ISD Model for Distance Learning

Project Description: This semester-long project involved creating an Instructional Systems Development (ISD) model for an area of interest. I selected Distance Learning in higher education partly because of my experience in media and Web design, but mostly because I am passionate about the quality of online learning.

This passion was inspired from having had my first online learning experiences in the IDD&E MS program, and finding it difficult to understand what to do, how to appropriately compose responses, and how to appropriately participate in discussions. Somehow, the interaction “dialect” I understood in previous academic experiences was not applicable in the class discourse, and I found online learning stressful.

The motivating factor behind the development of the Semantic ISD Model was that, in my opinion, designers of online instruction and implementation systems seemed to be overlooking elements of communication and message design that were critical to presenting asynchronous information clearly. The ISD model presented here attempts to account for these factors, such as the potential influence of the medium itself and the interface design on how learners respond in their online interactivity.

For example, there are clearly defined expectations in crafting a traditional written essay, but no established rules for how to respond to a “comment” or a write for a “discussion” (see image gallery in the sidebar). Neither online systems nor learner response conventions offer clear ways to interpret the variety of ways one is expected to respond. Does one respond according to the size of the space offered for a response? According to email or social media communication behaviors? According to what others compose? It is felt that online instructors must be provided with a way to express their expectations for student output that supersede the implications of interface design and informal online communication behavior, among other factors.

The Semantic ISD model proposes a roster of heuristics for developers to consider as they create instructional messaging, and place content into an online configuration for use by both teachers and students.

Reflection: This topic is far too deep to be addressed thoroughly in a 600-level ISD class. If I were to pursue doctoral studies, this is the area that would bear my research questions. As it is, this paper only sounds a call for attention to these details, with further research needed to support or discredit its proposition.

From the paper’s Conclusion: A metaphor for the paradigm of ISD for Distance Learning might be best described by imagining a person attempting to craft a message to a faraway love interest. The sender must devise a system of communication that would assure that his or her intentions are received precisely as intended, with the desired immediate and longterm results. This involves not only crafting the appropriate text or imagery in the message itself, but also selecting a method for transferring the message in a container that would be appropriate for the nuances of the message, but would refrain from “coloring” the message with unintended implications.

Further, in the sender’s absence, the receiver of the message should read the message, hopefully, with a sense of certainty about the information, and what it is supposed to be taken as. We hope, then, that the system that was devised for this encounter fosters further openness and engagement between sender and receiver (rather than confusion), leading to more personal connectedness between our imaginary couple, despite their distance.

Distance Learning, like negotiating a distant love interest, is fraught with difficulties. Maintaining the integrity of information and messaging through the Internet medium presents a challenge for instructional systems developers beyond prescribing the means for producing good instruction. It requires attending to fundamental questions about what constitutes “information”, and how literacies and linguistics contribute to comprehension of online textual and graphical information in the achieving of instructional goals.

The goal of using the Semantic ISD model guidelines is to increase clarity in Distance Learning by developing a thorough presentation of content information, and to support implementation with products that reduce overall uncertainty in the Web-based environment. These guidelines will create conditions that foster higher probabilities for instructor and student interaction, and for successful learning experiences.