Reiser (2001) made various assumptions and depicted the history of both instructional design and instructional media and how they differ yet in some cases align through the evolution of educational technology.
Two lessons from the past that resonate to my work are:
In regards to instructional design, subject matter experts were often times responsible for creating and delivering training content. Reiser (2001) suggests that subject matters are not necessarily as effective at creating and meeting the learning objectives therefore the need for instructional design expertise was necessary. In my line of work, we have traditionally used subject matter experts to oversee all training strategies and content building. As a result, we have an abundance of content; however it is not packaged or delivered in a way that is well received from our millennial learner. This lesson in addressing the need for that liaison in between the subject matter expert and the learner is valuable insight to take back to my workplace.
Another lesson I found to be relevant and meaningful to my line of work is the notion that online programs cannot just be replicas of the design used for classroom or typical instructor to learner designs (Reiser 2001). Content and formatting needs to be tweaked in order to be effective online. In my department, we are in the transition of taking our training strategies from in-person classroom style training events to an online setting. This lesson is important for us to consider as we attempt to make relevant digital content. Again, we are stuck in a situation where we are trying to recycle or reuse old classroom instructional design methods and apply it to our digital platforms. This lesson will be important for us to consider as we explore not only our strategies for the next year but the talent pool we have to move forward.
A lesson that conflicts with my day-to-day work is the concept that students learn equally well regardless of the medium of the presentation (Reiser, 2001). We are consistently focused on the medium to which we are delivering content and feel as though it does have an impact on the learner. For example, we are exploring a mobile friendly training app to host training content to replace a traditional linear course that is housed on an LMS using desktop computer. Where I see the contradiction is that the means (or method) of delivering the content does have an effect on the ease and interest for the learner, in our case, the millennial learner. The results through test groups have shown that the content is viewed upwards of twice as much when it is accessible at their fingertips through a mobile device rather than the traditional use of a back office training computer.
Reiser, R. A. (2001). A history of instructional design and technology: Part I: A history of instructional media.. Educational Technology Research and Development, 49(1), 53-64.