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There are several ways in which you could train
yourself in instructional design. Madhuri Dubey gives a list of
websites, resources and also the names of foreign varsities which
offer online and regular courses
Instructional Design (ID) opportunities are spread
across a wide spectrum of educational initiatives such as, corporate
education, enterprise-wide learning, e-learning companies, online
universities (other modes of distance learning), edutainment industry,
publishing companies that are into re-purposing the textbooks for
online delivery.
What would you be actually doing in the role
of an instructional designer? Content, content and content! This
is what will challenge you in sending the message that “information
is not instruction” (i.e., content on its own cannot be learnable).
How does one deal with a wide variety of content resources? Content
comes in diverse forms: books, manuals, videos, lectures, interviews,
CD ROMS, floppy disks, pictures, diagrams, objects, instruments,
etc…. The instructional designer studies the content (with
the help of a subject matter expert) and marks the appropriate content
that fits into the scheme of learning. This is done by:
- Identifying patterns and themes;
- Sequencing the content;
- Modularising the content into easily learnable units.
Next comes the creative and collaborative phases,
where your skills in being a strong team player are called into
question.
The creative phase involves brainstorming for
an ID strategy and developing it to convey the content (case study,
story telling, narration, tone, humour, language, etc). At the same
time the visual designers work out the visual strategy, look and
feel options/layout options, colour schemes, interface design. It
is important for IDs to have knowledge in HTML, e-learning authoring
tools, Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Learning Content Management
System (LCMS) for sound understanding of the development process.
Product demos
A good way to start is by acquainting yourself
with some state-of-the-art e-learning products. Some good de-mos
from industry leaders are available at:
http://www.allencomm.com/index.cfm
http://www.digitalthink.com/dtfs/e-learning/
http://www.skillsoft.com/demo/default.asp
http://www.netvarsity.com/nv000/pt.asp# (sampler
courses)
http://www.netg.com/DemosAndDownloads/
Theoretical knowledge
There are several ways in which you could train
yourself in instructional design. Here is a suggestive list of websites
and related resources that could guide you in acquiring theoretical
knowledge. For simple overview of learning theories visit:
http://www.gsu.edu/~mstswh/courses/it7000/papers/newpage1.
htm
http://tip.psychology.org/www.funderstanding.com
http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles.htm
http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/idmodels.html
http://www.clarktraining.com/
http://www.id2.usu.edu/MDavidMerrill/IDREAD.PDF
(complete self-study programme including reading list by Prof David
Merill from Utah University, a pioneer in instructional systems
design)
Some of the above sites provide clear explanation
of various learning theories and their application in designing
learning events. You could also find notes/easy to understand articles
and tools on various aspects of ID.
Adult learning principles and learning strategies
For specific knowledge on principles of adult
learning visit: http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/
intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/adults-2.htm
If you wish to get familiar with various instructional
strategies for Web-based instruction visit:
http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/wbi/index.html
When it comes to exploring the relationship between
learner characteristics and instructional design, this link could
be helpful:
http://www.atl.ualberta.ca/articles/idesign/learnchar.cfm#
part2
Thought leaders from training and e-learning
industry
For a broader understanding of ID from the perspective
of learning practitioners, opinion leaders in the industry, you
could try:
www.learningcircuits.com
www.brandonhall.com
www.masie.com
www.bersin.com
www.elearningpost.com
www.internettime.com
http://www.e-learningcentre.
co.uk/
Some of the above websites have informative and
insightful online magazines for free subscription.
For knowledge on LMS, virtual learning tools,
you could visit:
www.saba.com
www.click2learn.com
www.webex.com
www.centra.com
www.macromedia.com
You may also need to update yourself with standards
and compliance issues in designing and developing e-learning. Several
groups and organisations are working on standards and specifications
that spell out how content will be delivered and evaluated, how
testing will be conducted, and how courses will be administered.
Below are several Web links to organisations now working on e-learning
standards:
http://www.adlnet.org/
http://www.aicc.org/
http://www.ieee.org/
http://www.imsproject.org/
Self-learning is much more meaningful when we
get opportunities to collaborate and network with other practitioners.
You may try becoming a member at Yahoogroups (Brandon Hall), ASTD
Virtual Communi-ty, MSN Groups (Instructional Designers Forum).
Attending workshops and seminars in ID is certainly of help, particularly
in India.
As a part of the STC Annual Conference, TWIN-India
has recently conducted a workshop on ID. For more details, visit:
http://www.stc-india.org.
The recent issue of Indus the online magazine
from this forum was solely dedicated to e-learning and various aspects
such as design and development. For further details, you could browse
http://www.stc-india.org/indus/112003. CDAC, Mum-bai, is planning
to offer a short course in Instructional Design in February/March
2004.
Formal learning in Instructional Design
If you are a fresh graduate aspiring to get formally
trained in Instructional Design, unfortunately in India we do not
yet have full-fledged courses as universities in the US or UK. Of
course, we have universities like SNDT, IGNOU and CIEFL, Hyderabad
offering courses in Educational Technology and Use of Technology
in Distance Education as a part of other Masters/Post-Masters curriculum.
SNDT Women’s University in Mumbai has a Masters program in
Educational Technology with focus on instruction design.
Following is a list of universities abroad that
offer instructional design programmes at Bachelors, Masters, and
Doctorate levels in regular/
online mode. You could visit these sites and
check out if these courses suit your requirements.
Capella University: http://www.
worldwidelearn.com/capella/
online-degrees.htm
New York University (School of Continuing and
Professional Studies): http://www.scps.nyu.
edu/courses/index.jsp?let=I&catId=190
University of Phoenix: http://
www.uoponline.com/programs.asp
George Washington University offers a Masters
of Arts in Education and Human Development in Educational Technology
Leadership: http://
www.gwu.edu/~distance/grad.
html
Florida State University: http:/
/online.fsu.edu/student/degree/
explore/program/grad/#isys
University of Houston: http://
www.it.coe.uh.edu/
The courses from above universities may certainly
help you in preparing yourself in ID. The issue could be the course
fees and other expenses. In case you find it exorbitant you could
always get into one of the allied courses offered in Indian universities
and upgrade your skills on the job. In the next article I shall
propose a suggested curriculum for ID by delineating its scope professional
training and certification.
Madhuri Dubey is a Senior Instructional Designer
associated with a software MNC in Hyderabad. E-mail: madhurid@rediffmail.com
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