This Emerging Technology Redesign & Implementation Plan explores the integration of virtual reality (VR) in higher education, emphasizing its potential to enhance experiential learning, bridge workforce readiness gaps, and foster inclusivity. It outlines implementation strategies, safety protocols, and continuous assessment methods to ensure VR's effective adoption, enabling students to gain practical skills in immersive, risk-free environments.

The LEARNER instructional design model is a framework designed to enhance online learning experiences by emphasizing learner-centered approaches. The model's acronym represents seven phases: Learner, Empathy, Actualize, Research, Nitty-gritty, Extricate, and Review. Each phase addresses key instructional design challenges, including user engagement, accessibility, and iterative refinement. By integrating formative evaluation, stakeholder collaboration, and empathy-driven design, the model ensures that learning experiences are inclusive and adaptable. It highlights the importance of addressing digital divides and fostering social connectivity to optimize educational outcomes.

The CARP design principles—Contrast, Alignment, Repetition, and Proximity—provides thorough analysis of any learning device. This CARP Critical Analysis highlights a LinkedIn Learning course on digital accessibility. It critiques the course's visual design, noting effective use of contrast to draw attention but identifies areas for improvement in hierarchy and navigation. The analysis emphasizes alignment's role in reducing cognitive load, repetition's ability to unify design, and proximity's storytelling potential. Recommendations include enhancing interactivity, using diagrams, and applying visual hierarchy to improve accessibility and real-world applicability, grounded in Malamed's (2015) design principles.

CR Courses, an innovative instructional design model that bridges the gap between academia and professional careers, leverages technologies such as blockchain, machine learning, and augmented reality to enhance career readiness, offering personalized pathways, digital badges, and job alignment tools. The piece emphasizes the importance of integrating these tools into existing university systems to address rising education costs, limited career preparedness, and evolving labor market demands, ensuring students transition effectively from graduation to meaningful employment.

Graphic created by Dr. Angel Morgan, iD. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5986-0801. Content based on the BUILDS framework as described in Udell, C., & Woodill, G. (2019). Shock of the new: The challenge and promise of emerging technologies. American Society for Training and Development. This work is released under a CC BY license, which means that you are free to do with it as you please as long as you properly attribute it.

Thhe BUILDS analysis explores the implementation of micro-credentials supported by virtual reality (VR) training within the Department of Defense (DoD) civilian workforce. It highlights the benefits of skill development, equity, and accessibility, alongside challenges such as cybersecurity risks, while emphasizing VR’s capacity to enhance real-world learning outcomes and employee advancement.

This visual design analysis examines environmental designs within common local businesses, transportation methods, and routine needs. This analysis focuses on an H-E-B grocery store, assessing their effectiveness based on attention capture, clarity, and emotional appeal. Using design principles from Malamed (2015), it provides critiques and recommendations to enhance communication, comprehension, and user experience, emphasizing the importance of purposeful and impactful visual design.