Quick Reference
Instructional Design Terms, explained simply.
Use this quick reference to understand common learning, training, and instructional design terms you may see during a project. Each term is written to help clarify decisions, support better questions, and connect you to related posts or resources when available.
A
Accessibility
Designing learning so people with different abilities can access, navigate, understand, and interact with the experience. This includes readable visual design, keyboard access, screen reader support, captions, transcripts, and clear content structure.
Keep in mind: Accessibility works best when it is designed in from the beginning rather than added during final QA.
Action Mapping
A performance-focused approach to instructional design that starts with the business goal, identifies what people need to do differently, and then determines the practice and information needed to support those actions.
Keep in mind: Action Mapping shifts the conversation from “What content should we teach?” to “What do people need to do?”
ADDIE
An instructional design framework organized around five phases: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. The phases help structure learning projects from initial need through launch and improvement.
Keep in mind: ADDIE does not have to be a rigid waterfall process. Teams can revisit phases as new information emerges.
Agile
An iterative approach to learning design that uses shorter cycles of planning, building, reviewing, and improving. Teams share work early and adjust as feedback or project needs change.
Keep in mind: Agile is not simply about working faster. The goal is to learn sooner and make useful changes while the work is still flexible.
AI in eLearning
Using artificial intelligence to support parts of learning design and development, such as research, brainstorming, drafting, visual creation, narration, video production, course authoring, and content review.
Keep in mind: AI can accelerate the work, but people still need to guide the learning strategy and verify accuracy, accessibility, privacy, and quality.
Assessment
A way to gather evidence of what learners understand or can do. Assessments may include knowledge checks, scenarios, quizzes, simulations, demonstrations, or real-world performance tasks.
Keep in mind: The strongest assessment matches the learning goal and measures the knowledge, decision, or performance that actually matters.
Audience Analysis
The process of understanding who the learners are, what they already know, what successful performance looks like, and what barriers or work conditions may affect learning and performance.
Keep in mind: Audience analysis is useful only when what you learn about the audience changes the design decisions you make.
Authoring Tool
Software used to build digital learning experiences, including courses, interactions, assessments, scenarios, simulations, multimedia, and other learning assets.
Keep in mind: Choose the tool based on what the learning experience needs to do, along with the team's skills, technology, timeline, and delivery requirements.
B
Behavior Change
A change in what people actually do after training. This may include applying a process, making better decisions, following a standard, or using a skill more consistently on the job.
Keep in mind: Behavior change is a stronger measure of learning impact than course completion alone.
Blended Learning
A training approach that combines more than one modality, such as eLearning, virtual sessions, instructor-led training, and on-the-job activities, into one connected learning experience.
Keep in mind: Use each modality for what it does best rather than forcing every part of the experience into one format.
Bloom’s Taxonomy
A framework that organizes cognitive skills from basic recall to higher-order thinking, such as applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. It is often used to shape learning objectives and assessment difficulty.
Keep in mind: The goal is not to use the highest level possible. Choose the level that matches what learners actually need to do.
Blueprint
A planning document that outlines the learning goal, audience, content structure, delivery format, activities, and key decisions before full course development begins.
Keep in mind: A blueprint gives the team a shared direction before significant time is spent building screens, lessons, interactions, or other assets.
Branching Scenario
An interactive scenario where learner choices lead to different paths and outcomes. It is often used to practice conversations, decisions, and judgment calls in a safe environment.
Keep in mind: Branching works best when the choices reflect realistic decisions and the consequences help learners understand why one approach works better than another.
Business Outcome
A measurable change the organization cares about, such as reduced errors, higher sales, smoother onboarding, or faster time to proficiency. Learning should support the outcome rather than exist as a standalone goal.
Keep in mind: Start with the business outcome, then determine what people need to do differently and how learning can support that performance.
C
Captions
Text that communicates spoken dialogue and important audio information in video or multimedia. Captions help make audio content accessible and can also support understanding in noisy, quiet, or sound-off environments.
