I received an email from a very well known LMS/Content creator developer company the other day, and while I normally delete them I read this one because of this phrase which caught my eye...NO SKILLS REQUIRED.
Wow! If that doesn't just sum up what eLearning Development is all about within the walls of corporate america. Anyone can do this, right? ABSOLUTELY!!! All of the routine tasks that we do as developers to pump out page-turning elearning are being automated in every system on the market. After all, don't we automate our own work as well to make our lives easier? Templates...for Dreamweaver, Flash, etc.
In the past we (instructional technologists) spent a large portion of our time creating from scratch the main elements of our software. Now that we don't need to do that anymore...why are we still creating BORING pageturning elearning? I'm guilty of it as well, and we can all make excuses about why...more courses is better than better courses, short timelines, lazy SMEs, and the list goes on.
I have many directions to go on this topic but the main point is this...
WE MUST ADD VALUE!!! Duh, you say. Hear me out. Most of us are graduate level educated professionals. Why does any company need to pay us a graduate level salary when NO SKILLS are REQUIRED for SMEs or interns to populate a template...or convert a powerpoint presentation?
The tools are automating the majority of ISD tasks, and the development work can easily be shipped overseas to India. Where is YOUR value? What do YOU bring to the table? Why is your work different/better than the $4/hr worker in India?
The writing is on the wall...STOP learning more about ISD... and START perfecting your right-brain skills and talents. If you MUST make a page-turner, make it ROCK!
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