"Design brings forth what would not come naturally" 

 Klaus Krippendorff 

Technology is rapidly enhancing and extending opportunities for professional learning. Developing an online course that is engaging, promotes interaction, motivates learners, and above all facilitates learning is easier said than done. It can even be more challenging when trying to modify a face-to-face course for the online format.

What is Instructional Design?

"Instructional design is creating an environment for learning by structuring content and creating activities that engage students and facilitate meaningful learning," says Debbie Morrison. Morrison has been creating online courses for over 14 years now. Instructional design supports the process of learning rather than the process of teaching. Skilled instructional designers are not justsubject matter experts, but collaborate with the experts to create environments where students can participate in rich, meaningful learning experiences. I think this sums it up well:

Instructional Design is defined as "a systematic process that is employed to develop education and training programs in a consistent and reliable fashion" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007). In addition, Instructional Design models or theories may be thought of as frameworks for developing modules or lessons that 1) increase and/or enhance the possibility of learning and 2) encourage the engagement of learners so that they learn faster and gain deeper levels of understanding (www.nwlink.com). 

Why Instructional Design

You can learn just about anything on the internet. Information is all over about any topic ever. This brings even more of a reason for structure to guide the learner, frame the experience, even for students seeking a self-directed learning program.

Principles of Instructional Design

1. Analyze: This will shape the course. How will students access the content? What platform will be used? What are the objectives of the course or the purpose of instruction? Analyze the learners, learning contexts and the purpose for the instruction.

2. Develop/Select: Set course goals. Select content sources, create new ones, and begin to develop the instructional strategy. A critical activity in this phase is developing thorough and detailed instructions for students, ensuring the delivery platform is user-friendly and that content and information is presented in a logical and intuitive format.

3. Implement: Use the course with students. Gather feedback from students to make changes. Have formative and summative assessments. Make changes and update online courses so learning and teaching can be dynamic, always changing and evolving.

Resources

• Instructional Design, Big Dog & Little Dog's Performance Juxtaposition

• Instructional Design in e-Learning, elearnspace

• Dick, W., and Carey, L. & Carey, J. (2004). The Systematic Design of Instruction. Allyn & Bacon; (6th ed.)

• Reiser, R. A. & Dempsey, J. V. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
• Krippendorff, K. (2006). The Semantic Turn: A New Foundation for Design. Taylor & Francis Group