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The Ultimate DIY Learning Design Toolkit
Introduction
8-step Design Plan
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8-step Design Plan

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Brainstorm activities

Now for the fun part...creating ways to make learning fun & 'sticky'
This is where you get to be creative and think about to make learning clear, engaging, relevant, and impactful to our performance outcomes. For each Topic, add 1-2 Activities to help Learners learn, reinforce, recall, and relate Topic to real-world examples. Add time estimates, activity notes, and start assigning owners to develop each activity.
To add a new Activity, just click the plus sign (+) in the Topic you’d like to add it to. To add new Topics, go back to the Topics Organizer on the
Develop content
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page.

SiNing’s Pro Tips

Developing effective learning activities is part ‘science’, part ‘art’, and part ‘trial and error’. Think of Activities as short bursts of learning—no more than 10 minutes at a time. This keeps Learners engaged and helps with retention.
Time estimates - How much time might the activity would take? Consider the time it takes to set up technology or divide into teams/breakout groups.
Activity Notes - Here’s where you can describe Learner options for in-person, participate via video, or watch recorded session. To learn more about hybrid learning solutions, check out this
this guide
⁠
developed after the COVID-19 impact on learning experiences.
Lead(s) - People who will lead the effort to help research, delegate, plan, or develop each Activity

Learning activities best practices
Here are a few best practices to keep in mind before you launch into brainstorming mode.
Social - Studies show that learning ‘sticks’ when it’s repeated and shared, so incorporate a ‘social’ element as much as possible—whether it’s via a text response in a messaging app or social feed, in-person sessions, or video calls. This could be as simple as asking people to share their written responses to a question or reflection prompt with at least 2 others on a designated channel for each cohort.
Applied - The activity should be well-aligned to the Learning Outcomes and be relevant to real-life, everyday situations. This could be as simple as a prompt to reflect on a topic or lesson and share thoughts, or a related examples. This could also be an activity that involves creating something new to present to everyone, or a report related to a case study.
Active - Whether it’s a reflective, solo activity or dynamic team project, make sure that
Active Learning
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is taking place, so learners are doing something cognitively or physically. The more challenging, the more things will stick. Too challenging, and people may be unmotivated.
Cognitive ‘activities’ stretches people to think deeper—so go beyond the ‘what’ questions that ask people to regurgitate facts and stats and ask ‘why’, ‘why do you think’, or ‘how’ something works. See ‘Tags’ in the
Prompts & questions bank
⁠
for ideas.
Note: Whatever you do—don’t keep doing the same thing. Frequently change the ‘Activity Types’ to keep Learners engaged and to reinforce new concepts in different ways. For example, you could start with a ‘Quiz’ game or ‘Video Clip’ to grab people’s attention, then go into a 5 minute intro ‘Talk.’ Some can be in-person, online, or asynchronous—it’s up to you.

Resources
Refer to tried and true tools like Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Bloom’s Taxonomy Wheel for ideas on digital/online activities to keep learning active, social, and applied.
Explore the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (UDL) and checklist to ensure your learning experience covers every aspect of ‘What’, ‘Why’, and ‘How’ of learning experiences and is learner-focused.


Activity Ideas Organizer

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Add new activity
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Clear sample data
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Activities
4
Topics
Activity Name
Activity Type
Duration (mins)
Activity Notes
Lead(s)
S1 Topic1
1
Activity1
Talk
10 mins
Open
SiNing Chan
S2 Topic2
1
Activity6
RolePlay
10 mins
Open
SiNing Chan
S1 Topic2
1
Activity2
Think-Pair-Share
10 mins
Open
SiNing Chan
S3 Topic1
1
Activity5
Case Study
15 mins
Open
SiNing Chan
S2 Topic1
1
Activity3
Video Clip
2 mins
Open
SiNing Chan
⁠

Prompts & questions bank
0
Added by
Added on
Tags
Search
Prompt/Question
Tags
Added by
Added on
1
Submit questions during the presentation/talk
Active
Social
SiNing Chan
2023-03-31
There are no rows in this table
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And, the last and final step:
View your training plan
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»

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