Instructional Design  

In January 2011, I started a new assignment, as a distance learning instructional design consultant.  While I have indeed been consulting with people about transferring existing courses into online formats, I am also realizing that there is also a major need for help with instructional design itself.

Instructional design deals with three big questions:  Who are your students?  What do you want students to know, feel or understand at the end of the course, learning experience, or training program?  What resources do you or they have to get them there?

It's a traditional educational concept, but many of the instructors I work with are like me in that they got into training because they are experts in a particular field, not because they necessarily have a background in education.  Instructional design is really about making a plan and then dealing with logistics...and I'm good at that. I'm discovering (again) that many people are not as good at it...so I am enjoying the chance to come alongside them and help them out!

Over the next few months I will be doing some consulting with various people & projects, facilitating the beginning stages of instructional design for a new course, and building two online courses.

Wycliffe’s work force is spread out across the globe, and the hope is that by offering more training online, we will make it more accessible.  Currently much of our training is offered in formal education programs (like CanIL) or through informal workshops.  These require people to travel to major cities or other countries.  The cost is huge, not just financially, but also in terms of work (time lost to travel and being gone from projects) and relationships (leaving families behind for weeks...or requiring families to uproot and travel too).  We hope to offer more training to people where they are—making it available to more people and hopefully more relevant to their daily context. I’m excited to have found something where I can contribute at a global level while living in Seattle!