Lindsay O'Neill ConsultingI train librarians to be instructional designers and to teach online! Once an Instructional Design Librarian, now I'm a freelance instructional designer and educator, and I teach for a Master of Science in Instructional Design and Technology program.
I’m done! I’m really done! I’m Dr. O’Neill now! (Am I sure I’m done? Isn’t someone going to pop up and tell me I’m not done?). It feels unreal. And it’s certainly been quite the journey since I began this program. Heck, it’s been a journey since my last blog post, which was only a […]
If there is one piece of advice I can share with other EdD students, it’s that there are a variety of false summits on your way to done. I titled my last blog post The Final Stretch, and that, apparently, was wildly optimistic. This “final stretch” has felt more like a couple of marathons tacked […]
It’s a long, lonely slog to the doctorate. And yet, at the same time, the timeline feels too short. I am planning to conduct my final dissertation defense in late March 2026, just in time for a May graduation (should the universe be willing!). My research will be complete and my dissertation will be written […]
In this video, you’ll discover how to use Articulate Storyline’s accessibility checker to identify and fix most accessibility issues in your e-learning projects. We’ll talk about what it CAN do and what it CAN’T do. You’ll learn about WCAG 2.1 compliance levels and understand why Level AA is the federal standard you should aim for […]
As educators increasingly rely on digital content and online platforms, ensuring that our web-based materials are accessible to all learners has become essential. Web accessibility means creating an equivalent experience for everyone, including students with disabilities who may use assistive technologies like screen readers or navigate primarily with keyboards. If you’ve ever wondered how to […]
Think back to when you learned to ride a bike, cook your first recipe from scratch, or master a new video game. Did someone simply tell you how to do it, or did you have to actively figure it out through trial, error, and personal experience? This fundamental question lies at the heart of constructivism, […]
There are some big changes coming for state and local governments (and public libraries!) that will affect how you handle your digital content. Let’s talk about what’s coming and how to get started. Watch the video or scroll on to get the whole scoop! What’s Happening? In April 2024, the Department of Justice passed a […]
What if you could map the path from memorization to genius? If you could do such a thing, it would look a lot like Bloom’s Taxonomy! Bloom’s Taxonomy attempts to visually organize how people learn, from basic remembering and understanding, up to evaluating and creating. Remember is the foundation of the pyramid, with Create at […]
The Zone of Proximal Development is where the magic happens in learning! In this video, I summarize and illustrate Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in just 5 minutes. This is a core theory in instructional design and educational psychology. While Vygotsky conceptualized this theory in relation to children and how they learn, it’s […]
As educators and online instructors, one of the most critical decisions we make daily is how and when to assess our students’ learning. Understanding the distinction between formative and summative assessment is essential for creating effective learning experiences that both support student growth and accurately measure achievement. Formative assessment serves as the compass during the […]
It’s just like the title says: build a custom chatbot in just a few minutes for FREE! Creating a custom AI chatbot might sound like a complex technical challenge, but it’s very achievable in just a few minutes using free tools and a simple copy-paste approach. My directions combine the power of ChatGPT’s language capabilities […]
As President of Learning Round Table I am THRILLED to announce our events at ALA Annual in Philadelphia, June 26-30, 2025! Check out our events below. I’m especially excited to moderate our “Behind the Bookshelves” panel on careers in training and professional development. I’ll also be at our networking event and participating in our Training […]
Learn how generative artificial intelligence can support the implementation of Universal Design for Learning principles to create more inclusive learning experiences. This video covers several free generative AI tools and practical strategies for leveraging AI to meet diverse student needs. Learn about Google Notebook LM, MagicSchool AI, ElevenLabs, invideo AI, and Canva AI! From the […]
As an online graduate instructor, I can usually tell when my students are using ChatGPT to complete their assignments. While we allow AI use in our program, we simply ask students to acknowledge it, but many don’t. But there are some ways to know that students used AI-generated content in their work. When I run […]
I am now ABD: All But Dissertation, and a doctoral candidate, which is an upgrade from doctoral student. Let me tell you, the relief is immeasurable. What Is a Proposal Defense? In order to do the research required for a doctoral dissertation, a doctoral student has to create a full research proposal and pitch it […]
Let me tell you, this EdD has been a JOURNEY. Since I left my full-time job at the end of 2023, I have been brainstorming, revising, and throwing away my dissertation ideas. Brainstorming, revising, throwing away more ideas. And here I am with my proposal due in just under 3 months still nailing down my […]
