Category Archives: Instructional Design

Objectives should determine the technology and instructional strategies

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Many times clients, students, peers, etc. come to me and say “We want to build this in Flash/Articulate/Insert fav software here”. My first comment is: What are the learning objectives? Then I look at the needs analysis and instructional strategies to be used to see if they all align. Too many times does the justification for the technology used not coincide with the learning objectives.

What happens is that we tend to get caught up in the technology side of things. I guess this is common as we are instructional technologists, however, this is not what we want to get caught up in. Remember, technology is a tool that helps us teach material. It is an aid. We use it when it is the best method to accomplish our goals and objectives (even though sometimes realistically its our only option). So often I see training developed in an advanced authoring tool like Flash that probably could have been developed in PPT, which would have saved money and development time, and still met the learning objectives.

So what question should clients, students, peers, etc. be asking? They should be asking: Here are our learning objectives, what are the best technologies/instructional strategies to convey them to the learners? This is much better than the other way around. Remember, objectives should guide instructional strategies and the technology used, the technology shouldnt guide how the objectives are presented. They should be presented using a strategy that is effective, not one limited by software.

Why can’t we write learning objectives?

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I run into so many lessons/instructional programs that have such poorly worded objectives. This causes me to really question the instruction, especially the assessment, which means that I am already thinking its not effective. So here is how you write learning objectives.

A learning objective should contain 4 pieces of information: Audience, Behavior, Condition, and Degree:

Audience

–The learners: Identify who it is that will be doing the performance (not the instructor). Who will be doing the behavior?

Behavior (Performance):

–What the learner will be able to do. Make sure it is something that can be seen or heard.

Condition:

–The conditions under which the learners must demonstrate their mastery of the objective: What will the learners be allowed to use? What won’t the learners be allowed to use?

Degree (or criterion):

–How well the behavior must be done: Common degrees include: Speed, Accuracy, Quality

3D Printing

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3D printing is the ability to take any object and recreating it with a printer. Now of course I do not mean on paper, but a plastic model version of the object. As this technology gets better, this will change manufacturing. 3D printing is absolutely amazing. Imagine being able to take an idea that you have and created it with a printer. I can think of a so many uses for this technology.

Check out this demonstration video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aghzpO_UZE]

Instructional Designers: Figuring out how many hours it takes to develop training

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I get this question all the time and I give my students the ‘estimates’. These numbers are very useful when putting together a proposal and letting a client know just how much it is going to cost them. I have gathered these numbers from several sources which are posted at the end of this post. Now for the stats:

1.According to training magazine, money spent on training increased 13% in 2011 to $59.7 billion.

2. Average trainer (Instructional Designer) salary in 2011: $84,142 (elearning guild reports: $79,890)

3. Development times to create one-hour of e-learning (The eLearning Guild, 2002):

– Simple Asynchronous: (static HTML pages with text & graphics): 117 hours
– Simple Synchronous: (static HTML pages with text & graphics): 86 hour
– Average Asynchronous: (above plus Flash, JavaScript, animated GIF’s. etc): 191 hours
– Average Synchronous: (above plus Flash, JavaScript, animated GIF’s. etc): 147 hours
– Complex Asynchronous: (above plus audio, video, interactive simulations): 276 hours
– Complex Synchronous: (above plus audio, video, interactive simulations): 222 hours

4. Instructor presentation time of face to face courses:

Dugan Laird (1985), listed these instructor preparation times (based on U.S. Civil Service estimate):

– Course is five days or less, then 3 hours of preparation for each hour of training.
– Course is between five and ten days, then 2.5 hours of preparation for each hour of training.
– Course is over 10 days, then 2 hours of preparation for each hour of training.

5. Chart from ASTD 2009:

Type of Training per 1 hour

Low Hours

Per hour of Instruction

(2009)

High Hours

Per Hour of Instruction

(2009)

Low Hours

Per hour of Instruction

(2003)

High Hours

Per Hour of Instruction

(2003)

Stand-up training (classroom)

43

185

20

70

Self-instructional print

40

93

80

125

Instructor-led, Web-based training delivery (using software such as Centra, Adobe Connect, or WebEx-two-way live audio with PowerPoint)

49

89

30

80

E-learning Developed without a Template

 

 

 

 

Text-only; limited interactivity; no animations

93

152

100

150

Moderate interactivity; limited animations

122

186

250

400

High interactivity; multiple animations

154

243

400

600

E-learning Developed within a Template

 

 

 

 

Limited interactivity; no animations (using software such as Lectora, Captivate, ToolBook, TrainerSoft)

118

365

40

100

Moderate interactivity; limited animations (using software such as Lectora, Captivate, ToolBook, TrainerSoft)

90

240

150

200

High interactivity; multiple animations (using software such as Lectora, Captivate, ToolBook, TrainerSoft)

136

324

60

300

Limited interactivity; no animations (using software such as Articulate)

73

116

NA

NA

Moderate interactivity; limited animations (using software such as Articulate)

97

154

NA

NA

High interactivity; multiple animations (using software such as Articulate)

132

214

NA

NA

Simulations

 

 

 

 

Equipment or hardware (equipment emulation)

949

1743

600

1000

Softskills (sales, leadership, ethics, diversity, etc.)

