During a session last week at AERA on theory and practice in instructional design and elearning, I piped in with a comment about folks who I thought were doing theory better than those of us in higher education.  In fact, I thought these folks were making theory not sound like theory at all.  They are providing to a large audience of practitioners through their blog posts a wealth of applicable knowledge and skills in very digestible ways.

My comment must have struck a nerve.  After the session, I had three or four folks come up to me wanting the names of the folks I mentioned.  This morning, I got email asking for the names, too.  So, I thought I would drop these names into a post about folks that I read for instructional design and development.  Folks who I think have a lot to teach my student and myself about instructional design.  In no particular order:

Tom Kuhlmann at Articulate
Tom works for Articulate in their user community division.  He spends a lot of time writing posts about graphic, visual, and message design, particularly using Powerpoint (because Articulate is a plug-in to Powerpoint).  But he also writes some ridiculously practical posts on instructional design.  Some of my favorite posts are:

• Build Branched E-Learning Scenarios in Three Simple Steps
• 7 Tips for Better E-Learning Scenarios
• Are Your E-Learning Courses Pushed or Pulled?

Cammy Bean & Kineo
Cammy Bean works at Kineo, a firm focused on design and development.  Cammy is the VP of Learning Design and writes posts at her own blog. In fact, the last post on Cammy’s blog is an interview with Tom Kuhlmann.  Small world.  Kineo, however, writes short elearning tips.  These gems are gold.  I sometimes disagree with their interpretations of some theories, but the posts are valuable.  Ones from Kineo and Cammy that I particularely like are:

• Tip 33: A Shot of Theory – Keller’s ARCS Model
• Tip 20: Six Steps to Effective Tutorials
• New Skills for Instructional Designers

The Learning Circuits Blog
Every month The Learning Circuits Blog hosted by Tony Karrer, CEO/CTO of TechEmpower, presents a “BIG Question” to the elearning community.  Practitioners, academics, and consultants alike offer up their interpretations and responses to the “BIG Question.  I’ve used the “BIG Question” in my own classes for students to consider their responses in comparison to others in the field. Some of the most interesting and favorite questions of mine:

• Predictions and Plans for 2010
• Presenting the Value of Social Media for Learning
• Working with Subject Matter Experts

<Insert Shameless Plug>Viral-Notebook
I thought I might insert a few of my students and my own posts that really garnered some interest and interesting view points as well.

• SCORM, standards in e-learning, and the groceries truck
• The Perfect SCORM: Is there an impact to elearning or not?
• It’s finally happened…to me

That’s enough for now.  I’ll create another post with a few more later, though.  What other blogs do you read that represent theory and practice in the field of instructional design?

Here are some previous posts that you may be interested in:

1. eLearning and “Scooby-Doo! Where are you?”
2. The landscape of Powerpoint for elearning
3. It’s finally happened…to me