Sign up for my monthly newsletter to be notified of new learning opportunities! Recordings AI Basics for Educators Discover how artificial intelligence is shaping education. This 30-minute session will provide a high-level overview of AI’s current applications in teaching and learning. Perfect for educators curious about integrating AI into their practice. AI in the Classroom: […]
Tired of wading through endless search results to find reliable answers? Try Perplexity AI, the AI tool that flips traditional search on its head! Instead of sifting through a long list of links, Perplexity gives you direct answers and cites its sources—making your search for accurate information faster and easier. In this video, I’ll show […]
Struggling with big, overwhelming projects? Say goodbye to stress and hello to productivity with Magic To-Do from Goblin Tools! In this video, I’ll show you how this awesome tool can break down your tasks into manageable steps, making it easier to get started and keep moving forward. No matter how big the project is, Magic […]
Specific and measurable learning objectives are essential for creating focused and effective training experiences. A learning objective is a statement that describes what learners will be able to do after completing a learning activity, emphasizing observable actions rather than internal processes like understanding. By using a backward design approach, where you begin with the end […]
Completed Webinars Instructional Design for Information Literacy (90 Minutes) Recording available. Are you an academic librarian tasked with teaching one-shot information literacy sessions? Do you want to make your workshops more engaging, impactful, and effective? Join in for a 90-minute, interactive webinar that will transform how you approach instructional design for information literacy. In this […]
Want to create your own custom chatbot? Create your own assistant? ChatGPT 4 makes it super easy – and it’s now even FREE! Check out my video overview of how I created two chatbot GPTs using ChatGPT 4. Two days after creating this video, Open AI announced that the ability to create and use GPTs […]
I am a year and a half into my doctoral studies, with only two years to go! Two years sounds like a lot, except that this program is speeding by. This summer, I only have a quick five-week course, but the fall semester promises a high workload and a bit of stress. I’ll be taking […]
The pace of new generative AI is absolutely astounding. If you are unfamiliar with how good AI already is at imitating real people, you need to read this! You might know that I’ve gotten really into AI in the last few months, mostly thanks to participation in ASU’s AI Innovation Challenge. I’ve had a free […]
Building on what I presented last week, let’s talk about more generative AI tools that will make your life better. Embracing generative AI tools for crafting PowerPoint presentations is a smart move. These tools are not just time-savers; they’re like a creativity booster shot for your slide decks. With AI, you can generate engaging text, […]
ChatGPT can be a game-changer for creating and editing PowerPoint slide decks. It streamlines the process by helping generate content ideas and suggesting visually appealing layouts and graphics. It can even create the PowerPoint file for you! Whether you’re looking to save time, improve the quality of your presentations, or simply inject some creativity into […]
Can AI help you achieve your dream career? Maybe! I’ve gotten some fabulous ideas to aid career hunters from the Superhuman newsletter (all AI, delivered everyday!) and today’s newsletter did not disappoint. One of the things I love/hate about AI is that it’s encouraging a whole new form of thinking and creativity. I’m not used […]
Have Adobe Creative Cloud? You have Adobe Firefly! Don’t have Creative Cloud? You still have Firefly (25 images/month for free!) Firefly is unique as an AI image creator because it was trained only on Adobe-licensed and public domain content, making the resulting generated images safe to use anywhere (copyright-wise). Its tools for creating customized images are […]
As a doctoral student with two part-time jobs, I’m pretty busy. I’m always looking for ways to save time, particularly on tedious tasks. Last week I was signed up to present my doctoral project in a semi-formal environment, an after-hours mini-conference, so that I could get feedback on my ideas. I know my project well. […]
First year of my doctoral program down and only…two and a half to go?!? Whose idea was this, anyway? In actuality, this three year+ program is moving by quickly. Keeping my head down each evening and weekend to study leads to the months flying by. This next year will consist of regular courses but then […]
It’s time: I’m moving on from teaching full-time in Cal State Fullerton’s M.S. in Instructional Design and Technology (MSIDT) program. Fall 2023 was my last semester. I had a good run! I started teaching part-time for MSIDT in 2016 and was so privileged to be hired on full-time in 2018. That’s seven years of helping […]
Storyline’s triggers and variables are what makes this software so powerful! In this demo, I show you how to use both to force a user to complete click-to-reveal interactions before being allowed to move on to the next slide. Download demo file for this project. It’s really helpful when using triggers and variables to name […]
Want to have your own custom, onscreen navigation buttons in your Storyline project? No problem! Just disable the default next and back buttons and customize the look of your player. It’s quick and easy and I’ll show you how! Select the “Player” button in the top right of the Storyline editing window to select the […]