Keep in mind: Effective captions are accurate, synchronized with the audio, readable, and include meaningful sounds when those sounds are important to understanding the content.
Chunking
Organizing information into smaller, meaningful groups so it is easier to understand, navigate, and remember. Chunking can be used with text, processes, lessons, screens, activities, and other learning content.
Keep in mind: Good chunking follows the meaning and structure of the content. The goal is clarity, rather than simply making every section shorter.
Cognitive Load
The amount of mental effort required to process information in working memory. Learning design can help manage cognitive load by organizing information clearly, reducing unnecessary complexity, and supporting learners as they work with new ideas.
Keep in mind: Simplifying the experience does not mean removing useful challenge. The goal is to direct mental effort toward what learners actually need to understand or do.
Completion Rate
The percentage of assigned or enrolled learners who complete a learning experience. Completion rate is often tracked through an LMS or other learning platform as one indicator of participation or compliance.
Keep in mind: Completion tells you that someone reached the required endpoint. Pair it with other evidence when you need to understand learning, application, or performance.
Compliance Training
Learning designed to help people understand and follow required laws, regulations, policies, standards, or workplace expectations. It may also provide documented evidence that required learning has been completed.
Keep in mind: Start with the required behaviors, decisions, risks, and evidence. A clear understanding of the requirement helps determine what learners actually need to know and do.
Content Audit
A structured review of existing content to understand what is available, accurate, useful, outdated, duplicated, missing, or ready to reuse before designing or updating a learning solution.
Keep in mind: A content audit helps separate what exists from what the new solution actually needs. Existing content can inform the design without automatically defining it.
Course Flow
The sequence and progression of content, activities, practice, feedback, and transitions within a course. Good course flow helps learners understand where they are, how ideas connect, and what comes next.
Keep in mind: Build the flow around how understanding and performance develop, rather than simply following the order of the source material.
Curriculum
An organized set of learning experiences designed to develop knowledge, skills, or performance over time. A curriculum may include courses, practice, resources, coaching, assessments, and other learning opportunities.
Keep in mind: Think beyond a collection of courses. A strong curriculum connects experiences intentionally so learners can build capability across a larger learning journey.
D
Deliverable
A specific item created and provided as part of a learning project, such as a design document, storyboard, course, facilitator guide, video, job aid, prototype, or final published package.
Keep in mind: Define what each deliverable includes, who will review it, what format is expected, and what counts as complete.
Design Document
A planning document that captures important decisions about a learning solution before detailed development begins. It may describe the audience, goals, objectives, structure, instructional approach, delivery, assessment, and technology.
Keep in mind: A useful design document creates shared direction. Include enough detail to guide decisions without turning it into the finished storyboard or course.
Design Strategy
The plan for how a learning solution will address the identified need. It connects the instructional approach, learner experience, content, practice, assessment, delivery, and other key design decisions before development begins.
Keep in mind: Let the need, audience, context, and desired performance guide the strategy before choosing specific tools, interactions, or development tactics.
Design Thinking
A human-centered approach to solving problems by understanding people's needs, defining the problem, exploring ideas, creating possible solutions, and learning from prototypes and testing.
Keep in mind: Use the process to learn about the people and problem before becoming attached to a particular learning solution.
Development
The phase of a learning project in which approved designs are turned into working materials and experiences. This can include building courses, producing media, creating resources, programming interactions, and preparing assets.
Keep in mind: Development brings the design to life while still allowing room for testing, review, refinement, accessibility checks, and technical QA.
Diagnostic Assessment
An assessment used before or early in a learning experience to understand what learners already know, can do, or may need help with. The findings can inform the learning path, content, practice, or level of support.
Keep in mind: Use the results to make a design or learning decision. Diagnostic information is most useful when it changes what happens next for the learner.
