instructional designer

focused on creating engaging  and effective learning experiences

I can help you with..

eLearning Design

i specialise in instructional design…

I can create a fully customised training solution focused on your requirements and business needs. I believe learning should be engaging and accessible, and I deliver an effective and fun learning experience for learners. You can expect  a friendly, hands-on approach and a professional service with a personal touch.

I offer end-end-learning design. I can do everything from needs analysis, course planning workshops and drafting a training plan, to developing and installing the final product on the platform of your choice. I can manage and deliver the entire project for you, or build its individual components such as training materials, videos, interactive activities, quizzes and templates.

More about instructional design services

Multimedia Design

I develop video & animations…

Online video consumption continues to grow, and it is forecasted that over 80% of internet traffic will be video by 2021, and a lot of that video (over 75%) is going to be viewed on mobile.  Video-based learning is versatile –it combines texts, images and sounds, creating an immersive learning environment.

I can design and develop visually appealing graphics, interactive banners, animations and videos for your online training, website and social media. Get in touch if yu want to discuss your requirements. I’ve got a wealth of experience building, developing and implementing multimedia projects for websites, training courses and marketing campaigns.

See examples of learning videos

Course planning

I facilitate course planning and design sprints…

I use learner-centred, collaborative, pedagogy-first approach drawing from several recognised and successful instructional, curriculum planning and product development models.

My virtual course planning sprints gives teams an opportunity to brainstorm and generate ideas. The examples of products developed during my sprints include programme modules, micro-credentials, digital badges or MOOCs.

I facilitate the workshop, organise all data, review it, and include my instructional design recommendations so, at the end of that process, you will have: course roadmap and learning outcomes, detailed course design plan, project development plan with estimated timelines plus course eLearning production templates and recommendations.

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Web Design

I create intuitive, responsive Websites…

I design beautiful, intuitive and responsive websites that can be viewed on any device. I will work with you to understand your business goals and vision, and use modern design techniques and tools to improve user experience and optimise websites for search engines. Whether you are looking for your first website, or you want to update your current site, or you are after a more consistent visual appearance across all your marketing channels, I can help!

I can manage your project from beginning to end – I can organise the domain, hosting, develop and build a website, and also provide a maintenance service. If you prefer to manage the site yourself, I can teach you how to do it without needing to understand website code!

More about web design services

More about me..

Who am I?
I'm a learning designer devoted to promoting life-long learning culture and the right to education for everyone. I believe that learning should be simple, effective, accessible and engaging. With a wealth of experience in creating web training and communication materials and the MSc in Applied eLearning from Technical University Dublin, I consider myself a well-versed instructional designer. I follow universal design principles - by applying my expertise in user experience, graphic design and learning principles, I create digital learning content that is uncluttered, intuitive and memorable.
How did I become a learning designer?
My adventure with web technology started over ten years ago when I first came across WordPress. I got interested in applying online techniques in business communication and I took many training courses on online marketing, website building, SEO, analytics, etc. For most of my professional career, I have worked in educational settings as a training administrator, education projects manager or training operations manager. I have so many interests and passions that for quite some time, I couldn't decide what exactly I wanted to do for a living. That changed when I stumbled upon learning design. It consolidates everything that I like - my addiction to learning (yes, I am addicted to learning!), my interest in technology, passion for design and my creative drive. I was amazed by how much I enjoyed it and how many different possibilities and professional pathways there were.
What do I love about being a learning designer?
One of the best things about being an instructional designer is that I get to wear so many different hats - I am a graphic designer, video and animation developer, technical writer, project manager, and an education consultant. Depending on the project, I can be either one or all of these things! And it gets even better - as an instructional designer I am never bored, and I always learn! One week I might get to work on a postgraduate engineering degree for a university, the next week on the soft-skills training course for employees of a big corporate company, and I might end a month developing resources for a local fitness or nutrition professional. Pretty cool - right?
Where do I share my expertise?
Everywhere I worked, I was always the 'go-to person' to advise about technology. I also genuinely enjoy behind-the-scenes teaching that is a part of any design project. Working with individual clients, I quickly realised that the 1:1 model is not scalable, and I started sharing my expertise in online learning on my Blog. That was just a starting point, and soon I had a range of online courses and ebooks about online learning, web design and social media.
What are my values?
Some of the core values that guide my work and my whole life are honesty, quality, trust and respect. I also expect to see these qualities in people I work with. Creativity is one of my main drivers, and I can't imagine my life without it. I understand it as being curious, imaginative and innovative. It is about having interests, trying new things. I like to think about it as a sort of slow-motion multitasking that makes life interesting.
And a bit more..
My friends often say that I never stop. I guess they are right - you can say that 'busy' is my middle name! I have more than one passion, and all these interests make me whole. When I am offline, I craft and do loads of DIY. I have a small workshop where I paint, sew, create jewellery, do batik, design and renovate old furniture. My studio is full of colourful paints and fabrics that I use to restore and re-upholster old chairs. It is a fantastic feeling to give these old pieces a second life. I also love travelling and photography. And obviously, I blog about all these things! And when I feel lazy, I love reading books - especially long historical novels and criminal thrillers. But I am usually busy, so you are more likely to see me listening to audiobooks while painting or re-upholstering. I also love travelling and photography. And obviously, I blog about all these things!

