The Future of my ID Loves

I am addicted to helping, enthralled with energizing people young and old to learn, and captivated by expertly designed systems and products. I am an instructional designer. Instructional designers of the future will need to use research to influence the choices they make in the instructional design process, use current theories in a blended way, and not get caught up in the hype of new tools that may hinder learning.

Compulsively Competent
My daughter calls me a compulsive helper, I see it as a way to make systems work better. As I make my way through the grocery store I see a customer blankly gazing around the shelves, so I secretly work through the best way to approach this customer and help her out, and how could the store make it easier to find what we need. Why does the traffic bunch up at this intersection and how could traffic engineers rectify the situation. Instructional design models like ADDIE are helpful to a compulsive helper like me. The layers of the theory guide me through decisions that I make.















The future of instructional design will include research as part of this theory (Roark, 2005). In the years to come the abundance of information and ideas will overwhelm the Instructional Designer, and through research the instructional designer will be able to validate claims of effectiveness and justify the myriad of choices out there.

Based on Theory
As a mom and a teacher, I love sharing what I know and encouraging others to learn on their own. My children’s questions, “What kind of bird is that? Where does the rain come from? are answered with, “What does it remind you of? What do you think? Let’s find out.” Allowing my kids and my students to construct their own learning encourages them to be in control of their own learning. As a teacher, I have learned that in order to be successful, I need to put effective learning theories into practice. John Keller’s ARCS theory or Gagne’s theory of the nine-events of instruction start out as a structured formats that over time become instinctive to the instructional designer, because they makes sense and they work. Therefore designing learning systems based on these theories will also work. Many futurists believe that the future of instructional design in moving towareds individualizing the learning experiences using Learning Management Systems (Saba, 2009). While I feel that differentiating learning for students is essential, most students thrive in a community learning experience. Blended Learning experiences will provide opportunities for whole-group interaction, small-group work, and independent efforts. Teachers can impart information, facilitate problem-solving activities, and guide students.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp2h6USnCaE

Managing the Load













Going through the Web Pages That Suck site is like walking down a beach littered with trash. I get apprehensive. I need to do something about it. There is no excuse for it.
Websites that feel right, are easy to read, pleasant to look at, effortless to navigate don’t happen by magic. It takes careful planning and design. As the Internet becomes flashier and faster, efficiency of learning models will support decisions that instructional designers will make. Managing the cognitive load for learners will be essential for the instructional designers of the future. The will evidenced-based guidelines to maximize the learning experience and minimize cognitive load as Clark, Nguyen and Sweller recommend (Clark et al., 2006).

Clark, Ruth C., Nguyen, Frank, and Sweller, John (2006). Efficiency in Learning: Evidence-based Guidelines to Manage Cognitive Load. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.

Ruark, Benjamin E. (2008). ARDDIE: The Year 2013 ARDDIE is in, ADDIE is Out. ASTD, p 44 – 50.

Saba, Farhad (2008). Learning Management Systems of the Future: A Theoretical Framework and Design. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 4 (2), 158 – 168.