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