Principles of Design

An Explanation

Developing good online instruction takes attention to sound design principles. When I first started placing my resources online for students I often got confused emails from them or their parents wondering how the navigation and structure of online courses functioned.

Not good.

But I got better. Broadly, I learned how to design strong online courses by focusing on the proper use of multimedia elements. Specifically:

  1. Using Text
  2. Using Audio
  3. Using Images
  4. Using Video
  5. LMS

Now, in addition to incorporating these elements with teachers I coach, I also present and discuss these elements with visiting school districts.

The Presentation and Online Resources

Principles of Design is a subsite of this portfolio. It can be accessed here.

Personally, in the age of Apple (a company known for putting a lot of thought into aesthetics), I believe that our end users expect quality designed content. Not only does help with the learning, it does good in developing first impressions.

Yet besides aesthetics there is also a growing body of research defining what works cognitively when designing online content. Three books in particular have influenced my understanding of design.

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