Wait! I think I have a tool for that...

Us instructional designers...we love tools. Like my dad. Man, he really loved tools too. He did a LOT of DIY projects around the house, and he used to have tools scattered everywhere. Of course he had his tools he loved to use. Then he had tools he used once to finish some task - probably some last minute run to Home Depot, hoping beyond all hope there was some gadget that would finally let him finish that one-day project that had somehow manage to stretch into three. And of course he had tools he never used. They had purpose, and they will get used. Just not today.

And for those in the instructional design field we also have a plethora of tools at our disposal. In today's world there are tools everywhere! Shiny tools, brand new wonders of technology which are mind-blowingly neat. An AI tool, perhaps, which can use the face of your CEO and turn it into a chat-assisted knowledge base. 

We have robust, enterprise level tools, like a community centric all-in-one LMS which predicts user's behavior, and custom tailors content based on their activity and chooses an appropriate learning path. We have social media tools. Interactive messaging boards, collaborative idea generators, serious games, and on, and on, and on. There's no shortage to the amount of tools out there, just like at Home Depot. 

And herein lies the problem. Sometimes my dad wouldn't even know what tool to use. He knew he had a problem some tool could likely solve. But which one exactly? He could ask someone at Home Depot for advice, and they would suggest something. He'd grab it off the shelf, whip out the debit card, and off he would go. Now, just additional little problem...no one ever showed him how to use the tool. So he had the tool, but didn't have the knowledge of how to use it.

So we face a similar problem in our field. A lot of the time, our use/selection of tools is made with good intentions. It might arise from a perspective of, "Our employees are bored of our mandatory training videos. Let's spice things up." A month later, they have access to some shiny new tool. It's like Christmas morning! 

However, the selection of the tool shouldn't be reactive. It should, instead, be selected from data, and careful thought should be put into both the long, and short term vision for its implementation. If we aspire to have true adoption of the tool it can't merely be something we put in front of somewhere (Merry Christmas, now go play with your toys!). Instead, there has to be a true commitment to ensuring that your learners value the tool, and that they know how to use it. 

Comments

  1. DaeunJuly 7, 2023 at 11:35 AM

    I like how you compared the physical tools to online tools like Web 2.0 technology. They seem to be comparative in many ways. You remind me that tool selections should be along with specific goals and with the knowledge of how to use it. Just a thought while reading your post, I think instructional designers can serve as home depot staff who can advise what tools to use to the customers who has a certain problem they want to solve.

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