Discovery
The early process of gathering information about a learning or performance need, including the audience, business goals, current performance, content, stakeholders, environment, constraints, technology, and project expectations.
Keep in mind: Discovery creates the foundation for better decisions. Ask enough questions to understand the situation before defining the solution.
Draft Review
A planned checkpoint for reviewing work in progress, confirming direction, identifying corrections, clarifying decisions, and improving the learning experience before the solution is finalized.
Keep in mind: Give reviewers a clear purpose for each review round and gather actionable feedback against the goals, requirements, content, and learner experience.
E
Engagement
The degree to which learners are mentally, emotionally, or behaviorally involved in a learning experience. Engagement can come from relevance, meaningful practice, useful choices, challenge, feedback, and opportunities to apply what is being learned.
Keep in mind: Engagement is about meaningful involvement. Start with relevance and purposeful participation rather than adding activity simply to make the experience feel interactive.
Estimated Course Time
An estimate of how long a learner is expected to spend completing a course or learning experience. The estimate may account for reading, media, interactions, practice, assessments, reflection, and other required activities.
Keep in mind: Treat the time as an estimate rather than a promise. Learner experience, accessibility needs, content complexity, and optional activities can all affect completion time.
Evaluation
The process of gathering and interpreting evidence to understand how a learning solution is working and what happened as a result. Evaluation may examine learner experience, learning, application, performance, or business outcomes.
Keep in mind: Decide what evidence will be meaningful based on the original need and intended outcome. Different questions require different measures.
Evaluation Plan
A plan for how evidence will be gathered and used to determine whether a learning solution is meeting its intended goals. It may identify measures, data sources, timing, responsibilities, success indicators, and how findings will inform future decisions.
Keep in mind: Plan evaluation early so the team can identify useful evidence and establish what success will look like before the solution is launched.
Executive Sponsor
A senior leader who supports a learning initiative by connecting it to organizational priorities, helping secure resources, reinforcing its importance, and supporting decisions that help the work move forward.
Keep in mind: Engage the sponsor around outcomes, priorities, decisions, and organizational support. Detailed content expertise may come from other stakeholders or subject-matter experts.
Experiential Learning
Learning that develops through experience, action, reflection, and application. Learners build understanding by doing something meaningful, considering what happened, and connecting what they learned to future situations.
Keep in mind: Give learners meaningful experiences and opportunities to reflect on them. The learning comes from connecting the experience to insight and future action.
F
Facilitator Guide
A resource that helps a facilitator prepare for and lead a learning experience. It may include timing, talking points, instructions, activities, discussion prompts, transitions, materials, and guidance for responding to learners.
Keep in mind: Design the guide for use while facilitating. Make important directions, timing, prompts, and transitions easy to find at the moment they are needed.
Feedback
Information that helps learners understand how their response, decision, or performance compares with what is expected and what they can do next. Feedback can reinforce effective choices, clarify misunderstandings, and guide improvement.
Keep in mind: Make feedback specific and useful. Explain what happened, why it matters, and what the learner can carry forward into the next decision or attempt.
Final Review
The last planned review of a learning solution before release or delivery. It confirms that approved content, functionality, accessibility, technical requirements, branding, and other agreed-upon expectations are ready for launch.
Keep in mind: Give the final review a clear purpose. Focus on readiness, accuracy, and agreed requirements so the team can move confidently toward release.
Flow
The way learners move through a learning experience and how its ideas, activities, decisions, practice, and transitions connect. Good flow helps the experience feel coherent and makes the next step easy to understand.
Keep in mind: Look at the experience from the learner's perspective. Each section should have a reason for being where it is and create a natural connection to what follows.
Formative Assessment
A way to gather evidence of learner understanding or performance while learning is still happening. Examples include practice questions, scenarios, demonstrations, discussions, observations, and other opportunities to check progress.
Keep in mind: Use the evidence to support the next step. Formative assessment can guide feedback, additional practice, clarification, or adjustments to the learning experience.
Front-end Analysis
An early investigation used to understand a performance or learning need before designing a solution. It may examine desired performance, current performance, audience needs, causes, context, constraints, resources, and organizational goals.
Keep in mind: Use the analysis to determine where learning can help and what other factors may also need attention before deciding what to create.
G
Gap Analysis
The process of comparing current performance with desired performance to identify the gap between where people are now and where they need to be. The analysis can also help uncover factors contributing to that gap.
Keep in mind: A performance gap does not automatically mean there is a learning gap. Look for the causes before deciding whether training or another type of support will help.
Goal
A broad statement of the result or direction a learning initiative is intended to support. A goal helps establish what the project is trying to accomplish and provides direction for more specific objectives and measures.
Keep in mind: Keep the goal connected to the larger need or desired outcome. Learning objectives can then define the more specific knowledge, skills, decisions, or behaviors.
Governance
The structure used to define ownership, responsibilities, decision-making, standards, approvals, and ongoing management for a learning program, platform, process, or collection of learning resources.
Keep in mind: Clear governance helps people know who owns what, who can make decisions, how changes are approved, and how learning resources will stay accurate and useful over time.
Graphic Style
The visual approach used across a learning experience, including choices about imagery, illustration, color, typography, icons, shapes, spacing, and other visual elements that create a consistent look and feel.
Keep in mind: Choose a style that fits the audience, content, context, brand, and accessibility needs. Visual consistency should support understanding rather than compete with it.
Guide
A practical resource that helps someone complete a task, follow a process, make a decision, or find needed information while doing the work. Guides may be digital, printable, embedded in a system, or available at the point of need.
Keep in mind: Design a guide for quick use in the real work environment. Make the needed information easy to find and organize it around the task or decision it supports.
Guided Practice
Practice completed with support while learners are developing a new skill, process, or way of thinking. Support might include prompts, examples, hints, coaching, feedback, demonstrations, or partially completed steps.
Keep in mind: Provide enough support for learners to make progress, then gradually reduce that support as their confidence and capability increase.
Guidelines
Agreed recommendations or direction that help people make consistent decisions when designing, developing, delivering, or maintaining learning solutions. Guidelines may address content, accessibility, visual design, technology, quality, processes, or other project needs.
Keep in mind: Make guidelines specific enough to guide decisions while leaving appropriate room for professional judgment, context, and changing project needs.
H
Handout
A resource provided before, during, or after a learning experience to support understanding, participation, practice, reflection, reference, or follow-up. Handouts may be digital, printable, or built into the learning experience.
Keep in mind: Give the handout a clear purpose within the learning experience. Include information or activities learners will actually use rather than simply repeating everything presented elsewhere.
Help & Support Resource
A resource people can access when they need assistance, answers, troubleshooting, or guidance while completing a task or using a product, system, or process.
Keep in mind: Design support around the questions and problems people are likely to have in the moment. Make answers easy to find and useful without requiring someone to revisit an entire learning experience.
High-Level Design
An early design view that outlines the overall structure, learning approach, major content areas, activities, and experience before detailed design and development begin.
Keep in mind: Use the high-level design to align on direction while changes are still relatively easy to make. Save detailed screen-level or page-level decisions for the next stage of design.
Human-Centered Design
An approach to designing learning and performance solutions around the needs, experiences, challenges, and context of the people who will actually use them.
Keep in mind: Learn from the people closest to the work. Their experience can help uncover the real problem, shape useful solutions, and reveal what works when ideas are tested in context.
Hybrid Learning
A learning approach that intentionally combines different environments or delivery methods — such as in-person and virtual participation — into one connected learning experience.
Keep in mind: Design the environments as parts of the same experience. Consider what each learner can see, hear, do, contribute, and access regardless of where participation happens.
Hyperlink
A clickable connection that helps learners move to another location, resource, tool, or piece of information. Hyperlinks can support navigation, reference, follow-up, optional depth, and point-of-need access within a learning solution.
