Scaffolding / What Is Scaffolding in Education? A Guide for Course Designers
Scaffolding is temporary support that lets learners do a task they can't yet manage alone, adjusted to them and withdrawn as they improve. In a self-paced course, that adjustment has to be designed in.
Course design / How to Pilot an Online Course: eLearning Testing Before Launch
Test a course in rounds, each answering a different question: does it work, is it right, can learners follow it, and can they do the task at the end? Watch a few people closely before you survey many.
25 AI tools for learning design, and how to use them well
Which tool for which job, a prompt to try for each, five role starting kits and a buying checklist.
Expertise reversal / The Expertise Reversal Effect: When Help Starts to Hurt
Worked examples, step-by-step narration and tightly guided practice help beginners. The same support can slow down learners who already know the basics, so a good course plans for when to take it away.
Trends / Open Badges 3.0 and Verifiable Credentials: What Changed This Term
This term, the groups that shape US learner records started building for portable, verifiable credentials. Open Badges 3.0 is the format; the harder part is still what the badge proves.
Course video / How Long Should a Training Video Be? Evidence for Course Builders
Short wins, but not for the reason most guides give. The six-minute rule comes from watching data, not learning data: plan one idea per video, let tutorials run as long as the task, and put practice between videos.
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Online Learning Trends for 2027: Seven Shifts in the Data
Library
All library →Self-Determination Theory: Motivating Learners in Online Courses
Learners keep going when a course helps them feel capable, in control and connected. In a self-paced course there is often no teacher to provide that, so the design has to.
Formative Assessment Examples for Self-Paced Online Courses
The Learning Pyramid: Where the Famous Percentages Came From
What Is Elaborative Interrogation? Getting Learners to Explain Why
Are Learning Styles Debunked? What the Research Actually Shows
Microlearning Defined: What It Is and When Short Lessons Work
Characteristics of Effective Feedback: What the Research Says
Dual Coding Theory in Education: Making Visuals and Narration Work
Cognitive Load Theory in Instructional Design: What Fits in a Lesson
Guides
All guides →Backward Design in Instructional Design: Start With the Assessment
Decide what learners must be able to do, then how you'll see them do it, and only then what to teach. Backward design is one of the most useful habits in course design, on thinner evidence than its fans suggest.
eLearning Script Writing: How to Write Narration That Sounds Human
Instructional Designer Salary: What the Data Actually Shows
Online Course Completion Rates: What the Data Says and What Moves Them
Bloom's Taxonomy Examples: Using It to Design an Online Course
Writing Multiple-Choice Questions That Teach as Well as Test
How to Storyboard an eLearning Module, Screen by Screen
How to Create an Online Course That Sells (and Teaches)
How to Write Learning Objectives Learners Can Actually Meet
Trends
All trends →Thinkific Layoffs, Flat Creator Sales and a Move Upmarket
Thinkific cut 96 jobs in September to focus on Thinkific Plus, its offer for larger organisations. Six years of filings show why: creators' sales have stopped growing, and Plus is where the growth now is.
