This entry is addressed more to the course champions and
project managers of the world.
Imagine the football team that in the last 2 minutes of a
tied game sees its big name quarterback come onto the field and…the team’s
other 10 players just lay down on the grass and say, “Thank goodness you’re
here. You take it from here and win this game for us.”
Believe it or not, this can happen in effect when a
credentialed, seasoned instructional designer (ID) effort gets brought into a
project. So, a word to the wise here, course champions and others – be it an
individual or outsourcing to a whole team of IDs – is not, contrary to what you
might think, the miracle cure for a project.
That’s right. Doing so won’t end hunger or bring about world
peace either.
I know; it’s disappointing to hear this.
But, I think it’s necessary for everyone amongst The Powers
That Be in a courseware initiative to understand this. Just because you bring
in folks with courseware development credentials etc – while we can and often
do some outstanding educational product development – we are only as smart or
dumb as productive or not as your system keeps us.
By this I mean bringing in credentialed ID help doesn’t exonerate the other members of the
process from contributing their fair share to the goals of the project. The
course champion will still need to procure project funding, subject matter
experts (SMEs) will still have to contribute both input and expertise and so
on.
Remember; your design team, be they one or a hundred strong,
is only is only as effective as the supply of content resources, SME expertise
and availability etc keeps them.
If the data or expertise from which content will be built is
not made available then you can’t expect a miracle from the ID portion of the
team when it’s kept deaf, dumb and blind in the process. One option would be
providing the ID portion the opportunity to do independent research – within limits.
Just realize research hours go against the timetable and budget.
If the SMEs aren’t made available to contribute basic
materials and expertise for content to be developed, then don’t be surprised if
the ID portion of the team doesn’t create much basic (alpha draft) content and
the schedule begins to fall behind.
Similarly, if SMEs don’t conduct effective alpha, beta and
final draft reviews using their professional expertise and give timely feedback
to the ID portion, how does it know whether and how to make what changes and
improvements to the draft so it is satisfactory?
Adding credentialed and seasoned instructional design professionals
to your project can really help it go from just an idea to a very high-quality
reality. (The sooner in the project’s lifespan they’re brought in the better.) Just
realize that bringing them in doesn’t mean the rest of the entire project team can
just abandon any involvement in it. They’re just as critical with an ID on
board as before.
Remember, a project team is called a team for a reason. If your project manager doesn't watch out for this "laying down" possibility, your project could be doomed.
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