Keep in mind: Use descriptive link text so people understand where the link leads. Keep links easy to recognize, keyboard accessible, and maintained as resources change.
I
Implementation
The process of putting a learning solution into use — including preparing the environment, people, technology, communications, and support needed to launch and deliver it successfully.
Keep in mind: Think beyond publishing or launch. Successful implementation also depends on readiness, access, communication, support, and what happens after the solution goes live.
Instructional Design
The intentional process of understanding learning and performance needs, then designing experiences, resources, practice, and support that help people build knowledge, develop skills, make decisions, and perform more effectively.
Keep in mind: Begin with the need and desired performance. The right solution might include a course, but it can also include practice, resources, coaching, workflow support, or a combination of approaches.
Instructional Designer
A learning professional who analyzes learning and performance needs, works with stakeholders and subject-matter experts, and designs practical experiences, resources, practice, and support to help people perform more effectively.
Keep in mind: The role can vary widely by organization and project. Instructional designers may contribute to strategy, analysis, design, development, facilitation, technology, evaluation, or a combination of these areas.
Interaction
A purposeful way learners engage with content, make decisions, practice skills, explore information, or receive feedback as part of a learning experience.
Keep in mind: Choose interactions for what they help learners think about, practice, discover, or do. The value comes from the learning purpose behind the action.
Interactive Learning
A learning approach that actively involves learners in exploring, deciding, practicing, applying, creating, or responding rather than only receiving information.
Keep in mind: Interaction is a design element; interactive learning is the broader approach. Give learners meaningful opportunities to do something with what they are learning.
Iteration
The process of repeatedly reviewing, testing, adjusting, and refining a learning solution as new information, feedback, evidence, or needs emerge.
Keep in mind: Let each iteration have a purpose. Use what the team learns from reviews, testing, feedback, and real-world use to make informed improvements and determine when the solution is ready to move forward.
J
Job Aid
BuildA quick-reference resource that helps people complete a task while they are working. Job aids may include checklists, step-by-step guides, decision trees, templates, or process reminders.
Just-in-Time Learning
BuildLearning or support provided at the moment someone needs it. This might be a short video, checklist, searchable guide, tooltip, FAQ, or quick reference.
K
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
A measurable indicator used to track progress toward a goal. In learning projects, KPIs may connect training to outcomes such as fewer errors, faster onboarding, improved customer scores, or stronger process adoption.
Key Stakeholder
A person who has influence over the project, provides input, approves decisions, or is affected by the final learning experience. This may include leaders, SMEs, managers, compliance teams, or learner representatives.
Kickoff
The starting meeting or conversation for a learning project. A kickoff usually clarifies the goal, audience, scope, timeline, roles, source materials, review process, and next steps.
Kirkpatrick Model
A common framework for evaluating training across four levels: learner reaction, learning, behavior, and results. It helps teams think beyond whether learners liked the course.
Knowledge Check
A short question or activity that helps learners check their understanding during a course. Knowledge checks are usually low-stakes and are often paired with immediate feedback.
Knowledge Transfer
The process of sharing information, expertise, or context from one person or group to another. In learning projects, this often happens between SMEs and the person designing or building the course.
L
Learning & Development (L&D)
The part of an organization responsible for building skills, knowledge, and capabilities— often through training, programs, resources, and performance support.
Learning Objective
A clear statement of what learners should be able to do by the end of a course or lesson, usually written with an action verb and a focus on observable behavior.
Learning Outcome
The change you expect to see in knowledge, behavior, or performance after learning— often framed at a higher level than a single course objective.
Learning Path
An organized sequence of courses, resources, and experiences that learners move through over time to build a skill set or reach a role-ready level.
Learning Management System (LMS)
Software used to deliver, track, and manage learning—such as assigning courses, storing completions, and generating basic reports.
