Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Footprint of Instructional Design


An instructional designer is like a footprint in the snow because:

they are effective communicators - leaving an impression

they are expert designers - leaving a boot tread design and pattern in the snow

they are excellent researchers and evaluators - knowing how to judge and navigate the various kinds of snow and whether the wind quickly erodes the impression

they are leaders and innovators - leaving the first impression and setting the path for others to follow

they are excellent collaborators - walking in unison with two feet


Highlighted instructional design competencies (Roberts et. al., 2001)
Competency #1 - "Communicate effectively in visual, oral and written form"

Instructional designers are effective communicators who are able to create messages that apply to a learner's background and knowledge gap content using engaging materials

Competency #2 - "Develop instructional materials"

Instructional designers are able to create subject matter using various technologies to meet learners needed in well designed formats

Competency #3 - "Conducts a needs assessment" and "evaluates and assesses instruction and its impact"

Instructional designers should be able to determine when an instructional intervention is needed and how to evaluate its effectiveness

Competency #4 - "Plan and manage instructional design projects"

Instructional designers must be good managers and leaders spearheading the learning process

Competency #5 - "Promote collaboration, partnership and relationships among the participants in a design project"

Instructional designers should be able to seamlessly collaborate between the content expert and their client

Richey, R.C., Fields, D.C., Foxon, M. (2001). Instructional Design Competencies: The Standards (3rd edition). ERIC Clearinghouse (ED document #453803).
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2 comments:

Yan Huang said...

the book Instructional Design Conpetancies: the standards (p. 102) also states the competency of IDers. Seen from the form, I can see the most critical one is communicative skills, identifying Environment, analyzing data, link design efforts to strategic plans for the organization. (I just look at how many Ps the table have.)

Tim C said...

Great analogies! I was thinking that Instructional Designers of the future will be able to see the path taken by those who laid down the foundation to Instructional Design. That way, the designer of the future can choose to follow or deviate, based upon the studied results and the desired outcome of the current project.