ID's Identification Code: Learners

Deadlines could have a lethal effect. They DO!

They invariably succeed in seeing us, the Instructional Designers, succumb to their pressure! "Hey... what do you think you're doin', lookin' at the ceiling? Waitin' for inspiration, is it? Boy, time's up. Get up and run. Get me the material before EOD today. Got it??"

And, there we're, sprinting to catch up the 'dead'lines. And, just about manage to catch them late into the night! Press Enter on the content. It goes. Relief!!

And, what? The Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are DELIGHTED, 'cos, the content they're lookin' for, is all there. Perfectly chunked and sequenced well! They, in fact, give us a Thumbs Up!

"Gr8 job done! We see brilliant work here. Lookin' forward to working with you in future." THEY'VE WON!

The thing is, they're talkin' about 'work'. Not about 'instructional designing'! But, we're delighted gettin' that much-awaited feedback and are 'happy and contented'. 'Contented'. WE'VE LOST!

Where're the learners - the learners, the way they've to be approached from the instructional designing perspective - here? Completely absent! Perfectly understandable. 'Cos, they're not the ones commissioning the project... they're not the ones overseeing the content. If at all, they're at the receiving end. They better look after themselves!

Boy! Instructional Designing, in the purest sense of what it stands for, stands there, orphaned.

Mind you! Nothing's wrong with the SMEs here. They're perfectly placed on their expectations. As long as they get what they want, they're happy. They are the subject matter experts of their subject, not of  instructional designing. We can't expect them to know and appreciate how it works. They go scot-free on the issue we're discussing.

That said, the ball comes back to IDs' court. What are we doing? With all due respect to deadlines, are we not supposed to be extremely sensitive to the learners' needs? Are we not supposed to be thinking for them? Is that not what instructional designing is all about?

The answer to all these questions lies in our realizing that the learners are our protégés. We can't, at any cost, let go of our dharma of 'identifying' with them. If only we get it right, we would well be on our way to infusing a different 'language' into our storyboards.

(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)

Comments

[C2 Workshop]

Glad you found the post useful, High School Diploma Online.

Thanks so much for the kind words and also for sharing with others.

Cheers!!!

[High School Diploma Online]

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