The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age

by Cammy Bean

What exactly are you trying to teach? Will Thalheimer, who created a new taxonomy for learning objective, labels this type of objective an instructional-design objective, which is “a statement developed by and for instructional designers to guide the design and development of learning and instruction” (2006). So, we do need them, but most people find them painful to read. One could argue that most learners don’t even bother reading them. Michael Allen states that lists of learning objectives aren’t motivating. However, he also says that “measurable behavioral objectives are, indeed, critical components to guide the design of effective training applications” (2003, 160). Unfortunately, there’s nothing that will get people to yawn more quickly than a list of them. More often than not, learning objectives sound like they were written by robots. How about you? Do you take the time to read those objectives? Really?

How can this be accomplished in education where standards are the life's blood of face to face instruction?