I've worked as an instructional designer for over 20 years. After receiving an M.Ed. in human development (aka, ed psych) from the Univeristy of Maryland and having decided to leave public school teaching, I met a man named Len Nadler, a professor at George Washington Univeristy in DC who encouraged me to enroll in a program of which he is widely known as the "grandaddy," Human Resource Development or HRD. HRD was and is a combination of training (for proficiency in ones current job), of which instructional design is a subset, eduction (for a specific future job such as management), and development (for trends affecting existing and future jobs such as government compliance requirements). There are various new terms more popular today. Despite much criticism, ISD is still in vogue in most organizations, particularly the federal government.
In all my years as an ISD professional, I have never been part of a project that gave more than lip service to delivering a full "ADDIE" (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation) ISD process due to limited time and money. Since competition has increased dramatically over the last 20 years, training companies--particularly government contractors--are scurrying more than ever to win government contracts that still require a "thorough ISD process." In order to win those contracts, those bidding on them have got to be creative and adapt the ISD process to current organizational realities.
Doing so boils down to a creative way to redefine ISD using modern methods and technologies, and a unique approach to developing training using the redefined methods. In the past, for example, the designer often sat down with one or two "subject matter experts" to define the body of content to be covered in the training and, in some cases, define the instructional objectives. This process usually involved days, weeks, or even months, plenty of travel, and face-to-face meetings. The widespread use of the Internet and related technologies such as videoconferencing, however, opens up new streamlined possibilities for determining course content. The savvy training company will take a careful look at ways the ISD process can be implemented to save time, labor, and money to make that company more competitve.
In addition, new technologies open up the means for delivering training. New knowledge in cognition, emotions and brain research suggests new learning paradigms. The clever training company will combine this knowledge and technologies in creative new ways so they can stand out from the crowd of competitors.
While I realize that some examples would be helpful to illustrate these points, since I'm still looking for gainful employment, someone's going to have to hire me to hear more about them. However, if you've got some intriguing cases, approaches, or thoughts that you'd like to share, I and any readers who may happen along, will surely welcome them.
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