Faith DeLorenzo | Instructional Designer

---

Workshop Scope

ThingLink Basics: Upload, Create, and Share introduces faculty to creating interactive media for their courses. The one-hour workshop focuses on navigating the platform, uploading media, adding interactive content, and sharing projects. It supports both virtual and in-person participation.

My Role

My role includes refining the workshop’s scope, developing demonstration assets and facilitator guidance, and facilitating the session.

---

Designing the Learning Experience

A Focused Creation Workflow

The workshop follows a core sequence: upload, create, and share. Earlier versions introduced a broader range of features, which made the session difficult to fit within the available time. Narrowing the scope gives new users a clear starting point, while scenario building and 360-degree tours are addressed in separate workshops.

The demonstration example shows the type of interactive media introduced during the session. It connects individual platform features to a finished project, helping faculty consider how they might use those features in their own courses.

Accessible ThingLink: Insta360 Infographic

Supporting Guided Practice

Participants receive the same media assets used during the live demonstration. This removes the need to find or prepare content before trying the tools and gives everyone a shared reference as they follow along.

Supporting Consistent Facilitation

I developed the ThingLink Basics Instructor Guide to connect the demonstration sequence with the supplied assets. It documents the actions facilitators should demonstrate, explanations to share, and context that supports participant understanding.

The linked sample highlights how these elements work together within the guide. This structure supports facilitator preparation and provides a consistent foundation for delivery.

---

Refining the Workshop

Since Spring 2024, the workshop has evolved through three formats. Each revision addressed challenges with content scope, facilitation, or opportunities for participants to engage.

90-Minute Introduction

The original session, Interactive Learning in ThingLink, attempted to introduce the full platform using a topic outline. Its broad scope highlighted the need for clearer priorities and more structured facilitator support.

Interactive Learning in ThingLink Workshop Outline

Four-Hour Masterclass

The Mastering ThingLink: From Zero to Interactive Hero masterclass introduced more detailed guidance and demonstration resources.

However, attendance and engagement were limited, and the volume of content still left insufficient time for independent exploration and reflection. Providing more time and materials did not fully resolve the scope problem.

Focused One-Hour Sessions

The shift to one-hour sessions addressed the amount of content participants were expected to absorb. I narrowed the Basics workshop to uploading media, adding interactive content, and sharing projects. Advanced topics became separate offerings: ThingLink’s Scenario Builder: Crafting Interactive Learning Adventures and Beyond the Frame: Making Interactive 360-degree Tours in ThingLink.

Further Refinement

Shortening the session was only part of the refinement. The earlier demonstration materials, documented in the ThingLink version 2.0 demo guide, were still confusing or difficult for participants to use while following along due to the too detailed content.

I subsequently simplified the practice assets and aligned them more closely with the demonstration sequence, resulting in the materials used today.

These revisions addressed two related needs: a manageable scope for a one-hour introduction and clearer materials to support guided practice.