New considerations in instructional design

Considering how to design instruction taking in to account our common instructional values and the four poles of experiential learning by Kolb has proven to be a challenge as I design instructional strategies and activities for our EdWeb project. Even as an Instructional Designer, I don’t often have time to consider strategies at this in depth of a level. I am lucky if I can move our subject matter experts from just using PowerPoint and asking a few questions! But, having the opportunity to think through how to design instruction in a structures way that will have a greater impact on learning and behavior change has convinced me that I must change the way I design training!

Using a combination of the Kolb Experiential Learning model with Holton’s Absorb/Do/Connect overlaid seems to be what I am most comfortable with. I hadn’t though to use Blooms Taxonomy as a way to ensure that instructional activities and objectives are balanced…oh there is so much to think about! With the reactive nature of the education department I work in, it is difficult to take the time to think through the models and principles to ensure the education will accomplish the stated goals.

But now that I have a better understanding of the models and how to apply them to learning, I can’t even imagine designing instruction any other way. One thing we haven’t done is to classify our objectives to determine instructional strategies…in other words, consider are the objectives cognitive, attitudinal, skills, etc. When I completed my first master’s degree, this is how I was taught, but now I feel that I am much better prepared to design the best possible instruction.