What are the key functions of an Instructional Designer in Higher Ed?

This article presents an interesting perspective on working in Higher Ed as an Instructional Designer. The author, Todd Taylor shares what his 18 months of experience in the field have been like.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/three-perspectives-instructional-design-higher-education-todd-taylor

He makes the point that many IDers are used for two main functions in Higher Ed:

1) To review course material and ensure its accuracy

2) To develop graphical content such as PowerPoints, videos, etc.

He proposes that our main function is that we should be doing design thinking. This includes working backward by reviewing assessments and evaluations in order to determine learning gaps and learner needs. In fact, this is what instructional design curriculum is all about for graduate students. What he is saying is that we need to be prepared to advocate for ourselves in order to define our roles. If we don't we can end up performing a lot of tasks that aren't the greatest use of our education and expertise.

Comments

Blogs and Vacation

Taking a vacation while maintaining a blog is a challenge. Time changes, air transport and heavy bags are enough. To add to this I visited family who has lie bandwidth Internet. I used my small, 4-year old Android to create blog entries, final papers for a graduate course, and blog entries. There were snags but the challenge was invaluable. Do you have similar stories to share?

Digital Pioneers?

Social Media: who uses it, who is oblivious to it, and who masters it? The generation you are part of may influence the degree to which you use social media. Let's say you're a grandmother of three and you retired from the corporate world 15 years ago. Your grandkids are ages 2, 4, and 8. You live three hours away from them and your daughter keeps you updated through Facebook which you've mastered. Your daughter uses Instagram and Snapchat with her friends to stay updated with each other's kids. My question is: is the grandmother a social networker, a digital native, a digital pioneer, or something else? What about the daughter? The point is that a person's generational status doesn't define a person's social net...

Solo ID? Team work?

Instructional Designers are found in consulting roles, working solo, or as part of a team. They may even be part of a project team that has several divisions that include project management. One such group that I learned of recently was for a large online university. Their instructional designers worked in one of four areas: managing content, managing the Learning Management System, designing the learning activities, and managing the evaluation process. Have you considered your ideal Instructional Design role? Would you want to work solo or as part of a team? Share your comments below to let us know what the real world of ID is like if you're already working. If you're a team member, do you all have similar roles or is one person assigned the team lead? How is work divided among the team members. During my graduate program many of the courses had team projects. This was a great way to prepare for the team work that is likely to follow in the field. Many of us students ...

Dzine2learn

Search This Blog