How can technology help instructional designers? Part 1: Can rapid e-learning tools fasten the instructional design process?

Submitted by Kathy on Thu, 2009-10-15 10:42

As Lectora, Captivate, and other tools are called rapid e-learning tools, after all, they are only authoring tools. These tools can fasten the programming, and maybe some graphic design processes; however, they cannot fasten the instructional design process.

If a typical e-learning team consists of instructional designers, graphic designers, and programmers, a rapid e-learning tool tends to automate some works by the graphic designers and programmers, NOT by instructional designers.

If an instructional designer has little photographic design and programming skills, rapid e-learning tools might enable the instructional designer finish works that would otherwise need the expertise of programming and graphic design. In other words, an instructional designer can undertake most of the works in e-learning design and development.

However, for the instructional design process, instructional designers have few tool choices to fasten their works. Their analysis and making decision are mainly done mentally and documented manually. Accountants depend on some accounting software to make financial analysis; by contrast, instructional designers have to conduct learning analysis with their own efforts. Therefore, instructional design analysis is solely subject to instructioanl designers' knowledge and skill base. See the following table for some further analysis.

Table: Working Processes, Expertise, & Tools

Working process involving in e-learning design, development, and delivery.	Required expertise	Tools that can fasten the process
Graphic Design	Designing graphics, Flash, etc.	Photoshop, Flash, Office, etc.
Programming	Programming languages and skills	Captivate, Lectora, etc.
Instructional Design	Analyzing needs: learner, context, learning goal; Proposing solutions for addressed needs; Designing the learning solution: writing the story board, communicating with graphic designer and programmer Conducting formative and summative evaluations.	Few general tools exist. A few expert system in some sub-fields

A rapid e-learning tool that addresses instructional design expertise should have some functions that differ greatly from tools like Lectora and Captivate. I am going to discover the potential functions through a series of blog articles.

This discovery will cover topics on ID competency, ID job aids, ID expert system, ID performance support system, transforming from ID novices to experts, etc.