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THOUGHT-LEADER INTERVIEWS
by Dr. Jackie DamrauDo you know of an instructional design Thought Leader whom we can interview? We are looking for a volunteer to help the Newsletter Staff by emailing our Thought-Leader Questionnaire to at least two Thought Leaders per quarter. The Thought Leaders’ responses will be published in IDeaLs. Are you interested? Contact jdamrau3@airmail.net.
This new column will offer you insights into how instructional design Thought Leaders, like Ruth Clark or Jack Phillips, got started in the profession as well as their thoughts on where the profession is headed.
Two of our own IDL members—Elizabeth Bailey and Karen Baranich—took the opportunity to answer the Thought-Leader Questionnaire.
ELIZABETH BAILEY
1. Tell us briefly about your professional background? How did you get started in the instructional design profession?
I started working at a job where I was required to communicate with politicians and their staff members, where I discovered that communication was not all about speaking, listening, and worrying about filters. It was more about preparing what you had to say for the intended audience. As I progressed through my jobs and my education, I discovered more and more about the communication needed to prepare verbal and written documentation. Through these jobs, I was asked to prepare short training sessions for people regarding job processes and learned more about analysis.
2. What keeps you excited today about continuing to work in this profession?After a few times in front of people, I discovered that there was more than just the audience consideration, there was the need to understand what they already knew and how they were going to accept my information (or not). This, of course, led to my learning more about task analysis, needs analysis, and adult learning styles and methodologies. Hence, I have a desire to learn more and more in the realm of communicating within our communities of practice and outside of those, seeking best practices to share with others. I like sharing information.
3. Did you ever think you would become an expert in this professional field?
Not really. I failed to understand that people, everyday laymen in my field, sometimes didn't grasp the same things I have learned over the years. What may have taken me a few minutes to understand and translate into practical use in my everyday job, these people don't always get the first time. So, I have learned to find ways to share this knowledge with others who are interested. (This is the hard part – shutting up when they aren't interested and figuring out they are not interested without the need of a frying pan upside my head! ?)
4. What are the core principles of instructional design that are as important today as they were when you started? What core skills do you feel instructional designers should focus on today?
I see more and more integration of business units within organizations and training departments. People need more understanding of how to do their jobs and what is expected. So, I see the business trying to communicate objectives and strategies to their employees and needing the assistance of communication and training departments to get this information across, since not every business unit has people who excel in understanding how to communicate with others.
5. What aspects of online learning will be most useful in the future? Why?
a. online modules (asynchronous, self-paced, on-demand)
b. online conferencing
c. blended learning (some combination of live instructor, online conference, and/or online modules)I believe the Internet is becoming an increasing powerhouse AND blended learning is still an option. Not all learners learn the same way. Many authors have researched and written on this topic by comparing the Internet as a resource for information AND as a learning media. Our task is to ensure that managers and decision makers understand that an audience, organization, and environment analysis is required to determine which media and methods are better for the specified environment.
We need to learn how to relate this to things executive management and upper management understand. For example, many managers have already been sold on the concept that there are different leadership styles. So, let's educate them on learning styles as well.
6. What one nugget of advice would you offer today to someone who is thinking about entering the instructional design field?
Be prepared to understand that you may never learn everything. This is such a large field; you may want to consider reducing your scope of absorption to some sub-set of the profession: learning methodologies, analysis methods, evaluation methods, design methods, etc. Or, you may find that your interests slide into a specific area in which you feel comfortable. Be okay with this.7. Are degree or commercial certificate programs preferred? Do you have any recommendations for online programs versus traditional college programs? Do you view a certificate as being better than a degree?
My opinion on this is based on my audience. When I seek new employment, for example, I see what positions are available. Then, I research the company and see what they tout among their current employees. If they are proud of their degreed employees and list this information in their corporate web site and annual reports, then that tells me they want to know about my education. If they are proud of the number of employees with certifications, then I know that I need to slant my formal education around comparisons to certifications and emphasize that I maintain my knowledge base and keep my understanding of the industry current. I personally prefer some sort of accredited method of learning. However, everyone needs to understand that once you get your preferred degree, your education is not over. This field is growing so much, as people are researching and discovering new methods of doing things and sharing that information with others. You must be willing to keep up with the field and learn as much as you can to enhance your successes over time.
8. What reference materials or books would you recommend are important for instructional designers to have in their personal libraries?
