In April, we started the eCube Ponder series. Each month, we will ponder over a topic. You can simply respond by leaving your comments on the topic. If you post a response in your blog, leave a link to you blog in the comments. Here’s the May eCube Ponder:
Should IDs know about other development practices? Should IDs have skills in areas like programming, graphics etc.? Do these skills help IDs perform better in their roles? Is it better to specialize only in writing or be an all rounder with skills in other areas too?
What do you think?
Do participate in the ongoing poll also on the site.
3 comments:
This is an excellent topic initiated by Manish. I feel an ID should have skills if not all but most of the areas they are associated with! In fact I have learnt working on softwares like captivate, flash 8--and this gives me a better hand for sure. One of the advantages is that it makes me a better reviewer---i can now figure out what issues in the courses can be fixed or not. Secondly, it makes me more skilled---something to add to my resume:-). I am sure there are other advantages too...The same holds true for areas like programming or maybe quality checks....
I agree with Bobby. Knowing all other spheres related to elearning makes an ID a better performer. Any way,as a profession Instructional Designing is learners delight. It opens varied avenues of learning and skill enhancing.
In my opinion, in many ways the role of an ID is similar to the director of a documentary film. Whenever I see those documentaries on NetGeo, Discovery, etc., I see all the ID elements in them. An ID’s work maybe at a smaller scale, but the skills required are pretty much the same. An ID needs to be a good writer, designer, interviewer, requirements analyst, communicator, visualizer, coordinator, resource manager, planner, etc.
I guess the question was more about the technical skills--programming, graphics, etc. Again, we I would like to go with the analogy of documentary direction, A director needs to understand the nuances of photography, set design, visualization, audio production, editing, post production, etc. Similarly it helps if an ID knows a little bit of programming, graphics, etc. As a director has a team to produce a film, an ID has an integrator, graphics person, etc to do specific work. But knowing production in and out definitely helps.
With all these points, we are talking about a highly skilled person. In my opinion, all these skills are important for a good ID. It is a highly specialized area.
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