For Instructional Designers by an Instructional Designer

In life, daily I make many mistakes. This is how I learn, this is how I grow. I'm sure this is how everyone learns and grows. But here is the difference, I'm lucky. Coz I have people in my life to point me ( sometimes again and again and again and again... ) in the right direction. And while guiding, they tell me not just what I need to pay more attention to but also things I'm good at and why I'm good at those things. This is very rare ( or so I feel ) and I'm grateful to them all for their timely guidance. As an ID, this is even more rare because people generally are busy forwarding their own agenda and are rarely interested in getting people up where they could reach. And I realized that while most of us go to great lengths ensuring that the work we did was to the best of our ability, we never really care or pay attention to what others might think about our leading ability. But today I was shown what it means to be a good supervisor. While the wor

Often while designing course strategy, we expect that with right knowledge in their arsenals the learners can change their behavior. However, as a learning profession we know that this doesn't always happen. Had knowledge really changed behavior, we would all be going through some kind of online course to know how to do our own tasks better and reaped benefits in terms of increments during each appraisal. Had it been that simple, clients, delivery heads, leads and reviewers would not eat our brains every chance they get. And expanding this idea beyond e-learning industry, we would not have heard/read stories about the crazy shrinks, obese doctors/physical trainers/dietitians and divorced marriage counselors! If we really wish to bring about behavioral change through our courses, we need to ask "What, exactly, needs to be done differently?" For this we need to look beyond the obvious failures. We need to look beyond the knowing-doing gap, beyond the persona

Often, we are asked to add a game to the course because its the in-thing . Or because the client had used it successfully in some other course and received great feedback from the learner regarding the games. Unfortunately, there are leads and managers out there who won't fight such demands. They take the path of least resistance and accept whatever the client asks them to do. But seriously aren't games played with a goal in mind? Isn't that the whole point of the game - to reach some goal. So how can games be added to random content just because it worked in some other course? I'm personally not against using games in a course. But I do feel that as an ID, we should add value to the content. Do what the content demands and do it in a way that is best for the learner to use that content for maximum benefit. Say no to path of least resistance.

Show to the GDs and learners – don’t just tell! Today, I came across some content that was difficult to visualize onstage and remembered the article "Show Don’t Tell" by Shirley Jump. Why Show? Well, showing involves the learner; it allows them to participate and ensures that you have them where you want them to be – right beside you. So when you are creating a role play where say a character named Dan is to be shown angry how will you visualize him? Will you tell your GD, show an angry frown and expect that the GD and the leaner will know it’s an angry face or would rather show Dan in his office, at his desk, standing up with the report in his hand, slamming it shut with a frown on his face and throwing it on his desk? Think about it. Option one is easy for IDs, but option 2 is will have flavor to it. If you give rich details in your visual descriptions, those rich characters will give the learner an experience that will be much more memorable. So show and don’

Are you in a rut? Do you think the job is great but the people you work with aren't all that great? Do you feel you know how others should do their job? If you answer any of the above as 'yes', it says you don't have that old fashioned feeling about your work. No, I'm not talking about joy. And I'm not talking about fun either. The thing that differentiates a good storyboard creator and an okay one is the sentiment called pride. It shows through your work when you believe in it. It is when you don't try to do your best but you do your best. I hope you are one of those who take pride in their work. If not, start looking for things that will make you feel proud of yourself. Because trust me... if you don't care about what you do. It shows. Your work speaks for itself. It tells others when you are interested in what you do and when you are just doing a job. No course can teach you how to take pride in your work. It is not a thin