New tools

I recently read a blog about how technology has made us lazier. I hear this all the time from people who think that the generations that came before us were more hard-working and innovative. But, today when I was giving a lecture to some kids about the rapid development tools used in elearning, I realized that technology does not make us lazy. Far from making us dull, having tools and appliances that take care of cumbersome mundane tasks, actually makes us more innovative. These tools give us the freedom to focus on our core competencies. To excel and innovate in the areas that excite us the most.

As an ID, I now have tools that allow me to create rich and engaging elearning courses with audio and multimedia in a matter of hours. This lets me focus my energies on ensuring that my instructional approach is sound and my content is robust. A lazy ID would never have worried about these things too much. In fact, a lazy person would not work too hard no matter what the conditions.

It isn’t the tools that make us lazy, I suppose they just magnify our natural temperament. The new version of Flash allows my graphics team to quickly create almost anything that their imagination can come up with, including detailed 3D models. New technology allows doctors to keep people alive, even those who would've died years ago without that technology. And we can now think about creating lifelike simulations for medical training courses that we had never thought possible.

It’s time we stopped being afraid of technology and how it’ll change our lives. For the most part, it has made things better. For the most part it’s let us stretch our imaginations in terms of things we could do. Some years ago, Captivate was such a painful and cumbersome tool to use that I wouldn’t ever have the time to worry too much about whether the training simulations I’m making will really be immersive and engaging. But, with the new and improved Captivate, I can actually focus on the scenarios that I’m using for the simulations and how I can improve them. I can be more of an ID and less of a developer.

"Hi, I'm an Instructional Designer." "Huh?!"

I love the UPS ad! Every time it comes on I feel a rush of happiness. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRAHa_Po0Kg
I love it because it's so evident that these guys love their job. They love what they do. And that inspires so much faith in their capability to do it well. I like positive people, particularly at work. Enthusiasm is infectious.

I love my job. I know it's one of those abstract, vague, sitting-in-front-of-a-computer-all-day-long kinda jobs, but I love it. I know it's much more glamorous to say that you're a dancer or an architect or a vet or something. Usually when I tell people what I do, all I get is, "What is that again?" Sigh...

I know so many Instructional Designers who think that their job is just fluff. That it's meaningless and based more on conjecture than science. But before things become accepted as science, they're considered suppositions, superstitions even. I agree that instructional design isn't an exact science, quite like psychology, a subject that it is largely built upon. But all you have to do, to understand how important ID is, is to look at some of the 'training' that's out there. Honestly, a lot of corporate trainers have absolutely no logic behind what they are doing.

ID is important because it helps people get there faster and easier. If your organisation needs you to get from point A to point B ASAP, then your best bet is a professionally designed training program. Because haphazard training will only guarantee chaos, frustration and resentment. Okay, I'm not saying that creating an elearning course isn't frustrating. It usually is.

The whole concept of collaboration between an ID and a Subject Matter Expert is based on conflict. As an ID, it is my job to challenge everything the SME says. But the good thing is that we get to tear each other's hair out so that the people who are at the receiving end of the training don't have to tear their hair out. And invariably there are deadlines that prevent IDs and SMEs from killing each other. I never thought I'd say this, but thank God for deadlines.