As I venture into this new field of Instructional Design, it has become more apparent how important it is to utilize the various technologies available to be successful in this field. Since there is no consistency or standardization on how things are done, it is important to gather insights from others in the field by means of text and online resources such as Blogs.
In a blog post by Tom Kuhlmann entitled 3 simple Techniques to Guide Your Learner’s Attention, this post identifies ways in which instructional designers can gear their lessons towards the desired learning objectives and outcomes. Tom uses an analogy of the game of “I Spy” to show the relationship of how vague or how precise instructions can be in the teaching and the learning process. That is the way in which you structure and present content will have an impact on how people gain understanding. The three techniques identified in this article includes:
- Showing the big picture and let them see everything in context.
- Point out those parts of the screen that are important.
- Only show the information as you get to it.
I believe that these pointers are very useful when presenting information to learners. http://blogs.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/3-simple-techniques-to-guide-your-learners-attention/
In the second blog post by Christy Tucker is more of a self-awareness piece as an Instructional designer. The Instructional designer wears many hats and possesses many skills. Many Instructional designers fail to explain what they do for a living. However, with the “T-Shaped” skills by Cammy Bean. As Instructional Designers, we need broad skills (the horizontal part of the “T”) which allow you to communicate and collaborate with experts across a wide range of discipline making you versatile. Additionally, the vertical part of the “T” plunges deep making you a specialist. https://christytucker.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/broad-and-deep-instructional-design-skills/
Finally, Why an Understanding of Social Learning Matters In Instructional Design, backs up the behaviorist theory of learning. Learners gain and models behaviors vicariously through social and other environmental interactions. When designing instructional materials, Instructional Designers must keep in mind the behavior they want their learners to emulate. https://tleerwerk.wordpress.com/2016/04/16/instructional-designers-an-understanding-of-social-learning-matters-elearning-industry/
Overall, all these blog posts are found to be very useful further on in the field of Instructional Design, when considering how to present the content and the effect you want it to have on the learners. As Instructional designers, the use of technologies and various media channels to share insights and ideas is very important since the field is so broad, ever-changing and unstandardized.
Adrian A Weir
The World of Instructional Design 
Thanks for the link to my blog. I’m curious about your comments about the third link though. What do you see as the ties between social learning and behaviorism? The original article (you actually linked to a post linking to the source, rather than the source) references Bandura’s research, which implies it’s focused on social learning or social cognitivism rather than behaviorism. What do you see in that article that backs up behaviorism?
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Hi Adrian! Ken Madison here. Love your blog.
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Can you please let your instructor know that they need to give you all a lesson on good manners and not leaving comments in moderation endlessly? I try to be a good citizen and comment on blogs of new IDs like you, but it’s getting a little old to know that my efforts aren’t appreciated. You approved Ken Madison’s comment, so I know it’s not a technical issue or a problem of you not knowing how. Being polite to people already working in the field and well connected will get you much further in your career than being rude.
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Christy, Thank you for your comments, but first you are way too quick to jump conclusions. You don’t know reason for me not replying or approving your comments. Firstly I am new to this I have being trying to figure how to properly setup my blog and I was doing this from a Cell phone. I have more comments to approve and I am taking them one at time. But excuse me if you perceive that as being rude. I greatly appreciate the work that you have done and the contribution you have made to the field of ID, hence the reason for using one of your post. Again my apologies, but bare with me while I get the hang of this.
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Thank you for approving the comments. This same issue comes up every semester. I don’t think you bear sole responsibility here. I think your instructor isn’t doing a good job preparing you all how to handle comments. As far as I can tell, you get no training on how (or even whether?) to approve comments, how to reply, how to handle disagreement, etc. That’s a problem with the structure of the course you’re enrolled in. I would like your instructor to take responsibility for that, because you and your classmates do come across as rude. I have a comment from a previous semester on another blog that still hasn’t been approved over a year later. In that particular instance, the student criticized my blog, but still refused to approve my comment and let me respond. This is a recurring problem with Walden students, and it makes you all look bad in the field.
If you’d rather I take it up with your instructor directly, email me his or her contact info and I’ll be happy to explain it. Although I know every time a new semester starts at Walden by the pingbacks to my blog, I don’t know your instructor’s name.
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