation techniques, and then combines these to produce a range of videos that embody different techniques. Going beyond video, the course also covers the latest techniques for web development using HTML5.

On completion of LDT 561 you will be able to:

• Conceive and design short educational video segments, including documenting the design using appropriate tools such as outline, treatment, script, and story board.
• Use a variety of multimedia development tools.
• Apply principles derived from current research on educational multimedia and instructional message design in balancing the use of text, images and audio.
• Use metaphor, humor, and instructional design principles for teaching concepts and procedures in scripting a short video segment.
• Draft a narrative treatment and storyboard to help your client envision and approve an educational video
• Use audio editing software to enhance and modify speech and other sounds.
• Use HTML5 to create web pages that use animation, image manipulation, progressive disclosure, and highlighting to improve user experience.