CCK08 - Connectivism Course - George Siemens

In the second Elluminate discussion for Week 7 of CCK08. Siemens states, “Insructional design is an optional skill for a teacher to have.” I couldn’t agree more.

In a comment that was posted on Stephen’s Web in response to the Elearn magazine op-ed piece by Jerry Murphy, “Is Instructional Design Becoming a Commodity?” Brian Alger states:

Instructional designers will eventually become obsolete.

I've been following along sporadically with the multithreaded discussions that George and Stephen are managing in their MOOC. I've found some of the aspects of George's theory of connectivism interesting and enlightening but one of the aspects that 'sticks in my craw' is this assumption that the plethora of possibilities for self-learning and the mutlitude of connections results in what I would consider 'learning'. It can do so but just being able to connect doesn't mean I know what to do with whatever I connect with. I still believe that, if I'm a beginner on a path to some kind of knowledge that I can apply in my personal life, I benefit from starting on the path with a guide. After I've progressed, I can venture out on new paths and they'll have meaning and I should be able to integrate them and enrich my understanding. If I can't, I guess I need to find another guide.

As an instructional designer and teacher, I believe in the value of organizing defined fields of investigation to make new information digestible and potentially meaningful. I think we can all accept that information is not knowledge and (this is my take on it) knowledge is not understanding (from what I've read not many people that agree with George would agree with that last bit ;-) So, despite the fact that I agree that the explosion of accessible information makes data sifting, gathering and evaluating desirable skills in a learner, they alone will not result in learning or understanding. Connecting with information or people who have information doesn't mean I'll progress very far beyond adding knowledge to my repository. Whether I'll be able to extract it in the future and apply it in meaningful ways will depend on a)  whether I'm a skilled self-learner  or  b) whether I connect with someone who is able to help me see the next level of connection or to apply that piece of information in a knowledgeable way.

Some people are natural teachers and given the right circumstances can provide someone who connects with them a coherent, comprehensive introduction to a subject. Most are not. Good instructional design is about organizing materials and learning events to help students learn about a series of topics that some group (yes, I know that's considered a repressive, linear approach to learning) has agreed have recognizable value; good instructional design should provide lots of opportunities for unanticipated learning but, for the most part, we have to agree on what we're trying to achieve so that we can provide credit for a set of agreed outcomes.

Most of the voices in this course appear to be people with strong self-learning skills; however, I would guess that most of them are a product of linear, industrialized learning with a teacher, practical, hands-on practice in daily life and work, new insights and unique learning opportunities from meeting new people (either face-to-face or virtually), self-exploration through their personal environments, different media, connected environments (Internet). Who's to say which learning option was the most useful? I find it hard to believe that structured learning didn't have an important place in their development.

Are instructional designers truly going to be obsolete? Even if you don't buy my argument about the need to have some structured learning opportunities on our paths to understanding, instructional designers and teachers of courses provide credits and recognizable certifications. I dislike our reliance on artificial standards but they are still useful tools for busy employers.  Only when employers and others find other ways to assess value and competence in a new person will I see that formalized education is on its way out the door.