It is of course important to organize one's ideas before formal writing, but I now believe that all students should have the choice of whether to do so in outline or in some graphic form.

One of the strengths of gamification is that it provides visible milestones of the student’s mastery of content in real time (when it is well designed). Too often in an instructional setting, the learner doesn’t know whether or not he or she really understands or can apply the knowledge they are learning. There is often no visible sign of mastery of the content or application of the content.

Gamification should orient the learner to where they are in the instructional process, where they are going, and how much further they have to go until the end. The concept is that the learner is able to “see” progress. The progress might be in the form of a character moving up a mountain or an image of how close the learner is to the next level (Kapp, 2013).

Gamification uses criterion and mastery to advance the learner from one element of the instruction to the next.

everal aspects of course design can affect retention; however, one of the most overlooked is visual design. Looks matter. In fact, in e-Learning and the Science of Instruction, Richard Mayer and Ruth Clark have reported an average learning increase of 89% in courses that added relevant visuals to text. With this in mind, consider the five design strategies listed below that can help capture students’ eyes and interest throughout your course.

Every visual should serve a specific purpose and align with your objectives.

Graphics should act as street signs that compliment content and guide students in the right direction, so keep your graphical layout sleek and minimal.

Pedagogically and research-based intelligent adaptive learning technology accesses and stays in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) for each learner. That means it provides the right next lesson at the right level of difficulty at the right time. When work is easy, learners can do the work on their own without any help. It’s in their "comfort zone." If all the work a learner is asked to do is always in the comfort zone, no real learning will take place and the learner will eventually lose interest. Conversely, when the work is too hard, the learner becomes frustrated and will likely give up. The area between the comfort zone and the frustration zone is the one where true learning will take place – the optimal learning zone. It’s the area where a learner will need some help or will need to work hard to understand a concept or complete a task. By keeping the challenge appropriate, the learner is guided to be a mathematical ‘doer’ — someone who thinks and strategizes in ways they can apply in school and in their real life experience. This is optimal teaching and optimal learning.

Plan instructional strategies and learning experiences that bring students to these competency levels.

Required uncoverage of abstract or often misunderstood ideas

other content (such as quizzes, database and glossary entries) you can import into your own courses

The big-idea questions signal that education is not just about learning “the answer” but about learning how to learn.  

A second connotation for “essential” refers to key inquiries within a discipline. Essential questions in this sense are those that point to the big ideas of a subject and to the frontiers of technical knowledge. They are historically important and very much “alive” in the field.

By actively exploring such questions, the learner is helped to arrive at important understandings as well as greater coherence in their content knowledge and skill.