Designing Instructional Sequences
View PDF | Print View
by: oriontv2011
Total views: 45
Word Count: 389
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2011 Time: 3:24 PM
If I tell you to pick a number and multiply it by itself, you know what to do just with that one line of instruction. It takes at least a couple of pages to describe to a computer how to do the same were each individual task has to be described in minimal detail.
Software instructions, in order to trigger the computer to act in a certain form, have 3 elements:
INPUT- PROCESS- OUTPUT
And if you look at human actions into a microscope those too obey the same structure.
Let’s look at one example:
What do you do when you are thirsty? The answer is pretty obvious. But what a 4 years old do when they are thirsty? Yes, they ask you for water or juice. But when you are training this toddler to serve himself you follow the same principles of software development.
Input: I’m thirsty
Process: Get a cup -> go to refrigerator -> press cup on water dispenser -> wait until some water has poured into the cup -> drink the water.
Output: pee! Just kidding. Output: not thirsty.
So the action of satisfying your thirst has a reason (input), a way to solve it (process) and a desired outcome (output).
Training is nothing but a process to achieve desired results. So if we know at least the desired result, we should be able to identify a reason and build a process to get there. Begin with the end in mind – Stephen Covey
Action -> Result
But what constitutes an action? Anything that will result in a re-action or in a result. So it easy to see that in order to identify actions one need to evaluate the desired results first, i.e., look at the end to see how to get to the start (Input, process, output). Begin with the end in mind.
Unfortunately the end is not clear most of the time or the end is a combination of ends. To help the instructional designer to get the big picture we will describe a few tools used quite successfully in software development:
A. Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
B. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
C. Flow Charts
D. Mind Mapping
E. StoryBoard
Let’s talk over each one of those in more details.
About the Author
Helping speakers, ministers, and coaches digitize their message for web delivery.
We specialize in creating videos, audio books, e-Books and e-Learning to package your message into the world wide web.
