About a month ago, I gave a webcast presentation to the eLearning Guild on User Generated Learning. Despite the 5 am in Sydney time slot, it was actually a lot of fun. The 40-odd participants were not shy of contributing

I was unhappy with my original article and wanted another chance to pull together my thoughts on this topic.

The first half states the obvious – the cost of producing and distributing many kinds of media has dropped significantly in the last decade.  This means that, in theory, everyone could be an instructional designer – i.e. a creator of artifacts or events that help others learn.

Now, in practice, instructional designers are not out of job but I think that job will change. Which is where the second (and far more interesting) half of the session gets busy. What will instructional designers be doing? I suggested four areas:

1. Coaching people on the best way to use these new tools with Powerpoint as an example of how not to do it.
2. Maintaining quality.
3. Curating and ensuring that people can find what they and others produce.
4. Innovating and developing new learning format and techniques – e.g. serious games.