A Perspective on Instructional Design

chillibreeze writer — Vilasini Kumar

Instructional Design is the buzzword doing the rounds these days. It is being talked about as the next place to be. What does an Instructional Designer do? What are the trends in the industry? What better person than a lady with over two decades of experience in this field to demystify ID for us!

Meet Ms. Kau Poh Moi an experienced and respected Instructional Designer from Singapore who was in Bangalore recently. She is the CEO of alacarte LEARNING, which has successfully executed a large number of e-learning solutions for global clients. She holds double masters degrees, one in Human Resources Development from the University of Virginia and a second in Education Communication and Technology from New York and has over 20 years of experience in the field of Instructional Design. All this could leave you feeling overawed in her presence! However, what comes across strongly is her passion for the profession and her eagerness to share her knowledge with others.

Instructional Design – what it entails

Instructional Design requires development of learning material using learning theories and instructional strategies to ensure quality of design, delivery and effectiveness of transfer of learning to intended outcomes. The power of the Internet has opened up the potential in this sector and to a large extent the Instructional Design technology is being used to develop computer-based and web-based content. Companies are realizing that it is now possible to develop highly interactive and user-friendly tools to transfer knowledge and conduct in-house training. Corporate training, a focus for all forward looking companies, has now become a powerful tool to impact the bottom line, with improved business performance. Here is where the services of IDs come in handy.

IDs - Potential to be the blue eyed boys

Training is no longer about only delivery, but focuses on effective transfer of knowledge. The spotlight is no more on the ‘teacher’ or the ‘presenter’, but is on the learner. This translates into the need for effectiveness of delivery, its capacity to keep the learner engaged and enthused and the outcome the training has on improving margins. A skilled ID should have the wherewithal to engineer this. With a good understanding of the learning patterns of people, with a broad knowledge of the strengths and limitations of the various media that can be exploited and with a solid grounding in the methodologies, a trained and experience ID can deliver just what a company needs.

Learning Solutions Engineers

In Poh Moi’s opinion, the word ‘Instructional Design’ began to gain mainstream recognition just about 10 years ago, but the idea and the thought evolved in the early 50’s. When computer software was making an advent in the world of American military, systems processes had to be developed and Instructional Design was a direct spin off from this.

According to Poh Moi, for too long have IDs not made a significant impact on learning. She feels that it is time Instructional Designers start functioning as Learning Solutions Engineers and be concerned about how the corporate learning affects the bottom line. She feels that the competencies of an Instructional Designer should dovetail with the competencies of a Human Resource professional.

India, in her view, will continue to be an attractive option as a partner for companies looking for Business Process Outsourcing. The low costs and the large number of people knowing the English language do help. However she added a note of caution when it comes to the area of Instructional Design. Indians may need to do some more homework! Possible weak spots could be in client handling skills; project and time management skills and writing skills, which are specific to e-learning. The field of Instructional Design is an exacting and a demanding one.

Passion – should become synonymous with ID

The winning mantra for a successful Instructional Designer, according to Ms. Poh Moi is “Passion to learn and passion to help someone else to learn”. This shows very strongly through the person she is! Presently heading her own company in Singapore called alacarte LEARNING, she is sought after as a holistic training solutions provider. You might wonder at the unusual name of her company. It reflects her thinking that learning should be by choice as opposed to ‘one size fits all’! Her clients are from various sectors like banking, educational institutions, oil & gas etc. She has executed projects even for the Government of Singapore.

Poh Moi’s focus has always been on corporate learning. How did she get interested in this area? She did not set out saying that she wanted to be an Instructional designer, but she just happened to become one. The trigger was the first job she did and this was for the Science Centre at Singapore, in the year 1980. One of the most challenging tasks, according to her was developing online learning modules to help students of A levels with biology! As she had been given the final say in the design, she ended up setting high standards for herself, which made it demanding.

What did she think was the future for ID? Demands will always be there, she says, riding on the back of the much-awaited e-learning explosion! Though it is yet to be, it is inevitable. Exactly for these very reasons, she feels that Institutes for imparting ID training are bound to come up. What potential students need to look for are places, which provide solid, well-grounded practice and not just teach theories. India is still very young in this field.

A training institute in the making

Poh Moi is herself planning to start an Institute to train Instructional Designers, catering to the Asia Pacific region. What was the motivation? Having spent the last 10 years in producing a whole range of online learning tools for companies, she sees that there is a lot more potential in this area. “I can only impact one project at a time, but if I can groom Learning Solutions Engineers, then I can impact many more!” she says with a smile.

Is it important to be well versed in the learning theories to be a good Instructional Designer? Poh Moi feels that theories are important as a background of knowledge, which will guide you in your work. Also, it is might come in handy when discussing with the clients, to understand each other’s preferences. Poh Moi had an interesting way of looking at theories. “They are but clear and well-crafted words around common sense ideas that people already have. But then, someone has taken the pains to do extensive research and put words to these ideas”, she said.

Strategic partnership

Poh Moi’s company has a strategic partnership with Stylus Systems Pvt Ltd., Bangalore (www.stylusinc.com), which is an elearning training solutions provider. She was at Stylus to conduct an ID Workshop, between March 16 and March 26, 2005. The objectives were to train new IDs and to re-enforce the technology in the existing team. She has conducted a number of workshops for Instructional Designers and more than 100 individuals have participated in them. But, this time round she decided to try out a new approach! She calls it ‘apprentice style learning’. Each of the participants, from day one, is a prospective vendor of ID services and she is the client! She gave the ‘vendors’ a project brief and expected them to learn what is to be learnt on the run and deliver on time! This style was in keeping with Andragogy, adult learning principle, which says that adults prefer experiential learning! The very fact that Stylus Systems Pvt. Ltd. team is now doubly geared up to take on major e-learning projects goes to show that the new approach had an impact! Click here for more information.

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—About our writer:

Vilasini, seen here with a cat, is actually a dog lover! Started her stint with Chillibreeze as a writer and is presently the Chief Operating Officer of the content division. This is who she says she is "a Masters in Math by qualification, a Coordinator by birth and a 'people person' by nature." Seeing Chillibreeze become a globally recognized company, adding value to clients and making a difference in the lives of Chilli writers, is her mission in life now! You can reach her at vilasini@chillibreeze.com

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