Re: Best practices for instructional design

[Connie Giordano <connie -at- therightwords -dot- com>]

Hi Jen,

Technical communications encompasses a whole lot of territory, and
instructional design is one area that many of us on the list have delved.
The planning and development processes follow a similar path as those for
creating manuals...audience analysis, planning, development,  testing &
revision, delivery, evaluation... but the focus is slightly different.

Some of the best practices I would consider:

Develop a design document for the project.  This should be a high-level
document cover the audience needs analysis, learning objectives, decisions
on how the material is to be designed and delivered, what kind of metrics
will be used to gauge effectiveness, etc.

For each training "module," have clear and measurable objectives about what
the students should be expected to learn.  This one is key to keeping the
material focused on the right topics, and what exercises or demonstrations
will be done to reinforce them.

Develop an evaluation that goes beyond the survey about instructor and
material effectiveness.  You want to measure whether the training actually
had an impact on actions and behavior.

Check into resources from American Society for Training & Development (
http://www.astd.org ), they're the best-know professional association.

Good luck

Connie Giordano

On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 5:59 PM, Jen Jobart <jenjobart -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I've been a tech writer for many years, doing mostly manuals.  My latest
> project involves instructional design. Specifically, I'll be designing
> presentations meant to train a live audience how to use specific software.
> I know there are many overlaps with traditional tech writing, but I would
> guess that there are also considerations for instructional design that
> depart from standard tech writing.
>
> Do any of you have advice on what to do/ what not to do?  Any favorite
> resources you could point me to?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Jen
> http://jenjobart.blogspot.com
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-- 
Connie P. Giordano
Principal Consultant
The Right Words of NC, LLC

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible" - Walt Disney
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