The instructionaldesign profession—models, theories, tools, technologies, and practitioners—hasbeen overtaken by a virtual tsunami of change over the past decade. And nota year goes by without a renewed discussion about the inevitable “death” ofinstructional design.
Our newest research report—Is Instructional Design a Dying Art? Renewing the Conversation—discusses the future of instructional design (ID)and the evolving role of instructional designers. We believe that thisconversation is essential for the Guild because of its continuing impact on ourindustry, not to mention that a significant segment of our global membercommunity works in this profession.
We asked 13 instructional design thought leaders to provide uswith their practical and forward-looking insights. Reaching out to thisconstituency was important because connection with thought leaders—as well asdialogue with the practitioner community—is one of the Guild’s primary research goals. We not onlywanted to hear from the best and brightest ID practitioners, but also fromthose in academia who currently write, speak, and teach about the evolution ofinstructional design.
In this research report, you willlearn:
- Why we are seeking to reinvigorate discussionsabout the “death” of instructional design
- How this research contributes to the Guild’soverall efforts to examine insights from industry thought leaders, academics,and practitioners from our global Guild community
- About the important insights and advice that ID thoughtleaders provided in response to key questions
- Mostimportantly, how you can take action on the insights, advice, and guidance thatthese thought leaders offered
Also included in thereport are extensive resources, from the Guild and others, that provide ahistorical perspective on this topic as well as essential best practices forinstructional designers.
The learning leaderswho contributed their insights to this report are Julie Dirksen, Matt Dunleavy,Diane Elkins, Joe Ganci, Karl Kapp, Connie Malamed, Tracy Parish, Clark Quinn,Marc Rosenberg, Shawn Rosler, Kevin Thorn, Megan Torrance, and Chad Udell.
Following are excerptsof key takeaways from their responses to our questions. Download the report toread the full responses.
How is the instructional designprofession evolving?
Connie Malamed: This is anexciting and unpredictable time to be a part of the instructional designprofession. Now that the modern workforce has a wealth of information at itsfingertips, instructional design paradigms are changing. As a result, instructionaldesign is becoming less prescribed and more fluid as we try to meet the needsof the 21st-century worker.
TracyParish: I believe we have been, as a whole,slow in our collective approach to providing modern instructional designsolutions. … I do not think we have been necessarily providing the best solutionsor access that our learners and clients need or even want. Many IDs who areproducing groundbreaking designs and others are still stuck on the “bums in seatsmean learning” and “click the Next button to advance” types of courses. Everymonth, it seems, there are new, amazing, and interesting ways to providelearning solutions.
I see the need for the profession tostart moving much faster at learning, mastering, and adapting [new learning]tools, apps, and trends so that we can use them effectively and in creative waysto engage our learners more deeply.
How are instructional design skillschanging?
Parish: The global technology landscape is evolving faster than ever; andwithin that environment, as always, trends come and go. Instructional designersneed to keep very aware of these trends and [anticipate] which may last andwhich will fade quickly.
Marc Rosenberg: While design skills will remain important, future practitionerswill need more skills in areas including, but not limited to, content curation,knowledge management, performance support, testing and measurement, socialnetworking, talent management, information science, project and programmanagement, analytics, and business case development. It may not be necessaryfor every instructional designer to have all of these skills (and more).Rather, just to assure that those skills are manifest in the project teamand/or support services staff.
What are the pain points impactingtoday’s instructional designers?
Megan Torrance: Instructional designers face many of the same challenges that everyoneelse in the organization does: Do more, faster, better, with less time and fewerresources, while everything is changing. If you asked [whether ID is a dyingart] at any other point in history, I think you’d get the same answer. Thisstresses us out and drains creativity.
Chad Udell: First, I sense a great deal of fear, uncertainty, and doubt coming froma wide swath of the ID community, unfortunately. People have shifted in how,when, and why they access information to do their jobs better, more safely, andmore productively. The move to the always-on, ubiquitously connected workforcehas tilted the power equation firmly in favor of the learner, and the IDcommunity is largely still reeling in a WhoMoved My Cheese? type of fashion.
Second, I see tired old refrains like “We’vealways done it this way,” or “We’re not allowed to use that type of process ortool,” or “I’m just not that good with technology to do something more advanced.”These tropes must be removed from your vocabulary if you are to remainrelevant. Reexamine processes and rationales, find alternate paths to success, and… familiarize yourself or hire trusted team members to guide your organizationthrough this transition.
Will current challenges ultimately resultin the “death” of instructional design?
Joe Ganci:Instructional design is no longer what it once was, but neither is the Englishlanguage. We don’t declare English to be a dead language. In fact, it hasevolved, it has expanded, and it is more important than ever. So it is withinstructional design. Heaven forbid that instructional design be dismissed asno longer needed. Considering how bad so much of the eLearning in the world is today,it is needed more than ever.
Having to evolve does not mean thatinstructional design is dying, unless you specifically mean the old ways ofdelivering lessons to learners. Even then, the old ways still work in many cases.Instructional design, in other words, is not dying; it is evolving, it isexpanding, and it is encompassing new technologies that bring exciting newpossibilities to what [instructional designers] can do for learners.