320

731

NA

NA

 Source: http://www.astd.org/LC/2009/0809_kapp.htm

Sources:

http://www.trainingmag.com/article/2011-training-industry-report

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/trainsta.html

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html

http://www.trainingmag.com/article/training%E2%80%99s-2011-growth-spurt

From nwlink.com: The eLearning Guild. (2002). The e-Learning Development Time Ratio Survey. Retrieved October 27, 2007 from: http://www.elearningguild.com/pdf/1/time%20to%20develop%20Survey.pdf

From nwlink.com: Laird, Dugan (1985). Approaches To Training And Development (2nd ed.). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

http://www.elearningguild.com/research/archives/index.cfm?id=148&action=viewonly

http://www.astd.org/LC/2009/0809_kapp.htm

Why you should not leave college without your own website

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I tell all of my undergraduate students that they should not leave college without their own website. I also tell all of my graduate instructional technology students that they MUST have their own website, they are in a technology based field for goodness sake and Learn which UK reseller hosting is right for your brand.

Why have your own website? Well let me ask you to search for yourself on Google, what comes up on the first page? Anything about you? Do other people have your name? Does your facebook page come up? Well guess what, when you graduate and begin to interview your potential employer is going to search for you as well. So if your facebook page is coming up it’s time to make is private. So if you are going to be searched online, why not intentionally point people searching for you to a website that is designed to ‘show off’ your work? That’s right, send them to a site of your choosing on purpose. So, just as an example, search for me, ‘Ray Pastore’ and you will see that this website you are on comes up first. I WANT people to find this site.

Why else do you want a site? You can put it on your resume. Showing a potential employer that you have enough technical skills to build a website can help in almost any career. Plus if they choose to, they can go to the site and this is your chance to show them your portfolio. Show them sample writings, projects, as well as your philosophies toward your field.

Now if I buy and create a site is it automatically number one on search results? NO! You need to make it SEO friendly, with the help of SEO experts from sirlinksalot.co.

So how do you buy a website?

I always recommend Icdsoft.com because that is who I use. In fact, if you go through my link that I give my students, you can own a web address and build a site for $38.50 a year. Here is that link: http://icdsoft.com/promo-code/course359. And I do not get anything if you use that link, so don’t think I am trying to sell you something here. Another company I like is bluehost.com, however, they are more expensive, around $100 a year, which is usually out of a students price range. Godaddy tends to be another popular one however I have only had bad experiences with them, so I do not recommend them.

When you do buy a site, I recommend a .com address. You can choose from .net, .org, .info, etc.

How do I build my site?

Well that is also for another blog post. You can take classes, teach yourself online, etc. I would recommend hiring Shopify web developers though so that you are doing things correctly. Correctly means that your site will show up on all browsers, mobile phones, and be optimized to show up first in search engines.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions:)

Instructional Design Competencies

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Many ask me if our field has competencies or standards. Yes we do. We do have competencies. They are defined by the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction. This board is comprised of faculty and working professionals in the field of instructional design and technology.

Personally, I feel the standards are a bit outdated and that they may be missing some. So I have taken it upon myself to do a research study on this topic. I am in the process of completing the competencies and will be sending out the survey shortly. Look for a post on this site.

UNCW – Master’s of Instructional Technology

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For those interested in a Master’s of Instructional Technology or Instructional Design, please check out the video that one of our graduate students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington made which highlights our program:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5e8_Sp0VvU]

The effects of time-compressed instruction and redundancy on learning and learners’ perceptions of cognitive load

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My recent article published in Computers and Education:

Abstract: Can increasing the speed of audio narration in multimedia instruction decrease training time and still maintain learning? The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of time-compressed instruction and redundancy on learning and learners’ perceptions of cognitive load. 154 university students were placed into conditions that consisted of time-compression (0%, 25%, or 50%) and redundancy (redundant text and narration or narration only). Participants were presented with multimedia instruction on the human heart and its parts then given factual and problem solving knowledge tests, a cognitive load measure, and a review behavior (back and replay buttons) measure. Results of the study indicated that participants who were presented 0% and 25% compression obtained similar scores on both the factual and problem solving measures. Additionally, they indicated similar levels of cognitive load. Participants who were presented redundant instruction were not able to perform as well as participants presented non-redundant instruction.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131511002351

Why choose Instructional Technology / Instructional Design as a career?

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If you are unfamiliar with instructional technology/instructional design I will very briefly describe what our graduates do, however, this post more or less focuses on the ‘why’.

Instructional Design? How did it originate?

Instructional design as a field or job was created during WW1 and WW2. The government realized that ‘nuclear scientists’ while great at their jobs were not the best people to actually develop training materials and to deliver training sessions to new scientists. Essentially what they did is take experts who understood education theory, communication, education psychology, etc. and had them work with the ‘ subject matter experts’ on these sciences to develop sound effective training. Thus instructional design was born.

What does an instructional designer do?

– Can work in corporate, government, K-12, or higher ed settings
– Design curriculum, design training (anything from anti terrorism training, flying helicopters, corporate orientation, to developing curriculum for elementary school students).
– Develop/program training
– Front end analysis – what is wrong, why, how do we fix it? (think of the ‘bobs’ from office space)
– Evaluation – was this implementation effective?
– Recommend technology solutions for training needs with Salesforce blockchain strategies included

So why be an instruction designer?

– Great pay – graduates are starting just above 60k (with no experience). If you go into management from a general ISD position your salary can easily be over 100k in 5 or so years.
– Can have a bachelor degree in any field then get a Masters in ISD – You do need a masters degree to be an instructional designer.
– It’s a Masters degree – very easy to move up the corporate ladder with an MS
– Many jobs available – even during 2007 when the economy tanked our graduates had work. Every company needs trainers and training.
– Get to work in teams – usually always on project teams
– Easy transition into management. Very easy to get into a project management role within a few years. From there you can move up to partner/CEO positions assuming you are a super star employee (and a lot of luck)
– Mobility – instructional designers are needed everywhere. You can move to any state in the US and find a job fairly easily. Many international opportunities as well.
– Future – training is not going away. In fact, with each new technological advancement our field becomes more and more important and needed.