For more than a decade, I managed teams of contractors as they worked side-by-side with new product developers to create training and performance improvement systems for major corporations such as Xerox, Epson America, and Apple Computer. The instructional design (ID) projects I planned and coordinated were as simple as a single resource working for three weeks and as complicated as 60 people working for more than a year and a half. Deliverables ranged from straightforward documentation to transcontinental satellite broadcasts incorporating pre-produced video sequences, live executive speakers, and real-time competition among problem-solving teams located all over North America.
In fact, the first PM training session I created was a custom-designed, hands-on, five-day workshop for Xerox Corp. which (I'm proud to say) won several awards! The articles below share what I learned as an in-the-trenches, working ID project manager. I hope you find them valuable! (Are you new to Instructional Design? Scroll down to find links to some brief video overviews of what it's all about!)
“Beyond Sales Training: Designing a Learning Organization” – from In Action: Designing Training Programs, American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), 1996 – describes exactly how we planned and managed a comprehensive performance analysis to create job models, career paths, curriculum architecture, and corresponding training priorities.
Looking for succinct, authoritative introductions to ID (Instructional Design) and HPT (Human Performance Technology)? Check out Joel Gardner's YouTube videos:
Joel Gardner is an instructional Design Faculty member at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. He has been teaching, training and designing instruction for over a decade. Joel specializes in instructional design effectiveness and has published a number of peer-reviewed articles on Merrill's First Principles of Instruction.
