Kirkland, WA · Instruction & learning experience design

Designing instruction around what people need to do.

Sequenced courses, job aids, and facilitator guides, with defined outcomes and revision based on how learners use the materials.

Mallory Long, smiling, wearing green glasses and a striped shirt.

For three years I have designed skill-sequenced music curriculum across six grade levels and facilitated instruction for about 450 students in Lake Washington School District. I also develop digital learning for Trailpost, including interactive modules, practice activities, and teacher-facing guides that run in a browser without a special installation.

Before working in education I spent nine years at Microsoft / Xbox as a Software Test Engineer and Area Owner. I apply the same standards to instructional materials: defined quality criteria, revision based on use, and a complete handoff.

Work

Selected examples

01 · Interactive LMS course

Overhead photo of a phone showing a viral StormWatch post that Route 9 is flooded and every school in the district is closed.

Grades 6–8 · LMS course

Media Literacy

Learners examine a viral news story and separate fact from fiction in this media literacy course for middle school.

  • Branching path
  • Knowledge checks
  • Job aid

02 · Practice environments

Morse Desk product art: a wooden telegraph desk with a Morse chart, blank paper, a sounder, and a telegraph key.

Chromebook-ready · Trailpost

Morse Desk

Learners read Morse code, send it on a telegraph key, and listen on a sounder. Rank increases as accuracy is maintained.

  • Multi-modal practice
  • No install
  • Teacher walkthrough
Rewind: The 24-Hour Detective product art, showing a clock rewinder, mystery texts, and analogue, digital, and 24-hour time practice.

Grades 2–5 · Trailpost

Rewind: The 24-Hour Detective

Learners set a time within the last 24 hours, read related messages, and record when events occurred. The activity covers analogue, digital, and 24-hour time across ten mysteries.

  • Elapsed time
  • Analogue & digital
  • 10 mysteries

03 · Educational game

Browser RPG · edumongame.com

Edumon: The Archivist’s Journey

An educational role-playing game in which progress depends on study. Players explore a story world, keep a field journal, and study in order to catch and train Edumon. The game uses thousands of curriculum questions and includes support for multilingual learners.

  • Progress through study
  • Classroom keys, no student accounts
  • Runs in the browser

Additional work

Curriculum and classroom instruction

Lake Washington School District

Skill-sequenced music curriculum across six grades, with defined outcomes, checkpoints, and job aids for other teachers. Live instruction for about 450 learners.

Trailpost

More than 30 educational products, including interactive modules, sequenced practice, and facilitator guides. Materials run in a browser, are suitable for Chromebooks, and do not require a special installation.

teacherspayteachers.com/store/trailpost

How I work

Instructional design process

I use ADDIE: analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate. When requirements are fixed, the work proceeds in sequence. When a portion of the work can be released early, the same steps are repeated in shorter cycles.

  1. Analyze

    Identify the audience, the context, and a performance that can be assessed.

  2. Design

    Sequence the outcomes, practice, and checks before production begins.

  3. Develop

    Build instruction that includes modeling, practice, branching, and feedback.

  4. Implement

    Package materials so a facilitator or learning management system can deliver them.

  5. Evaluate

    Review learner performance and revise based on evidence.

Course authoring

Interactive eLearning production

I author interactive eLearning, including scroll-based lessons and slide-based lessons with timeline animation, triggers, variables, and LMS packages.

Structure and navigation

  • Scroll lessons and slide lessons, including a free-form canvas
  • Linear paths, branching, and learner-choice navigation
  • Gating, required lessons, and lock-until-previous sequences
  • Story / map view of the learner path
  • Completion rules and printable certificates
  • Course, lesson, and block templates; reusable content library

Slide interaction

  • Timeline animation synced to audio and video
  • Motion paths; objects that appear, move, or play on a clock
  • Triggers: click, hover, timeline, cue, drop, keypress, media complete, variable change, state change
  • Actions: show/hide, jump, layers, play/pause/seek media, change state, enable/disable
  • If / else conditions (AND / OR)
  • Course variables (text, number, true/false) and text-entry that writes to a variable
  • Layers, object states, drag-and-drop, and drop targets

On-screen content

  • Text, statements, quotes, lists, tables, and code samples
  • Accordions, tabs, flip cards, process steps, and checklists
  • Buttons that link, jump, download, or reveal
  • Images, galleries, carousels, and labeled graphics with hotspots
  • Audio and video (local files or YouTube) with captions and transcripts
  • Embeds and downloadable attachments
  • Branching conversation scenarios

Practice and assessment

  • Ungraded knowledge checks vs. scored quiz lessons
  • Multiple choice, multiple select, true/false, matching, ordering
  • Fill-in-blank, numeric (with tolerance), hotspot, word bank
  • Drag-to-match, drag-to-sort, Likert, survey, and long answer
  • Sorting into categories; practice matching
  • Question banks with tags; pools with random draw
  • Shuffle, attempt limits, pass marks, weighting, partial credit
  • Feedback timing (immediate, after submit, after completion)
  • Remediation when a score falls below a threshold

Media, accessibility, and visual design

  • Alt text, captions, and transcripts included during production
  • Accessibility checks for missing alt/captions and contrast
  • High-contrast and other theme presets; custom fonts, colors, and density
  • Cover art, accent palettes, and sidebar or compact navigation
  • Desktop, tablet, and phone preview
  • Left-to-right and right-to-left direction

Publish and tracking

  • Web zip and single HTML for Drive, email, or a school site
  • SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 4th Edition
  • xAPI, cmi5, and AICC packages
  • Assign learners, read completion and scores, export reports
  • Responsive player; certificates of completion

Experience

Professional experience

2026–present

Instructional Content Designer

Trailpost (independent educational software and resources), Kirkland, WA

  • Own 30+ educational products end to end: goals, writing, interaction, UI, and release, including Morse Desk, Rewind, and Edumon
  • Build self-paced digital learning with knowledge checks, learner choice, and branching
  • Write facilitator guides and revise them based on feedback

2023–present

Music Educator and Curriculum Designer

Lake Washington School District, Kirkland, WA

  • Design and maintain curricula across six grade levels, with defined outcomes, checkpoints, and progression paths
  • Facilitate live instruction for about 450 students; adjust pacing from observed engagement
  • Train collaborating teachers; write job aids and facilitation-ready guides

2017–2023

Behavior Technician and Early Childhood Educator

Greater Seattle Area, WA

  • Differentiated support for K–5 learners with complex needs; tracked progress with cross-functional teams
  • Adapted communication for children, families, and specialists

2007–2016

Software Test Engineer / Area Owner

Microsoft / Xbox, Redmond, WA

  • Area Owner for content quality, test case authoring, and documentation across teams
  • Designed and executed data-driven quality assessments for titles including Gears of War, Forza, and Halo
  • Playtested for usability and delivered specific, actionable feedback under production deadlines

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Education, Interdisciplinary Child Development, Western Washington University

K–5 Teaching Certification, Washington State; endorsed in Music and Visual Arts

Kodály methodology: sequential design, skill progression, differentiated instruction

Contact

Employment inquiries

Based in Kirkland, Pacific Time. Legally authorized to work in the United States; no visa sponsorship required. Open to remote and Greater Seattle hybrid.