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In addition to teaching his own online IT courses, Izzy has worked with faculty as an instructional designer to design online courses that best enhance the learning experience. His technical background ranges from software development to business analysis to managing a team of data engineers creating and using xAPI data for learning analytics. He has Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Computer Science from Boston University as well as a Master of Science in Computer Science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and resides in Monmouth Junction, NJ.","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_id":"image-11a351237f2747114cf82742b3605edfc9e10fae-500x500-png","_type":"sanity.imageAsset","_rev":"3LiQQ7YGDBUas0JzSUW781","_createdAt":"2025-08-06T17:57:54Z","_updatedAt":"2025-08-06T17:57:54Z","assetId":"11a351237f2747114cf82742b3605edfc9e10fae","extension":"png","metadata":{"_type":"sanity.imageMetadata","blurHash":"erPGBMbv_NoJIUM{Vstlt7n%-;o#aKWBbIo}jtjFayRjozjYf6a#Rj","dimensions":{"_type":"sanity.imageDimensions","aspectRatio":1,"height":500,"width":500},"hasAlpha":false,"isOpaque":true,"lqip":"data:image/png;base64,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","palette":{"_type":"sanity.imagePalette","darkMuted":{"_type":"sanity.imagePaletteSwatch","background":"#483425","foreground":"#fff","population":7.98,"title":"#fff"},"darkVibrant":{"_type":"sanity.imagePaletteSwatch","background":"#773f1c","foreground":"#fff","population":0.01,"title":"#fff"},"dominant":{"_type":"sanity.imagePaletteSwatch","background":"#8a5b3c","foreground":"#fff","population":8.62,"title":"#fff"},"lightMuted":{"_type":"sanity.imagePaletteSwatch","background":"#d1c3b5","foreground":"#000","population":1.43,"title":"#fff"},"lightVibrant":{"_type":"sanity.imagePaletteSwatch","background":"#f0bcc4","foreground":"#000","population":0,"title":"#000"},"muted":{"_type":"sanity.imagePaletteSwatch","background":"#8a5b3c","foreground":"#fff","population":8.62,"title":"#fff"},"vibrant":{"_type":"sanity.imagePaletteSwatch","background":"#f36b42","foreground":"#fff","population":0.05,"title":"#fff"}}},"mimeType":"image/png","originalFilename":"Ismael \"Izzy\" Lara.png","path":"images/nosafynr/openlms-production/11a351237f2747114cf82742b3605edfc9e10fae-500x500.png","sha1hash":"11a351237f2747114cf82742b3605edfc9e10fae","size":250579,"uploadId":"0NuUtip1DKRLcRSpa0SoT5RccLxwvaf3","url":"https://cdn.sanity.io/images/nosafynr/openlms-production/11a351237f2747114cf82742b3605edfc9e10fae-500x500.png","filename":"Ismael \"Izzy\" Lara.png","width":500,"height":500,"placeholderUrl":"https://cdn.sanity.io/images/nosafynr/openlms-production/11a351237f2747114cf82742b3605edfc9e10fae-500x500.png?rect=84,0,333,500&w=%width%&h=%height%&q=80","id":"image-11a351237f2747114cf82742b3605edfc9e10fae-500x500-png","children":[],"parent":null}},"market":"en-us","name":"Ismael “Izzy” Lara","position":"Senior Manager of Implementation and Adoption, Open LMS","id":"-d0f45cd2-fae0-55eb-9199-5255f34dee81","children":[],"parent":null},"_rawRichText":[{"_key":"d062574aa527","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"03a0659267b9","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Meet Bob: Bob creates courses for his company. He has no formal training in teaching or instructional design, but he knows how to make pretty PowerPoints and can present well, so he was put in charge of training a small team. Over time, Bob was put in charge of training more people until he became the unofficial go-to person for training his entire organization. Bob is what we call an “accidental instructional designer,” as described by Cammy Bean in her book of the same name. 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Accidental instructional designers like you work tirelessly to create courses and train coworkers to the best of their ability, but you don’t need to keep struggling without a playbook. Using Cammy Bean’s book for inspiration, this blog post explores important course design and training lessons that you can use to sharpen your skills and master your course creation process. The key takeaways largely fall within three broad buckets: planning, development, and review."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"9312eee4f0f5","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"da53f8fe6b9e0","_type":"span","marks":["primary"],"text":"Planning:"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"h2"},{"_key":"a99b8cbb71e4","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"1ca74bb7d8c10","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"In Chapter 5, Bean recommends that you have a clear understanding of your audience and their learning needs. What is the problem you’re trying to solve? The most beautiful and well-designed course is useless if it doesn’t actually solve someone’s initial problem. A good way to handle this is by developing solid learning objectives from the beginning. They don’t need to be perfect right away, and you can always refine them later, but having a solid guideline to work from makes it easier to create a focused, targeted course."}],"markDefs":[{"_key":"e60d84e04624","_type":"link","href":"https://support.openlms.net/hc/en-us/articles/5301217093405-Open-LMS-Academy"},{"_key":"6f48fc28a196","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/ai-powered-tools/"}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"20aa31edbabe","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"63f01383afc8","_type":"span","marks":["strong","em"],"text":"Our experience:"},{"_key":"17d85ad211fd1","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" When designing the "},{"_key":"17d85ad211fd2","_type":"span","marks":["e60d84e04624"],"text":"Open LMS Academy"},{"_key":"17d85ad211fd3","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" initially, we started with outlines of two courses: Admin and Instructor Orientation. Then we started building our storyboards and refined our learning objectives with "},{"_key":"17d85ad211fd4","_type":"span","marks":["6f48fc28a196"],"text":"the help of AI"},{"_key":"17d85ad211fd5","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":". Regardless of whether you start with learning objectives or a simple outline of your course structure, what’s most important is having a good sense of where you want your course to go from the very beginning."