Handbook of Human Performance Technology : Improving Individual and Organizational Performance Worldwide
by Harold D. Stolovitch (Editor), Erica J. Keeps
Publisher: Pfeiffer; 2nd edition (March 26, 1999)
ISBN: 0787911089.Fundamentals of Performance Technology, Second Edition
by Darlene M. Van Tiem, James L. Moseley, Joan Conway Dessinger
Publisher: Intl Society for Performance;
2nd edition (April, 2004)
ISBN: 1890289175 .
Human Performance Technology Revisited
by Roger Chevalier
Publisher: Intl Society for Performance
(April, 2004)
ISBN: 1890289183 .The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development
by Ph.D., Malcolm S. Knowles, III, Ed.D., Elwood F. Holton, Ph.D., Richard A. Swanson
Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing;
5th edition (1998)
ISBN: 0884151158 .9. Share with us your views on the future of instructional design?
Unfortunately, I still see a need in proving ourselves. To do that, we need to network with upper and executive management within our organizations and other organizations. We need to clearly document (yes, write white papers and presentations) on our success stories. We need to share our challenges, our constraints, our assumptions, our actions, our results, our post-evaluation, our recommendation for going forward in similar circumstances, and then figure out a way to present this information so that the "concepts" can be applied to other, similar instances. So, we need to find a way to determine how to word the initial issue we faced in such a way that others can recognize similar issues in their own environments and recognize "Oh, yeah, I heard about someone who faced something like this and results of that performance is documented ...."KAREN BARANICH
1. Tell us briefly about your professional background? How did you get started in the instructional design profession?
I became interested in scripting for interactive multimedia back in the 1980s in an undergraduate class in Media Arts. I knew a lot about media, but decided I didn't know much about education, so I went back to school for a Masters and eventually a Doctorate in Educational Psychology. Now I figured I knew enough, but didn’t have a job that let me use what I learned.
I was with a company working on a government grant as an education coordinator and my position was deleted. Out looking for a job, a friend sent me to a computer-oriented job fair. The guy asked me what I did and I said, "I write scripts for computer-based training." The only word he heard was "write." I was sent for a job as a technical writer, and was hired. Since writing and training are combined at my company, I get to do everything.
2. What keeps you excited today about continuing to work in this profession?
It's always changing. There is a continuing challenge to become better and more creative—delivering ever better designed instruction.
3. Did you ever think you would become an expert in this professional field?
I’m not an industry expert, yet I have a desire to learn all that I can about the instructional design profession.
4. What are the core principles of instructional design that are as important today as they were when you started? What core skills do you feel instructional designers should focus on today?
I think it will become increasingly important to companies. Really, I use instructional design principles in writing and public speaking as well as training—both classroom and CBT.
5. What aspects of online learning will be most useful in the future? Why?
a. online modules (asynchronous, self-paced, on-demand)
b. online conferencing
c. blended learning (some combination of live instructor, online conference, and/or online modules)Blended learning will always be an option. Some people just do not learn well by themselves. The human interaction will always be an important part of the learning process. If you think about how kids learn, some of it is from watching TV, reading books, playing video, and other non-human tutors, but these things are never going to replace or do better than the attention they receive from mom, dad, siblings, or teachers. That being said, I think that most instructors in the classroom fail to use the technology to its fullest extent. The “blend” part is missing, or poorly done so that what you end up with is two sides with a really weak link between them.
6. What one nugget of advice would you offer today to someone who is thinking about entering the instructional design field?
Don’t limit your vision. Allow yourself to be open to new technologies and innovative solutions to the training opportunity. My second nugget, which you didn’t ask for, is to get a really good understanding of how people learn—the theory upon which instructional design is based.
7. Are degree or commercial certificate programs preferred? Do you have any recommendations for online programs versus traditional college programs? Do you view a certificate as being better than a degree?I think it depends on your learning style and life circumstances. If you live somewhere that a degree program is an option, I would say go for it. There is no substitute for the mentoring and experience provided by a good instructor who is interested in your development. Some of the most valuable things I learned were not even in the classroom, but were nevertheless taught by my instructors—how to operate effectively, how to write for publication, how to feel good about what I was doing. For some, however, classroom training is not an option. Time constraints, distance, availability of programs, etc., may all contribute to a person’s decision to take one type of instruction over another.
8. What reference materials or books would you recommend are important for instructional designers to have in their personal libraries?
Learning and Instruction: Theory into Practice
by Margaret E. Gredler
Publisher: Prentice Hall; 5th edition (2004)
ISBN: 013111980X.9. Share with us your views on the future of instructional design?
It’s not new, but I think understanding how people learn and what motivates them is the most important element. You can add a bunch of bells and whistles and use the latest technologies, but if the underlying instruction is poorly designed, the instruction is worthless.
