Adib Masumian from our elearning group got Kevin Gumienny, Senior Learning Architect at Microassist, to sit down for an interview on his job. In this segment, Kevin gives us the rundown of what being an instructional designer is all about.
This segment is the first in a series of interviews we are conducting with Kevin. Stay tuned for more!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32o-RRyNXBY
Q: What does an Instructional Designer Do?
Kevin Gumienny: Well I think the best way to describe what an instructional designer does is that an instructional designer designs learning experiences. A lot goes into that. Sometimes you can just throw up content on a screen and ask people to read it, but if you want to make sure that that content sticks, I mean the key point of any learning is not so much a change in knowledge, it’s a change in behavior, and to make sure that that person changes their behavior or ensures that the training at least is taken. There’s a lot that goes into it. One of the first things that you need to do is to ascertain what we call a gap analysis, what does the learner actually know or do or what skill level do they have, what level are they capable of, and what are they expected to achieve? What’s that difference? As part of that gap analysis is figure out what they need to be able to do. We develop a series of what we call objectives. Those objectives help us develop content. Some of that content may come from pre-existing courses, for
A lot goes into that. Sometimes you can just throw up content on a screen and ask people to read it, but if you want to make sure that that content sticks, I mean the key point of any learning is not so much a change in knowledge, it’s a change in behavior, and to make sure that that person changes their behavior or ensures that the training at least is taken. There’s a lot that goes into it. One of the first things that you need to do is to ascertain what we call a gap analysis, what does the learner actually know or do or what skill level do they have, what level are they capable of, and what are they expected to achieve? What’s that difference? As part of that gap analysis is figure out what they need to be able to do. We develop a series of what we call objectives. Those objectives help us develop content. Some of that content may come from pre-existing courses, for
There’s a lot that goes into it. One of the first things that you need to do is to ascertain what we call a gap analysis, what does the learner actually know or do or what skill level do they have, what level are they capable of, and what are they expected to achieve? What’s that difference? As part of that gap analysis is figure out what they need to be able to do. We develop a series of what we call objectives. Those objectives help us develop content. Some of that content may come from pre-existing courses, for
As part of that gap analysis we figure out what they need to be able to do. We develop a series of what we call objectives. Those objectives help us develop content. Some of that content may come from pre-existing courses. For example, if we’re taking an instructor-led course and making it an online course, we can adapt a lot of that content. Because a learning experience in a classroom is so very different from a learning experience in front of a computer, a lot needs to go into thinking about how to structure that content, how to alter that content, how to treat interactions, how to maybe to develop media in order to help convey that information most effectively. With objectives come assessments. Assessments basically just let us know whether the learner has mastered that material and if they have mastered the material, they passed the assessment, they’ve achieved their objective, we know that that learner has taken hold. We know that that learning experience has been effective.
Because a learning experience in a classroom is so very different from a learning experience in front of a computer, a lot needs to go into thinking about how to structure that content, how to alter that content, how to treat interactions, how to maybe to develop media in order to help convey that information most effectively. With objectives come assessments. Assessments basically just let us know whether the learner has mastered that material and if they have mastered the material, they passed the assessment, they’ve achieved their objective, we know that that learner has taken hold. We know that that learning experience has been effective.
With objectives come assessments. Assessments basically just let us know whether the learner has mastered that material and if they have mastered the material, they passed the assessment, they’ve achieved their objective, we know that that learner has taken hold. We know that that learning experience has been effective.
Episodes
Kevin Gumienny: What Does An Instructional Designer Do?
Kevin Gumienny: Most Challenging Thing About Being an Instructional Designer
Kevin Gumienny: The Best Thing About Being an Instructional Designer
Other Resources:
Interview with Instructional Designer Debby Kalk
Contact our Learning Developers
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