i2 @ C2

Dare The Ideas!

The i2@c2 session this time, turned around differently. It was presented twice. First time, to the instructional designers. Second, to our multi-media buddies. (On cue from one of the IDs that we share this with the latter as well!)
 
So, the session unrolled, albeit being treated slightly differently to suit both contexts. 
 
It was nice to see smiles around, when I announced that the presentation had nothing to do with either instructional designing or multi-media stuff.  No one had any clue of my apprehension though. The subject I was planning to handle seemed abstract at the outset. It was about the Mind.
 
But, the often punctuated smiles and chuckles during the course of the lightly handled session, reassured me that it was alright.
 
Here's the gist of what we discussed.
 
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A daring mind is a great asset when it comes to ideas. I should never fear if my idea would get shot down. For, if I do, I'll stay in a safe cocoon.
 
No ideas. No rejection. Safe. But, that's also the end of a growth story.
 
To turn things around in my favor, I need to know that ideas will get knocked down, at least to begin with. I need to learn to enjoy defeats and rejections.
 
I need to learn that an unconscious mind is usually home to such inexplicable, unfounded fears. Those tiny, conscious thought processes such as 'Let me try', 'Let me not fear' help me counter the unconscious mind and its ways of thinking.
 
Once I master such positive thoughts, I see my ideas getting the freedom of expression.

And, that's when great poems begin to happen.

(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)

Creative Writing

I became alert, when I got up to address the little gathering. They were all smiling faces awright. But, the twinkle in those eyes told me I could be in for a drill. Obviously, this is an interactive session, right? So, one better be ready to be tossed around. That was the thrill I was gasping about, when I got up, but I proceeded nevertheless.

Is instructional designing a science or an art?
 
Look at the kind of detailing the profile needs, in terms of our understanding the entire content landscape.  It's akin to a full-fledged scientific research, well almost! Go by the ADDIE platform or even one of those contemporary approaches that offset the flip side of ADDIE. The groundwork is quite an enormous, meticulous sieving of facts and figures, before one could start fixing the storyboard. The reason why it's spread over such a wide canvas is because, there're so many things at stake, including the mind of the learner. So, we better be careful and caring!
 
Now, in the whole gamut of being scientific, where does one find the room for creativity? More so, when the content (that's going to get converted into a course) is, by and large, fixed by the subject matter experts.
 
How do we go about it?

The key lies right in front of us. We need to keep the learner atop everything else. Simple! And, need to remember he (she) is going to be all alone perusing our course. And, it's only our presentation style that's going to keep him (her) hooked to the content. So, we better be creative. 

It's something like recounting a story to a child. Would he/she be interested if I, without bringing in those creative intonations in my voice, just read the lines from the story book? No way.
 
Bring in questions on and off, in unexpected junctures, that would make the learners think. Let them participate, by making them choose. Bring in pleasant layouts and colors that would keep their attention intact. Bring in surprises, by going off the track, just to get in that element of twist, so the whole thing breaks the monotony. The permutations are infinite.
 
And, finally, THE BIG THOUGHT!
 
To be creative, keep the mind open, above all else. 'Cos, the creativity is like happiness. We cannot chase it. It needs to come and land on us, all by itself. For that, we need to be open instruments.

What's encapsulated here is a collation of all those ideas that got 'served and returned' with a passionate energy that left all of us pleasantly exhausted by the time the session ended.

Instructional Design: Science or Art?

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(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)