The very first design model I learned about was the ADDIE Model, and it’s one that has stuck with me as a tried-and-true favorite. This model greatly influenced my approach by offering a structured path to get from the very beginning stage of any project of analysis, to the final stages of implementing and continuously evaluating your work. Using this model, I especially see the value in its first phase, Analysis, which is critical for laying a solid foundation for the rest of your work. In this first phase, you’re identifying who your learners are and what the gap is (is it knowledge, skill, motivation?), which will greatly inform how you can guide your learners to meeting the learning objectives (Dirksen, 2016). While a good designer knows that different models are required for different projects, I find that ADDIE benefits my approach to design.

A theory that greatly influences my work is Universal Design Learning (UDL), with its overall message being that learning should be designed with all types of learners in mind and consider the different ways that they gather learning, express ideas, and are motivated (Ganguli, 2024). Many facets of our world are often not designed with all people in mind, so it’s important that the world of learning design has an established theory that keeps all learners in mind. An example of my work that demonstrates this influence is the Quality Assurance Checklist (Ashton, 2025) which is used to evaluate every asset I create to ensure it’s of high quality. This checklist contains an entire section dedicated to ensuring that a course or asset meets various accessibility standards and ensures that nothing is released to learners without meeting certain standards. 

With the ADDIE model and UDL theory in ind, my approach makes sure that each design decision is intentional and made with all learners' experiences in mind. 

As technology continues to evolve, we must continuously ask ourselves what role it should play in learning environments. I believe with so many options out there, it would be foolish to not embrace all that technology could offer us. Especially as our learners become more spread out, technology can help us keep the connections that make learning meaningful. It can help learners connect with each other, no matter the difference or time between them, help the learners connect with the content, by utilizing technology to enhance your content, and even deepen the connection that the learner may have with themself and their motivations for learning. 

At the same time, your integration of technology must actually add to the learning experience, not just highlight the cool things that it can do. Ensuring that the experience you’re creating with technology aligns with learning objectives and your learner profile is a crucial step to determine if it’s needed and helpful or if it is distracting and a waste of resources.  

My focus is adult learners, where they are often pressed for time and may be hesitant to add online learning to their busy schedules. For this reason, making intentional technology integration decisions is crucial to keep these learners motivated and willing to complete coursework. Again, this highlights the importance of knowing your learners and aligning technology integration choices with what will benefit them.

When approaching various challenges, it's best to always keep the learner the focus. (Seeing the theme here?)

With accessibility challenges, this can be the difference between diverse learners having the opportunity to benefit from your learning experience or being left out. By keeping all learners in mind, making your experience accessible to all is a non-negotiable. This means providing your material in various formats, making interactive activities doable regardless of physical abilities, and ensuring all visual and auditory content comes with accessibility measures in place. 

For learner engagement challenges, intentional engagement opportunities are designed, so learners benefit from actively interacting with the material, instead of just passively witnessing it. One thing that has stuck with me is Cammy Bean’s notion of “click clicky bang bang”, which describes how learners don’t really engage by just clicking on a bunch of things (Bean, 2023). Instead, I opt to use other means of getting learners to engage with the learning materials with things like reflection questions (getting them to think about the content) and simulation/scenario-based activities (getting them to do the thing they’re learning about). I also like to vary these different types of engagement opportunities to keep the learner interested. 

With the challenge of designing good assessments, the best way to go is building assessments that are authentic, meaning those that are relevant to the learning objectives and what they’ll actually be doing with the new knowledge or skills after the learning experience. This is exemplified in an assessment created for my “teachU Texas for Program Advisors” course, where new Program Advisors are assessed by completing a simulated interaction with a program participant, a task that they will complete daily once on the job (Ashton, 2025). 

When I first began my Master's program, I had little insight into adult learning principles, but much of what I began to uncover seemed like common sense knowing how I am as a learner. It was through learning how learners different from myself can be motivated and led to the learning objectives that was the true challenge of grappling this process that helped me to determine what I believe to be the essential elements of an effective learning environment: motivation from your learner, a collaborative environment that allows for connection, and authentic practice opportunities to apply new knowledge or skills. With motivation, collaboration, and plenty of practice, I think people can learn (and more importantly - do) most of anything. 

At the end of the day, what is the point of creating beautiful and engaging learning experiences if it doesn’t help the learner achieve their goals? This is the epitome of my philosophy that when designing these experiences, a great designer will always go back to think about one thing: the learner.