double take

Instructional design requires selecting, organizing, and specifying the learning experiences necessary to teach somebody something.
William Horton, “E-learning by Design”

While reading a book on e-learning, a sentence grabbed my attention: “Experts know too much”. The author implied that although content experts know a lot about their field, they often do not know how to present and teach the content. Some clients tend to think that a content expert can do the job of an instructional designer. Wrong. The problem is that they are not good at designing instructions on topics and behaviors, lacking skills to:

• Define good learning objectives;
• Set criteria for success;
• Analyze learners needs and abilities;
• Select learning activities and types to present the information;
• Select ways to give learners control;
• Create opportunities for collaboration;
• Develop hands-on activities;
• Create case studies and role-playing scenarios;
• Create games and simulations;
• Put together glossaries and job aids;
• Propose interesting research activities;
• Propose challenging and achievable assignments.

To illustrate, let us consider the case of a wonderful cook. When sharing his recipes, he has no secrets to hide. However, as a result of his familiarity with the cooking process, he forgets to teach essential steps that from his perspective were too obvious to mention. “How could I guess that you do not know how to prepare a béchamel sauce, ma chérie?!”

It is important to have a professional who is able to “translate” the most intricate concepts into ideas that are accessible and easy to understand by different audiences. The recipe’s secret is an instructional designer who knows how to break the content in small chunks and create memorable learning experiences. For me, this represents the intersection between education and journalism.