Learning Experience Design (LXD)
A way of designing learning that blends instructional design with UX, product thinking, and human-centered design. It looks at the end-to-end experience, not just a single course.
M
Metrics
The numbers you look at to understand how learning is performing—such as completions, quiz scores, time to competence, error rates, or other business-linked data.
Microlearning
Learning experiences broken into small, focused units—often a few minutes each— that target a single idea, skill, or task instead of a long, all-in-one course.
Mobile Learning
Learning experiences designed to work well on mobile devices—often shorter, tap-friendly, and focused on quick reference or practice rather than long, slide-heavy modules.
Modalities
The different formats you can use for learning—such as eLearning, video, ILT, VILT, job aids, simulations, or coaching—often combined in a single solution.
N
Narrative
The story thread that connects characters, situations, and events in a learning experience— often used in scenarios, case studies, or branching stories.
Navigation
The way learners move through a course or experience—buttons, menus, progress indicators, and rules about what they can do next.
Needs Analysis
The process of clarifying the real problem, audience, current performance, and desired state before deciding whether training is needed and what it should do.
Nudges (Learning Nudges)
Small, timely prompts—like reminders, tips, or micro-messages—that encourage people to use new behaviors or resources after training, often delivered through email, chat, or apps.
O
Onboarding
The structured process of helping new hires understand their role, team, tools, and culture— often combining courses, live sessions, shadowing, and on-the-job practice.
Online Learning
Any learning that happens over the internet—such as eLearning modules, virtual classes, webinars, or self-paced resources accessed through a browser or app.
On-the-Job Support
Tools and resources people use while doing their actual work—like job aids, checklists, embedded help, or quick reference guides that reduce the need to remember everything.
On-the-Job Training (OJT)
Training that happens as part of real work, usually with a more experienced person guiding, demonstrating, and coaching while the learner performs actual tasks.
P
Performance Support
Resources that help people do their jobs while they work—such as job aids, checklists, tooltips, or embedded help—so they don’t have to rely on memory from training alone.
Personas
Fictional but research-informed profiles that represent key learner groups—capturing their goals, constraints, context, and attitudes toward learning.
Pilot
A small-scale release of a learning solution to a limited audience to test content, flow, and logistics before rolling out more broadly.
Practice
Opportunities for learners to try the target skills—through scenarios, simulations, exercises, role plays, or real work—often with feedback and increasing challenge.
Pre-work
Activities or content learners complete before a live session or main course—such as short videos, readings, or reflections—to prime them and save time for deeper work.
Prototype
A quick, simplified version of a learning experience—such as a few sample screens, a clickable mockup, or a rough module—used to test ideas with stakeholders or learners.
Q
Qualitative Data
Non-numeric data—like comments, interview notes, observations, and themes—that help you understand how learners experienced a program and why results look the way they do.
Quantitative Data
Numeric data—like completions, scores, attendance, time spent, or KPI changes—that can be counted, compared, and tracked over time.
Question Bank
A collection of assessment questions grouped by topic, objective, or difficulty that an LMS or authoring tool can pull from to build quizzes or randomize items.
Quiz
A brief test used to check knowledge or understanding—often at the end of a lesson or module—made up of questions like multiple choice, true/false, or matching items.
R
Reflection
Intentional time for learners to think about what they experienced, what it means for their work, and how they might respond differently next time.
Reinforcement
Ongoing touchpoints—like reminders, nudges, refreshers, and manager check-ins—that help keep key ideas visible and support habit-building over time.
Retrieval Practice
Activities that ask learners to pull information from memory—like low-stakes quizzes, flashcards, or “what would you do?” questions—rather than just re-reading content.
Return on Investment (ROI)
A way of comparing the benefits of a learning initiative (like improved performance or reduced errors) to its costs in time, money, and resources.
Review Cycle
Planned rounds of feedback on drafts or builds—often from SMEs, stakeholders, and QA— with clear owners, deadlines, and what’s in scope for each round.