}],"markDefs":[{"_key":"e60d84e04624","_type":"link","href":"https://support.openlms.net/hc/en-us/articles/5301217093405-Open-LMS-Academy","newTab":true},{"_key":"6f48fc28a196","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/ai-powered-tools/"},{"_key":"072bc700d91a","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/blog/insights/whats-the-real-roi-of-ai-in-your-lms/"}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"10ea35897a5c","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"2227cc4ebef3","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"KEEP READING | ‘"},{"_key":"d474f7308cb01","_type":"span","marks":["072bc700d91a","strong"],"text":"What’s the Real ROI of AI in Your LMS? How Open LMS Drives Top Results"},{"_key":"d474f7308cb02","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"’"},{"_key":"adb92faab6ce0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[{"_key":"072bc700d91a","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/blog/insights/whats-the-real-roi-of-ai-in-your-lms/"}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"d27765265a69","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"aec826c24ddd0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Another thing to note is that design should never trump content. It’s perfectly okay to use a simple, efficient design if it means you can focus your attention on creating quality content. Simple, clean navigation will always beat flashy courses with fancy graphics that require clicking on each little widget to proceed, also known as "},{"_key":"aec826c24ddd1","_type":"span","marks":["em"],"text":"clicky-clicky-bling-bling"},{"_key":"aec826c24ddd2","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" in Chapter 9 of Bean’s book."}],"markDefs":[{"_key":"5a58da40b43f","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/blog/insights/h5p-benefits-content-types-integrations-getting-started/"},{"_key":"20cfca18bab2","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/mobile-app/"}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"586d789ea692","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"703628a2b50d","_type":"span","marks":["strong","em"],"text":"Our experience:"},{"_key":"75308d1c6ddc1","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" In the Open LMS Academy, we mostly stuck to a handful of activity types: Pages, Books, and "},{"_key":"75308d1c6ddc2","_type":"span","marks":["5a58da40b43f"],"text":"H5P"},{"_key":"75308d1c6ddc3","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" activities. We also used a very basic course structure. Rather than trying to cram in lots of different activity types or use a fancy structure, we felt that this design choice made the courses more predictable and suitable for easier reference later. It also inherently makes the courses easier to navigate, and ultimately easier to translate into different languages. As a side benefit, simpler activities are also more likely to be accessible and "},{"_key":"75308d1c6ddc4","_type":"span","marks":["20cfca18bab2"],"text":"compatible with mobile devices"},{"_key":"75308d1c6ddc5","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"."}],"markDefs":[{"_key":"5a58da40b43f","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/blog/insights/h5p-benefits-content-types-integrations-getting-started/"},{"_key":"20cfca18bab2","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/mobile-app/"}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"e760976e67aa","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"8e042992372a0","_type":"span","marks":["primary"],"text":"Development:"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"h2"},{"_key":"40d41dad8222","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"2255e2dd81bd0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"In Chapter 10, the book discusses humanizing the way you write your learning content. If your content is full of jargon and impersonal language, people will detach from it. Instead, adopt a conversational tone and write as if you’re having a conversation with a good friend or colleague. In Spanish, this means using the familiar “tú” phrasing rather than the formal “Usted” form.Here’s a concrete example in English. Instead of saying:“In order to design courses that learners find engaging, course designers need to successfully implement core design principles. In this course, you will learn three design principles that can be applied to course design…”Try this instead:“Do you have trouble getting your employees to engage with your training programs? Where do you struggle and why? In this short course, we’re going to explore three questions that will help you design courses that are more engaging for learners. Sound good?”"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"dcdae1becf59","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"906bb3ba31b1","_type":"span","marks":["strong","em"],"text":"Our experience:"},{"_key":"62772f9d0bd01","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" If you’re leveraging AI to help you develop your content, be sure to include “conversational tone” as part of your prompting. That can help the overall content to not be too formal or detached."}],"markDefs":[{"_key":"33e3af91bc40","_type":"link","href":"https://h5p.org/interactive-video"}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"5f9fb6a3624f","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"20835b0b8c84","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"In Chapter 5, Bean describes the art of “chunking.” Rather than presenting an hour-long video, for example, you may wish to break up a long video into 15-minute segments followed by an activity to give learners a mental break before moving on to the next chunk. Alternatively, you can also achieve the same breaks by leveraging "},{"_key":"10ea8e6ecbbf1","_type":"span","marks":["33e3af91bc40"],"text":"H5P’s Interactive Video"},{"_key":"10ea8e6ecbbf2","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" tool to add questions at specific times throughout the video. This keeps your learners engaged (and also prevents them from skipping ahead).