At Michigan Virtual, we believe that effective learning design goes beyond content—it’s about creating impactful, accessible, and results-driven experiences. Our 5D Process is a structured, research-backed approach that ensures every project is designed for success. From defining clear objectives to designing and deploying engaging learning solutions, we partner with you every step of the way.
When you work with us, you’re not just investing in course development—you’re gaining a team of experts dedicated to accessibility, instructional design excellence, and measurable outcomes. Whether you need full-scale course development, LMS hosting, or strategic consultation, our 5D Process ensures a seamless experience and a lasting impact.
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In this initial phase of our instructional design services, stakeholders assess our comprehensive project proposals and anticipated outcomes to decide on partnering with us. We present a thorough overview of our solutions, including compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Our offerings encompass new project design, development, and deployment; LMS hosting; design thinking consultations; and more. This phase ensures stakeholders have all the necessary information to make an informed decision, aligning all parties for a successful and collaborative partnership.
Our instructional design services start with an action-mapping process that helps us pinpoint specific performance gaps. By reviewing existing materials and collaborating with key stakeholders, we identify the behaviors and actions that will most impact your organization’s goals. Together, we map out clear, measurable actions for your target audience, focusing on the outcomes that drive real results.
This process includes defining project criteria—such as goals, audience, learning experience, and resources—to ensure every step supports actionable change. We draft a detailed service agreement to clarify scope, responsibilities, and deliverables, setting up your team for success. With this structured approach, we’re able to develop targeted, impactful solutions that directly address the problem areas, ensuring sustainable performance improvements and measurable outcomes.
Michigan Virtual employs a targeted, research-based approach to instructional design, grounded in methodologies that ensure engaging, high-impact learning experiences. We prioritize a problem-centered design process, using Action Mapping to pinpoint the specific behaviors and actions that support your organization’s goals. By identifying essential tasks and eliminating unnecessary content, we streamline learning to achieve clear, measurable outcomes.
Our team also leverages Instructional Story Design to immerse learners in scenarios that mirror real-life challenges, helping them practice and internalize new skills through meaningful narrative arcs. We specialize in scripting engaging, scenario-based content that comes to life through multimedia elements, interactive simulations, and video, maximizing engagement and retention. From storytelling to skills-based simulations, our approach transforms learning into memorable, actionable experiences tailored to your objectives.
Our team is dedicated to developing accessible and inclusive learning experiences that prioritize learner engagement and educational effectiveness. We adhere to international accessibility standards, including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and guidance from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Learning experiences can be hosted on our Learning Management System (LMS) or seamlessly integrated into your existing LMS infrastructure. By choosing to host your learning experience with us, you gain access to our extensive learner network, maximizing the reach and impact of your educational content. Additionally, our platform offers the opportunity to provide licensing credits, such as State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECHs) and MiRegistry hours, enhancing the value and recognition of your products.
Our services extend beyond course development to ensure successful product deployment and ongoing optimization. Our approach includes a strategic product launch to maximize impact and engagement, followed by a thorough team debrief to assess outcomes and identify areas for improvement. We prioritize learner satisfaction by continuously monitoring feedback and making necessary updates to maintain a successful learning experience.
In addition, our commitment to quality extends to regular audits every five years to ensure content relevance, accuracy, and alignment with evolving educational standards. We also provide services to update or renew courses on an ongoing basis, ensuring that your learning materials remain current, effective, and engaging.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of internationally recognized standards designed to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. These guidelines ensure that websites and online materials are usable by individuals with visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor impairments. In online learning design, adhering to WCAG is crucial because it ensures that all learners, regardless of their abilities, can access and benefit from educational content. This commitment to accessibility not only promotes inclusivity and equality but also enhances the overall learning experience by making materials more user-friendly and effective for everyone.
Adhering to the Americans with Disability Act in online learning design is essential because it ensures that educational content is accessible to all learners, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities. Compliance with the ADA not only fosters an inclusive learning environment but also upholds legal standards, preventing potential discrimination claims. By designing online learning materials that meet ADA requirements, we ensure equal access to education, empowering all students to achieve their full potential.
View this slideshow to learn more about what we offer, our processes, cost factors, and project development roles.
Action Mapping is a design process and approach developed by instructional designer Cathy Moore. It is used primarily for creating focused and effective training solutions that address performance gaps and drive desired behaviors. Action Mapping emphasizes a streamlined and strategic approach to instructional design, with a focus on identifying and addressing the root causes of performance issues.
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy is widely used in education to guide the design of curriculum, assessments, and instructional strategies. It classifies learning objectives into six hierarchical levels, arranged from lower-order thinking skills to higher-order thinking skills. Each level represents a different cognitive process that learners can demonstrate as they progress in their learning journey.
Instructional Story Design is a practical guide to writing and developing stories for training. It takes what you already know about a story’s power to connect with people and offers a clear methodology for the otherwise daunting process of creating a compelling story.
Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction is a framework developed by Dr. David Merrill, a prominent instructional theorist and researcher. This framework provides a structured approach to designing effective and engaging learning experiences based on principles derived from research and instructional design theory.
Quality Matters (QM) is a widely recognized and respected organization in the field of online education and instructional design. QM is a nonprofit organization that provides a set of research-based standards and guidelines for the design and delivery of high-quality online and blended courses. The primary focus of Quality Matters is to ensure that online courses are designed in a way that promotes learner engagement, interaction, and achievement of learning outcomes.
Understanding by Design is an educational framework developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe that focuses on designing curriculum and instruction with a strong emphasis on achieving deep understanding and transfer of learning. UbD is based on the principles of backward design, which involves starting with the end goals in mind (desired learning outcomes) and working backward to develop instructional activities and assessments that support these goals.
Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA refers to recommendations, standards, and legal considerations related to making websites and digital content accessible to individuals with disabilities, in accordance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
LXD Style Guide: IPD’s Guide for Course Design and Development helps us create clear, consistent, engaging, and effective learning experiences by providing research-based best practices and standards that all products must align with.
Michigan Virtual’s Accessibility Requirements ensure that all learning experiences are inclusive and compliant with international accessibility standards, including WCAG and the ADA. This commitment guarantees equal access to education for all learners, regardless of ability. The guidelines differentiate between required and supplemental content, mandating full accessibility for essential materials while encouraging best practices for supplemental resources. They also provide guidance on identifying and remediating accessibility issues, equipping project teams with the tools and strategies needed to create fully inclusive learning environments.
Interested in collaborating with us to create online learning experiences? Fill out our Partner Intake form!