Come see me speak at DevLearn 2023 on accessibility strategies for elearning! My session is #407 – Accessibility for eLearning: Quick and Easy Techniques to Apply Right Away. Meet me Thursday, October 26, at 10:45 am at The Mirage in Las Vegas! Watch my session trailer: Session Description Accessibility is possible in your eLearning. With […]
Librarians have unique needs as information literacy instructors. They teach users to browse book catalogs and search databases, they work with faculty to teach their students information literacy, and they have a growing need to offer asynchronous online tutorials. But they also have to keep track of how much instruction they conduct and prefer to […]
Incredibly, Adobe has finally launched a brand new redesign of Captivate. If you’ve been holding your breath since 2021 when the redesign (termed “Project Charm”) was announced, you wouldn’t be faulted for thinking it had been sidelined and was never going to happen, especially since there were almost no updates and Adobe hasn’t been showing […]
Articulate has made amazing strides to develop accessibility features in Storyline. Accessibility is becoming must more of a focus in the elearning industry, and Articulate is at the forefront. Each year they make improvements to accessibility features and add new ones, and while many of their accessibility features are unique to Storyline, they are generally […]
You know how it’s annoying when you open an article you want to read and a video starts auto-playing, sound and all? News websites are notorious for this. Or worse, there’s sound coming from a video you didn’t play in one of your dozens of tabs? And you can’t find the tab to turn it […]
Creating accessible documents is easier than ever thanks to growing accessibility features in software like Microsoft Word. Notice that I point out Word specifically! This is the easiest software in which to create accessible documents. PDFs? Not very accessible. Convert them to Word (literally just open a PDF using Word, it will convert automatically!). PowerPoint? […]
Announcing my new business name, Lindsay O’Neill Consulting! I’ve also launched a brand new website, lindsayoconsulting.com (bookmark it!). I’m looking to grow my business. So many educators need practical strategies to design and facilitate effective learning experiences, and I want to help! I offer webinars and training on instructional design, online teaching and learning, educational […]
Let’s check our work! Whether you created something from scratch, or you are revising an existing project, it’s helpful to have a way to analyze a project for accessibility. Fortunately there is a very handy tool available from WebAIM that will do the bulk of the analysis for you! What features does a webpage need […]
My doctoral program is speeding right along! I’ve officially completed three courses and I’m currently enrolled in two for summer session. Depending on how you count, there are about 21 total “courses” in the program, including dissertation work, so let’s just go ahead and say that I’m 1/7 or 14% done with my doctorate! This […]
All of the opportunities I’ve received have come through networking. My first library internship at UC Riverside came through a classmate in my library masters program, giving me my first professional experience. A mentor at that internship got me another library internship at Arizona State, which helped me land a staff job there (paid! Thank […]
Nothing beats the energy and excitement of thousands of people descending on the same site to learn together. Conferences are a wonderful opportunity to not only do some networking but to learn new things and extend your knowledge. I’ll happily declare that DevLearn is my favorite elearning conference, but there are many wonderful instructional design […]
So many instructional designers fall into this profession accidentally that there’s a book written about it. I pretty much fell into instructional design myself. I was working as library staff at Arizona State, freshly graduated with a library degree and yearning for a professional librarian job, so I decided to pursue a second master’s degree to […]
Color is beautiful! It’s fun to use color to add meaning to your text and images. Your visual styling can add bold drama or soft emotion. Just pay attention when you are combining colors to ensure that everyone experiences the full emotional impact of your design. It’s easy and I’ll show you how! Strong contrast […]
When I was in college I took a class on eastern religions (I loved it and still have the textbook!). Something that always stuck with me from that course (who knows why) was that that atheist religions tend to make lists. Like the Buddhists’ Eightfold Path or the Four Noble Truths. I always knew that […]
Struggling to find good examples of interactive Storyline courses? You’re not alone! Most amazing projects are proprietary – they’re built out for a client, so instructional designers aren’t able to put them onto their portfolios. Or, they may only be able to show off a small part. But there are still lots of awesome demos […]
Having a strong portfolio is critical for any job hunt to be successful. Potential employers want to see what you can do, not just read about it on your resume! Read on to learn more about building a winning portfolio. If you are job hunting, or are planning to job hunt, I highly recommend that […]
Closed captions are for EVERYONE, not just people with hearing disabilities. Are you someplace loud? Closed captions. Are you someplace where you have to be quiet? Closed captions. Have trouble understanding the speaker (maybe they talk too fast like me)? Closed captions. Since I had a baby I have become a big fan of closed […]