Backwards Design Expanded: The Online Learning Minute

 

I mentioned last episode that businesses have defined goals and deliverable that need to be addressed and backwards design can help in achieving those goals. Where backwards design fits in is in the order of how the courses are created.

When a business says they want to increase profitability in the sales department, for example, we’d determine the KPIs and assessments first, and then teach to those items. After developing the assessments and curriculum, we’d then examine how much if any improvement was made and make improvements to the content and assessments.

Backwards design isn’t necessarily a complete replacement for current methodologies, just rather focusing the design process to teach for the test. Some people believe that learning should be just for self-improvement, and backwards design leads to just teaching for the test. But when your business has a specific set of skills that need to be learned, backwards design can help to achieve those goals and keep the development focused.

That was your Online Learning Minute at Marketscale. Tune in next episode where we talk about preventing poor online education videos.

For the latest thought leadership, careers, news, and event coverage across B2B, be sure to check out our industry pages.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Oncology
From Denial to Access: Rethinking Oncology Care Through AI, Clinical Trials, and Patient-Centered Innovation
April 1, 2026

The rapid expansion of precision medicine, biologics, and targeted cancer therapies is transforming oncology—but it’s also overwhelming a system not built to keep pace. In the U.S., cancer drugs now account for some of the highest-cost treatments in healthcare, and with that has come a surge in prior authorization requirements and denials. Studies suggest physicians…

Read More
Firefly
Pursuing the Impossible: The New Space Race with Firefly Aerospace Co-Founder Eric Salwan
April 1, 2026

Many companies set out to do something hard. Firefly Aerospace set out to do the impossible. After 10 years and several existential moments, Firefly did what no private company ever had: in 2025, it successfully landed on the Moon. Before Firefly, only countries had ever landed on the Moon—and it took extraordinary national effort…

Read More
internship
Tale of Two Interns: What AI Is Really Doing to Entry-Level Work
March 30, 2026

The narrative around early-career work has become increasingly pessimistic, with headlines pointing to a shrinking pool of entry-level roles, fewer internship opportunities, and AI accelerating both trends. But beneath that narrative, a different tension is emerging—one that’s less about the disappearance of opportunity and more about how it’s being reshaped. Students are using AI…

Read More
AI data center
Power, Cooling, and Risk: What It Takes to Bring a 100MW AI Data Center Online
March 28, 2026

The industry knows how to build data centers. What it’s still figuring out is how to turn on AI factories at scale. With facilities now crossing 100 megawatts—far beyond the 5 to 10 megawatt norm of traditional builds—operators are no longer just validating equipment. They’re testing whether entire systems—power, cooling, controls, and the teams behind…

Read More