fine lines

I was invited to an interesting meeting on Monday morning. We were gathered to discuss options and possibilities for measuring/rating instructional technologies in such a way as to provide decision makers with a means to prioritize projects and resources.

It's an interesting question and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to develop or locate a usable model. What is more interesting is how the conversation teetered on discussions of teaching with technology and who (organizationally) on campus is responsible for supporting these efforts. It's a series of posts yet to come.

What came out of one particular thread were comments implying that instructional design is somehow tied to or dependent on technology-mediated instruction. I find this opinion troubling because it complicates discussions intended to identify the discrete, yet inter-related, activities involved in creating courses - all modes of courses. In fairness, the blurring of the line between instructional design and instructional technology makes it difficult to separate design and development activities into nice clean buckets.

Which is all to say that I am encouraged that our approach to online course design and development is valid.