Instructional Design Blogs Worth Blogging About!

After searching through many different blog sites this weekend I found three that are useful to follow regularly.  One common theme across all three sites is that they offer best practices for training and instructional design.  These resources will be helpful in establishing myself in the field, as well as to be tools to use throughout my career.  Each of the sites is well maintained, with their postings up to date and the information relevant.  To be honest, I did not find any negatives to the sites.  In no particular order they are:

1.      The Rapid E-learning blog, found at http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/ offers exactly what it claims.  It provides “Practical, real-world tips for e-learning success” (Kuhlmann, 2013).  The tips range from the simple, like making sure you have a glass of water during a narration, to more advanced tricks for course development.  The site also provides links for many usable free resources including fonts and templates.

2.      Train Like A Champion is a blog that is as motivating as its name.  Brian Washburn, the blogger, is consistent in posting several times per week and these regular postings equate to lots of useful information.  The site is easy to navigate with the posts organized into categories in the sidebar.  Adult education is the theme of the site, so the best practices are very helpful for both instructional designers and trainers.  Since I am a very organized person, I find the many graphic organizers showcased to be personally very useful.  To check out his site, please visit http://trainlikeachampion.wordpress.com/. 

3.      Maybe it is because the main page contains the blogger’s photograph or maybe it is because she lists her phone number on the page, either way, http://usablelearning.com/ is a very inviting site.  Julie Dirksen likes to review and summarize other trainers’ presentations on her site.  The helpful part is that she typically embeds the presentation slides as well.  Best practices for instructional design are also listed on the site but several of them focus on leadership and management techniques.  These techniques exemplify that the role of the instructional designer is not only to teach, but also to propagate healthy practices in the organization.        
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Kuhlmann, T. (2013). [Quote on website]. Retrieved from The Rapid E-learning Blog: http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/.