A Pebble - in - the - Pond Model For Instructional Design

Someone said, “It is a bad craftsman that blames his tools.” It should be obvious to the thoughtful observer that the problem may be the implementation of ISD, not a systematic approach itself. At the highest level of a systems approach one cannot imagine a design process that does not identify the training needs of an organization or the learning needs of the students. While learning occurs in many different environments, it is generally agreed that instruction requires that one first identify the goals of the instruction. It is equally difficult to imagine a process that does not involve planning, development, implementation, and evaluation. It is not these essential development activities that are in question but perhaps the fact that their detailed implementation in various incarnations of ISD do not represent the most efficient or effective method for designing instruction. A more significant element is the emphasis on the process involved in developing instruction rather than the basic learning principles that this process should emphasize. Merely following a series of steps, when there is insufficient guidance as to quality, is likely to result in an inferior product. A technology involves not only the steps involved but a set of specifications for what each step is to accomplish. Perhaps many ISD implementations have had insufficient specifications for the products of the process.