The world of Instructional Design is full of various design models to follow for accomplishing your project. I read three articles that covered Instructional Systems Design (ISD), and they all provided some very refreshing points. We all know that Instructional Design is a system of procedures for developing education and training materials in a consistent and reliable fashion (Branch (2018) Chapter 3 Foundations ID Models pg. 23). The keywords that always pop up when talking about instructional design are EDUCATION, TRAINING, and LEARNING!
When I was in college for my undergrad degree, we covered the ADDIE model in our classes and used that model for most of our assignments. This model helped me design a lesson plan for college undergrads as the targeted audience interested in Sorority and Fraternity Greek Life on campus. In addition, I could remember collecting data for my research and interviewing students. My summary included what the students expected to learn from pleading. Example: History of the organization, Greek letters, what the organization stood for, and the service the organization offered. When dealing with instructional systems design, be prepared for learning and building strategies to fulfill instructional needs.
I don’t understand why some feel ISD is flawed (February 2002 Training pg. 28) because they feel it is difficult to define. It isn’t too difficult to define because there are meanings and research that explain what ISD is. Well, here is one definition, Instructional systems design involves a systematic process for the assessment and development of training solutions, designed specifically for the purpose of formal training delivery. See, how hard is that? ISD help developers become creative and they get to explore numerous way to fulfill the learning outcome.
Well, I read that when the pandemic hit, educators had to step up their online teaching capabilities, and it was easy for some but hard for others. Online learning is more challenging for many reasons, because you might not have internet access, and I can agree with that because I work at a library and I had to give out hot spots due to the campus shutdown. The hot spots were given to students who didn’t have the internet at home. In addition, many students have struggled to make the jump from physically being at school to learning virtually. Educators gained major help from instructional designers/consultants to create online courses and to train them how to teach the course to the students. To me online course is all about keeping the attention of your students and making sure they are getting the proper education for that class.
Branch, R. M. (2018). Characteristics of instructional design models. In R. A. Reiser & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th Ed.), (pp. 23-30). New York, NY: Pearson Education.
Zemke, R., & Rossett, A. (2002). A hard look at ISD. Training, 39(2), 26-34.
I think many people find it hard to define instructional design because it encompasses many fields. For example, many people who work at instructional designers for businesses find it difficult to transition to education and vice versa. ISD is used in so many capacities that people may find it difficult to define what they do in a definition that is many times quite broad. I find it difficult to describe my job to people since I technically do not perform instructional design work but work with LMS and online education. Many people assume I am IT. I can understand the difficulty some may have in providing a clear definition for ISD that encompasses how they interact with the field.
I believe Instructional design is a field that can be complex for some to grasp since there is there many pieces. Instructional designers can be either specialize in one area or be a one stop shop including training, design/development of instruction, manage learning management system, an educational consultant, and/or technical writer. Unfortunately, at my organization, we have a communication/instructional designer position that adds to the complexity of understanding what an instructional designer does at the organization. I agree with how instructional design is a systematic process of assessment, design, and development of training. Unfortunately, some instructional designers are used to fill in gaps where positions don’t exist (e.g., videographer position in IT). This notion leads to confusion on the essential…
I completely agree with what you said about the impact of the pandemic on education and how some educators were not prepared for those unexpected changes. After one year of pandemic, it would be great to analyze if the educational technologies implemented were the most beneficial for the students. As you said, I do believe that educators have gained a lot of experience and they will be more prepared for upcoming challenges. - Claudio Eduardo
I am not sure why people feel ISD is flawed either. What is wrong with providing a heuristic model for individuals to utilize as they learn how to instructionally design? As IDs develop professional experience, they can identify what is and is not important in their processes for the particular organizational / teaching setting in which they work. In project management this concept is called ‘tailoring’. The Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBoK) is very detailed in how one can work through a project, but it is rare for every one of those steps to be followed when completing said project. I would argue it is better to have a known process and rationally deviate from it than to start…