DESIGN Online

DESIGN Online supports nutrition educators in creating and delivering effective learning experiences based in nutrition science, psychology, education and communication. The web-based application guides educators through the systematic DESIGN procedure for creating educational and environmental-support lesson plans for use with groups and in social media. 

CTL developers and designers worked closely with Dr. Isobel Contento, creator of the DESIGN procedure, and her partner, Dr. Pamela Koch, to translate the paper-based format into a rich, intuitive online experience. The team designed a flexible, collaborative interface to lead nutrition educators through the six-step procedure, providing wayfinding and progress indicators along the way. The application is designed to allow for independent work, as well as group work for cohorts of educators.

DESIGN Online contributes substantially to the field of nutrition education by providing an exciting and dynamic tool that combines the best of online technology with the best of evidenced-based nutrition education. The DESIGN procedure, while revolutionary, could feel complex and confusing to complete on paper. By streamlining and clarifying the procedure’s content, DESIGN Online allows nutrition educators to focus more deeply on creating compelling lessons rather than the procedure’s mechanics.

Classroom trials of DESIGN Online at Columbia’s Teachers College have proven very successful. Nutrition educators reported that they were able to create lesson plans more easily, and that the online format allowed them to synthesize the relationships between audience, goals, learning theory and action. The collaborative features allowed nutrition educators to work together to create their plans.

Since the initial release debuted in 2019, the team has completed an additional round of development to add environmental-support plans to the application. Environmental support plans are plans for activities that include advocacy and making changes to the food, economic, and information environments to achieve a specific behavior change goal. Drs. Contento and Koch will debut the enhanced application in 2022.