Designing for digital is not the same as creating paperless activities or converting existing printables for digital use. In fact, there are easy to implement strategies that can elevate ANY digital activity to increase learning in the classroom!
Are you interested in learning how to use the collective wisdom of Apple, Microsoft, Google, and…Erintegration (bear with me, it’s my blog after all!) to design or refine digital resources? Do you want to provide a better user experience in your own classroom or in the classrooms of teachers who purchase your digital products?
I’m sharing my digital design secrets plus the guidelines put forth by the tech giants adapted specifically for teachers and teacher-authors to use when making digital activities for students. Learn more about how Designing for Digital can meet your digital needs and be sure to sign up for the free training at the end of this article.
Who are “you” exactly?
You are teachers or educators who are currently creating or interested in creating digital resources for classroom use. You may already be subscribed to Erintegration, follow me on social media, and have been curious about my design process. You are teacher-authors creating for students all over the world, or you are a classroom teacher wanting to make digital activities for your own students. And some of you may have zero interest in creating digital resources but just want to nerd out and learn something new.
But whether you are creating resources for commercial use or for your own classroom, whoever “you” are…you want to learn design tips and tricks that will make your digital resource MORE engaging, MORE user-friendly, MORE accessible, and MORE intuitive for students and teachers. And that makes you just like me.
My designing for digital journey
Let me tell you a quick story about my journey into the world of digital design. Like many of you, I was a classroom teacher. When my class received a cart of iPads to share, I jumped in head first. First, I downloaded 7,682 apps…not exactly…but if there was free education app, I downloaded it.
However, I shifted my thinking when I realized many of these apps were NO different than a worksheet. I narrowed down my go-to apps to those that promoted creation, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, which is commonly called the 4C’s.
But even with the best apps, I still wanted resources that were tailored to our curriculum and my students’ specific needs.
I wanted scaffolded templates, interactive notebooks, and digital resources that were engaging and personalized. So I started to make my own and then later I shared those digital resources on www.shoperintegration.com
I learned pretty quickly that creating for digital was NOT the same as making a printable and I knew there HAD to be information about digital design I was missing – after all, app developers and software designers seemed to be able to create intuitive activities that my students loved. What did they know that I didn’t?
It turns out…A LOT. You see, I never went to design school or studied computer science. My education courses were about best practices for delivering content, not creating it. So I read everything I could and put into practice what I learned, and GUESS WHAT?
By designing FOR digital, I saw a HUGE difference not only in how my digital resources LOOKED but also in how my students were able to use them EFFICIENTLY and EFFECTIVELY.
I created this training video to share with you what I have learned. And the best part is, the information I’m sharing is not difficult to put to use and does not require any special tech-knowledge. You just need to shift your thinking and start designing FOR digital to see a noticeable difference in the quality of your resources and student engagement.
What is Designing for Digital?
This training will dive into the philosophies for UX and UI and how teachers can harness the design guides of our digital gurus Google, Apple, and Microsoft, to create digital resources for a variety of platforms that not only look great and function beautifully but increase learning. Which is the end goal of digital resources, right?
In this training video, you will learn:
- What is UX, UI, and why we NEED to consider both when we design for digital
- The hidden language good digital design teaches students
- Best practices when using clipart and images in digital resources
- The 5 big mistakes teachers make when designing for digital
However, I do not want to waste your time. I’m NOT going to show you HOW to use various platforms to make digital interactive notebooks, Pic Collage Templates, or HyperDocs. There is information about that out there already – in fact, I created a Pic Collage Toolkit that dives deep into my process – so if you are looking for a tech-tutorial on how to make digital activities, this training isn’t for you.
My designing for digital tips can be applied across the board for whatever platform you use or create for.
But if you are looking for a way to elevate your digital resources or you are just getting started designing for digital and want to put best practices into your digital activities, then sign up below!
The free Training Group is currently closed! Thanks for joining!