Re: Instructional design newbie needs pointers!

[Gregory P Sweet <gps03 -at- health -dot- state -dot- ny -dot- us>]

Mark,

Been there and done that; and if I only knew then what I know now...

Start by reading up on adult learning principles, and the different types
of learners you are going to encounter. Do a few evaluations to find out
what kind of learner you are so you can be sure to get out of your comfort
zone when you develop course interactions. Read up on developing course
objectives, course evaluations and valid testing methodologies. Read
anything by Michael Allen or Jane Bozarth.

The Training Doctor, LLC has a course titled "ISD for the SME" which I've
heard really good things about from some very trusted sources.
http://www.trainingdr.com/

The the very most important concept to come to grips with immediately is
that tools do not equal teaching. A good instructional designer can turn
out a better course with powerpoint or word than an unskilled designer with
the latest and greatest Captivate/Authorware/BlackBoardCT/Camtasia etc.. So
again, don't start with tool choice, start by defining your objectives,
then look for tools and methodologies that can facilitate your learners
meeting those goals. I made this mistake of picking tools before I knew
what I was doing when I started out in training and my learners suffered
for it.

Cheers!
Greg

> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I've just been appointed as a Course Author within my company's training
> department. Although I have a background in technical writing I have
> mostly concentrated on developer documentation so I'm finding myself a
> bit out of my depth and in need of some guidance!
>
>
>
> Things I'm being forced to think about are...
>
>
>
> Appropriate authoring tools. At the moment we only deliver face-to-face
> training but will need to look at e-Learning at some point in the near
> future, so a tool or suite of tools which could do both would be ideal.
> I've heard quite a bit about single-sourcing without knowing too much
> about it and wonder if that's something we should be thinking about at
> this stage?
>
>
>
> Management of the above. Would source control software (like Subversion)
> be a good enough way to version control all the content we create, or
> are there better ways?
>
>
>
> Instructional design training. This seems to be a vast subject, but how
> much do I need to know? Does anyone have any recommendations for books,
> courses, etc on ID basics?
>
>
>
> I would really appreciate some advice and recommendations from you
> clever folks.
>
>
>
> Many thanks,
>
>
>
> Mark
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing 
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor,  Microsoft Word or 
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

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