Role Play
A practice method where learners act out realistic situations—like coaching talks, customer calls, or feedback conversations—to try new skills in a safe environment.
S
Scenario-Based Learning
A learning approach that drops learners into realistic situations and asks them to make decisions, see consequences, and try again—often using branching or layered scenarios.
Simulation
An experience that imitates a real system, tool, or situation—like software sims, flight sims, or branching scenarios—so learners can practice without real-world risk.
SME (Subject Matter Expert)
A person with deep expertise in the topic or role you’re designing for—often a leader, high performer, or specialist who provides content, examples, and review.
Spaced Practice
A technique where practice or review happens across multiple sessions over time, instead of in one long block, to strengthen memory and skill.
Stakeholders
Individuals or groups who have a stake in the learning solution—such as sponsors, managers, SMEs, learners, and downstream teams affected by the results.
Storyboard
A detailed plan that lays out content, visuals, interactions, and audio script screen by screen (or slide by slide) before full development in an authoring tool.
T
Target Audience
The specific group of people a learning solution is meant to serve—defined by their roles, experience level, context, and what they need to be able to do.
Task Analysis
The process of breaking a job task into smaller, observable steps and decisions so you can see what people actually do and where they struggle.
Templates
Pre-built structures for documents or designs—like storyboards, slides, or emails—that give you a consistent starting point while leaving room for customization.
Time to Competence
The amount of time it takes for a learner—often a new hire—to reach a defined level of acceptable performance in their role.
Touchpoints
The individual moments where learners interact with the learning experience—emails, sign-up pages, modules, coaching sessions, nudges, and follow-ups.
Transfer of Training
The degree to which skills and knowledge from training show up later in real work— in how people behave, make decisions, and deliver results.
U
Upskilling
Helping people develop new or deeper skills so they can succeed in their current role or grow into future roles, often through targeted programs and practice.
Usability Testing
Observing real or representative learners as they try to use a course, tool, or resource to see where they get confused, stuck, or surprised.
User Experience (UX)
The overall experience someone has when interacting with a product or course—how easy it is to use, how it feels, and whether it helps them do what they came to do.
User Journey
A mapped view of all the steps a learner goes through with a solution—from first invite or announcement through completion, follow-up, and on-the-job use.
V
Video
A format that combines visuals, audio, and motion to share concepts, stories, demonstrations, or walkthroughs—live-action, animated, or screen-recorded.
Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT)
Real-time training led by a facilitator in a virtual platform—using chat, polls, breakout rooms, and shared screens instead of a physical classroom.
Visual Design
How a course or asset looks—layout, typography, color, spacing, and imagery—used intentionally to support clarity, focus, and emotional tone.
Voiceover
Recorded narration that guides learners through content—whether human-recorded or AI— usually following a script that complements (not reads) on-screen text.
W
Webinar
A live online session, often with a presenter and slides, delivered through a web platform— sometimes interactive, sometimes more broadcast-style.
Wireframe
A simple, low-fidelity sketch of screens or pages that focuses on structure, spacing, and content placement without final visuals or branding.
Workflow Learning
Learning that’s embedded directly into day-to-day work—through tools, prompts, job aids, and systems—so people don’t have to step away to a separate “course.”
Workplace Learning
All the ways people learn at work—formal programs, coaching, workflow learning, peer support, and informal problem-solving on the job.
X · Y · Z
xAPI (Experience API)
A specification for tracking learning activities across systems—not just in an LMS— by sending statements like “Dana completed Scenario 2” to a Learning Record Store (LRS).
YouTube & Open Video (Informal Learning)
When people use publicly available video platforms—like YouTube—to look up how-to content, explanations, or walkthroughs outside formal training programs.
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
A concept from Vygotsky describing the “sweet spot” where a learner can succeed with some support—tasks that are just beyond what they can do alone, but not so hard they shut down.