"What vs. How"

Shawn Atwood

“What vs. How”

Well, the question remains, what is an instructional designer? I have learned this week that an instructional designer works at incorporating four things. They include: Integration, activation, application, and demonstration. It is a simplified version of Gagne’s nine steps. As an instructional designer incorporates these four things, naturally they will reach objectives. To make this easier I have also discovered that there are two questions to keep in mind. They are “what should I teach?” and “how should I teach it?”

Keeping this thought in mind, it is crucial to remember to not let the “how” overshadow the “what.” Often times as a teacher I focus so much on how I am going to teach that what I am going to teach becomes weak. But to figure out how to teach, an instructional designer should use integration, activation, application, and demonstration of the content. That is how something becomes real and relevant to a student and you would have been successful in what you have taught.