Skills & tools I use

Authoring tools

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Authoring tools are any software used to create eLearning and other digital content. I use them to develop beautiful and accessible online learning experiences - from visually appealing presentations to interactive HTML5 elements and videos.
Articulate Storyline
90%
Articulate Rise
97%
H5P
97%
Video & Audio editing
97%

LMS

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As a learning designer, I use Learning Management Systems. LMS hosts the developed content and takes care of tracking results, security, enrolment and multiple other tasks. Some of them also offer the ability to create content within the platform.
Moodle
90%
Blackboard
97%
LearnDash
97%
LearnPress
97%

Technical Skills

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Technical skills allow designers and content developers to build and customise online learning courses, websites and their elements. I am competent in using most of the essential web development languages.
Wordpress
98%
HTML
89%
CSS
88%
Javascript
97%

Design Skills

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Designing and developing digital content goes beyond using software tools. It requires a good sense of design, an understanding of fundamental design principles and considering good user experience and design accessibility.
Adobe Creative Cloud
92%
Graphic Design
98%
UX & Responsive Design
91%
Animation Design
89%

Multimedia

More
Developing multimedia means generating and manipulating graphic images, animations, sound, text and video and consolidating them into seamless interactive training, data presentation or entertainment and educational products.
Premiere Pro
93%
Davinci Resolve
97%
Video Animation
97%

Soft skills

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Designers need to know more than design tools and principles. These are essential soft skills of our trade. I developed and perfected them with practice and self-motivation to stay organised and effective in my digital design work.
Project & Time Management
99%
Communication
97%
Creativity
99%
Digital Marketing | Social Media
92%

Examples of my work

They say that I am…

creative & enthusiastic

Gerta is very creative. She designed a number of websites for my company and managed digital marketing and social media channels. Thanks to the quality of design and the visual appeal we grew our followers. Today most of our customers come from these channels and I don't even have to advertise any more!

Tomek Michalski

Renovations.ie

"Thanks to the quality of web design and the visual appeal we have loads of customers. "

knowledgeable in online learning

Gerta is great to work with. She's an excellent team player, hardworking, conscientious and is very knowledgeable in Online Learning and Instructional Design. She is very creative and has excellent Digital Media skills. Gerta is generous with her time and always happy to share her knowledge and skills.

Mairead O'Reilly

MOR Sound

"Gerta is very knowledgeable in online learning and instructional design."

creative, technical and artistic

Having Gerta work with me on setting up my Sew Easy website was one of the best decisions I made. Gerta had the most amazing ideas, both technical and artistically. She guided me through everything, so seamlessly! From formatting the home page, payments on line to photos. She was wonderful and made it all so easy!

Meabh Walsh

Sew Easy

"Gerta has loads of creative ideas and is both technical and artistic."

pleasure to work with

I do most of my business on Amazon, but I also needed a website that could be a shop window for all new opportunities. Gerta helped me to build it and talked me through some other things like social media presence and content writing. I find her really professional, creative and passionate about her work.

Anna Petertil

5th Element Minerals

"My website looks exactly how I imagined - it is simple and stylish."

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