The new role of the instructional designer

The role of the instructional designer should now focus on new ways of learning made possible by different technology devices and ways of using them.

"When designing for mLearning we need to put ourselves in the shoes of the user who is walking around with a powerful tablet and smart phone. That person today has different expectations that are informed by social media and You Tube. They expect instantaneous access to what they want, where they are, on the device they have in their hand, And learning is not a one-way push anymore"
(When the teacher is learner, do we need instructional designer?).

"The camera, voice recorder and collaboration features of the devices drive user generated content that enable every user to be both teacher and student" (When the teacher is learner do we need instructional designer?).

The ADDIE process way of creating courses doesn't work anymore. The role of the elearning designer should be to facilitate learning and collaboration instead of dictating it. How can the learning designer create learning experiences that fit the needs of the learner where he is? First the content should should be created in granular and modular ways so that it can be delivered in mobile devices. Second it should not be tied to a certain platform because the latter can change. Third it should be created and managed in XML where the presentation is different from the content. A granular content is stored in the cloud for everyone to access it. An app is the delivery channel.

The designer should facilitate user-generated content. His goal ought to design an entire learning experience not just a piece of content. He has to know his audience in order to crate engaging learning experiences. He creates entire programs combining instruction, social collaboration and self-study.

Social commenting, rating and analytics substitute for need analysis. "The users tell what they want, what's working and where the gaps are. Analytics will tell what's being used and how effective it is" (When the learner is the teacher, do we need instructional designer?)

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