Unit 5 – Rapid Instructional Design

Overview of the Rapid Instructional Design Approach

Rapid Instructional Design is a streamlined approach to create learning experiences quickly and inexpensively, usually to provide instruction that is needed immediately or that needs regular updates.

Step 1: Define Objectives

The first step is to set the objectives for the course. Usually the instructional designer works with the subject matter experts (SMEs) to create the objectives and to gather all the needed information at the beginning of the process.

Step 2: Design/Development/Testing

The usually separate steps of design, development, and testing occur simultaneously in rapid instructional design. Some of the ways that these steps are sped up include:

• reviewing and repurposing existing content or training
• using rapid authoring tools
• using built-in tools and templates, rather than custom-made solutions
• including only the features absolutely needed for students to achieve the objectives

Stage 3: Implementation and Revision

After the course is launched, feedback is continually gathered and used to refine the learning experience.

Implications for Instructional Design

Some of the positive implications of this method are that projects are completed quickly and for a lower cost, so that crucial training and knowledge can be delivered right when it is needed. By focusing only on the objectives, the course is shorter and makes for a more efficient use of time for the learner, so they are more likely to stick with it and complete it. With the less formal system of a specific order of steps (as you find in the ADDIE or Dick and Carey model) and the early collaboration with SMEs, the process is less likely to get hung up or delayed during one of those more numerous steps.

Some disadvantages of the rapid instructional design model include a reduction in the amount of content that is covered. To create the learning experience quickly, some skills or ideas may be simplified or left out, and the assessments used are more basic. With this simplified design process, there are not as many adjustment options for the varying needs of learners, and less time is spent testing the course to uncover any technical issues.

Strengths and Limitations in Regards to Minicourse

Rapid instructional design’s focus on creating learning experiences including only what is needed to achieve the objectives may be beneficial to my minicourse, as I want my learners to be able to complete a few specific performance tasks. Providing concise instruction on these tasks will give them the ability to quickly see what to do, and the course can be shorter and easily fit into learners’ schedules. Since my objectives are performance tasks, they do not require the creation of complex assessments or deep application of knowledge, which would need a more robust instructional design model.

Limitations of rapid instructional design for my course would be the difficulty of adding in the support and scaffolding that lower-level learners may need to ensure they can achieve the objectives. Also with my course being asynchronous, there should be more time spent than this model includes to ensure a smooth, independent learning experience for students across various devices and browsers.

References