Instructional design for distance education and learning
While most of the principles of instructional design hold true for distance education, the principal teaching change in a learning environment is the use of technology to engage and empower the learner. This section is of this chapter is not a comprehensive treatise about instructional design concepts but rather a discussion of key factors that should be considered in the design of eLearning experiences.
Learners and How They Learn
The key is to know the learners and their skill sets. Are these undergraduate or graduate students? Are these older adults returning to the educational world? Are these working adults pursuing updated skills? What technology skills do they bring to the course? What comfort level do they have with new methods of course delivery and learning? Have they taken distance education or distributive courses before? Are they ready to take responsibility for their learning? Do they understand that they must be an active and not passive learner in this environment? What are their expectations of response time? For example, some learners expect the instant access and response that they experience when texting, while other learners wait much too long to ask for needed help.
As the introduction to this chapter pointed out, there can be a different mindset among digital natives (learners who grew up with technology) and students who were schooled using more historical methods. Table 31.2 gives a sense of how technology has evolved over the different generations. How do faculty design for those differences? Oblinger et al. identify the following implications for learning and the design of these courses: