The Instructional Design Process

Chapter 6 describes instructional design as "both a science and an art" (173). As part of the Future IT Camp, it was our responsibility to conduct a needs assessment to gather the raw matrial required for instructional design. We based the content of our training on the result of the needs assessment, which in our case was giving the learners an introduction to Ubuntu and its essential components, such as productivity suites and the software center. The book points out that no two final designs are the same, even though they may both result in the "needed learning" (173).
Our first step was to group what needs to be learned into "logically connected clusters" (174). Those clusters are the equivalent of the sections of the training plan. One cluster dealt with background information about Ubuntu, i.e. it's role in open source, the reason why it's important to familiarize oneself with it, and it's advantages and disadvantages compared to Microsoft Windows operating systems. Upon creating those clusters, we established the goals and objectives of the program which have to be measurable. I found that the verbs listed in the objectives chart on blackboard was extremely helpful when it came to defining objectives. The objectives of our training session consist of:

• naming advatages of using open source operating systems
• creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in LibreOffice
• using the software center to download & install apps

We made sure that our training plan consisted of a combination of cognitive and behavioral outcomes. The difference between cognitive and behavioral is similar to the distinction between the terms know and able to do. The fist section of our training plan is largely cognitive and introductory and provides the learner with the needed background information to be able to operate in the Ubuntu environment. The second section consisted largely of behavioral learning outcomes, as learners had a chance to navigate through Ubuntu and perform a few hands-on exercises. The third section had a behavioral focus as well, because the learner was to create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations which all represent operational learning. The forth section was unguided for the most part and consisted of hands-on learning, as well. The learner was asked to independently browse through the software center to explore free and paid apps and to download & install those that interest him or her.
Chapter 7 emphasizes that cognitive learning outcomes are just as important as behavioral, despite the fact that most training focuses on operational training (174).
In order to measure success we asked the learners to perform tasks on content that was presented to them. If learners were able to create spreadsheets, documents, and presentations in LibreOffice, they successfully learned. Similarly learners were able to download & install an app of their choosing as a result of successfully learning the contents of the fourth section.