\n"}],"markDefs":[{"_key":"33e3af91bc40","_type":"link","href":"https://h5p.org/interactive-video","newTab":true}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"efbc98024019","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"dcfb0889dd6c0","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"LEARN MORE | "},{"_key":"dcfb0889dd6c1","_type":"span","marks":["869f4a30094b","strong"],"text":"TAKE THE OPEN LMS ACADEMY H5P CREATOR COURSE"},{"_key":"6ac6831074360","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[{"_key":"869f4a30094b","_type":"link","href":"https://support.openlms.net/hc/en-us/articles/5301217093405-Open-LMS-Academy"}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"90cbfa71a322","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"22fc349b592c0","_type":"span","marks":["primary"],"text":"Review:"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"h2"},{"_key":"c690707a1d3e","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"425ccc9ce5680","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"After you finish developing your course, ask yourself these three questions from Chapter 3 of Bean’s book:"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"f58e9f380216","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"a635d61103ae","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"How does it look?"},{"_key":"4bd1e7aa05541","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" A course that looks good uses a course template, format, and visualizations that are appropriate and appeal to the audience."}],"level":1,"listItem":"number","markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"bda876fa09a2","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"14c1ca7de8000","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"How does it make you feel?"},{"_key":"14c1ca7de8001","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" A course that feels good has a course structure that flows well and is "},{"_key":"14c1ca7de8002","_type":"span","marks":["em"],"text":"naturally"},{"_key":"14c1ca7de8003","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" accessible and usable for everyone."}],"level":1,"listItem":"number","markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"f6b2b7a85ec7","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"8e7ef15fd8b10","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Does it solve the intended problem?"},{"_key":"8e7ef15fd8b11","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" A course that solves the intended problem is where the learner actually learns something that fills a skill, knowledge, or "},{"_key":"8e7ef15fd8b12","_type":"span","marks":["10587da64787"],"text":"compliance"},{"_key":"8e7ef15fd8b13","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" gap."}],"level":1,"listItem":"number","markDefs":[{"_key":"10587da64787","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/compliance/"}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"ff0b78554f7b","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"2911d69c39930","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"87051f96fb28","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"6f2ff55fcb120","_type":"span","marks":["strong","em"],"text":"Our experience:"},{"_key":"6f2ff55fcb121","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" My colleague Suzie Chan presented on this very topic during our recent "},{"_key":"6f2ff55fcb122","_type":"span","marks":["8f11a1d150ca"],"text":"Connected Asia"},{"_key":"6f2ff55fcb123","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" online event."}],"markDefs":[{"_key":"8f11a1d150ca","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/events/asia-pacific"}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"e95fb367fead","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"9985fd005765","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"It’s important to regularly audit your courses, but don’t let an endless review cycle paralyze your progress. Many people think courses need to be 100% perfect before launch. I have personally struggled with this. But when courses can "},{"_key":"1376d7bde8651","_type":"span","marks":["em"],"text":"always"},{"_key":"1376d7bde8652","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" be improved in some way, how do you know when you are done?"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"0a7c6d3788df","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"1f28eb86cbf6","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Consider the time to value. If it’s going to take another two weeks to finish your updates, will they provide significant enough value to your learners for that extra time to be worth it? If not, then it’s likely advisable to launch the course now and revise/update the content later."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"4487f494baf4","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"acf3d6fcbbae","_type":"span","marks":["strong","em"],"text":"Our experience:"},{"_key":"bf319f1ee5a41","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" I like to use an 80% rule. If I’m satisfied with 80% of the course, then I document the remaining changes I wish to make and launch the course, making those additional revisions later. In the Open LMS Academy, for example, we launched our Admin and Instructor Orientation courses quickly because we knew the content was valuable and wanted to get them to our audience as soon as possible."}],"markDefs":[{"_key":"750115da3732","_type":"link","href":"https://www.openlms.net/blog/products/level-up-learning-open-lms-5-1-h5p-creator-courses/"}],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"f7783dfc2128","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"90200822af72","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Six months after our initial launch in February, we published additional changes in August due to our "},{"_key":"d365660c508a1","_type":"span","marks":["750115da3732"],"text":"5.1 release"},{"_key":"d365660c508a2","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":". Since we had to make changes anyway, I took the opportunity to also update the course format, add decorative images, restructure the order of activities, and enhance the accessibility of the courses. 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