As the haggard warriors approached the dark, cavernous lair, they could just make out the labored breaths of what appeared to be a...wait...not that kind of D&D...let me explain.

As I pondered my experience thus far in my Learning Agency internship for the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA), I realized that honestly, the most impactful thing I for me has been recognizing a true delineation between the individual design and development steps of the overall instructional design process. Ah ha...that kind of D&D!

As I have been working with my designated Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the BHA course, the separation of those two is not only more evident but, as I go further into the process, I am also seeing its necessity. Being someone who has always executed the design and development for my own hybrid and online higher ed courses (therefore I was also the SME), I have historically merged the aspects of design and development simultaneously. In fact, it was intuitive for me to do so. However, because I didn't really have the knowledge or the language of instructional design, I wasn't really aware of the fact that I even did that when I was creating those courses. This realization has especially been highlighted for me during this internship.

Although I have blended the design and development phases a bit as I explored and familiarized myself with a new e-learning tool for this project, I have also been tasked with creating a very clear design document as an isolated step in the modified ADDIE design process that the team utilizes. The experience of creating this very detailed step by step plan was arduous but also provided me with the application skills of a concept that was only pondered during class.

Shifting the course design from words and ideas in a Google doc into development has been exhilarating, as I have begun to see the vision my collaborative partner and I have been detailing come to life with graphics, interactive features, and various media. The cumbersome process of completing the design document is paying off as development of many areas of the course seems almost effortless because I have a clear sense of where to go. I have a map!

By separating the design and development steps within the overall design process, I have identified several benefits that I believe contribute to creating a more effective, efficient, and high-quality learning experience...as well as a more enjoyable and productive working experience!

Here are a few of the key benefits that I recognized with this clear delineation of design and development:

  • Focus on Each Phase: Having a clear delineation allowed the design aspect to have a focus solely on defining learning objectives, analyzing the learning needs, and selecting content and strategies. Then, the development phase (at least thus far!) can focus on the practical elements without getting distracted by the conceptual aspects.
  • Tracking: By creating a solid foundational document within the design phase, there has been clearer tracking of information and changes within development.
  • Flexibility for Revisions: Speaking of changes, by having an isolated design phase, changes to content didn't disrupt any development aspects.
  • Validating Content: By ensuring content is accurate in the design phase, time spent on development of inaccurate/unnecessary material has been avoided (thus far!).
  • Collaboration: Tremendous amounts of time were spent collaborating with the SME during design. This enhanced time has been integral to the smooth operation of the developmnent process thus far as a certain level of trust has been established during design meetings.

I look forward to the adventures that await me in the second half of this internship!

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