Instructional Design

How do we define instructional design?

We look at it as a process of analyzing learning needs, finding a delivery system and developing instruction and activities to meet those needs.

We define it as a discipline as a branch of knowledge involving research and theories of what strategies we use to develop instruction.

We see it as a science to develop a plan, create steps of learning, evaluate and maintain facilities that stimulate learning.

We use it as an instructional system to use resources and processes that promote learning.

Instructional technology uses theories and other knowledge to creat a design and implement instruction.

The bottom line is that instructional design is the process by which instruction is created whether it is in an online environment or a face to face environment.

As we design instruction, we need to keep in mind that today brings many changes and challenges of teaching students. Not all students will visualize and learn using the same theory and process as they did in the traditional learning environment. We have a diverse learning population that challenges our need to be more creative in developing a design to benefit everyone. We still need to analyze, develop instruction, implement, and evaluate to meet the needs of our diverse society.