By Christina Freeman

Instructional design is the process of combining educational theory and multimedia assets to fulfill the demand for creative, impactful, and challenging learning opportunities. Our Instructional Design team at USF Health Information Systems is one of the most unique of its kind. Customarily, instructional designers or instructional design teams within higher education employ a very heavy academic focus. While this traditional style serves the purposes of many programs, our team has more distinct concerns because we are the facilitators that provide structure and support for both the education and training  needed to instruct a diverse pool of clients. This includes, our technology-based departments, medical practitioners, clinical personnel,  and the traditional academic programs at the USF Morsani College of Medicine. Our team’s journey is all about blended learning initiatives, compliance fulfillment, corporate on-boarding, and private client developments. We are comfortably familiar with flexibility. And we enjoy exploring how flexibility not only aids education but how it actually becomes the basis for creating great learning environments, everywhere.

Flexibility Benefits Blended Learning

Team member Sandra notes, “Blended learning certainly has its parameters and limitations; flexibility becomes both the product and the tool when trying to work within those parameters, many times resulting in a more surprisingly effective learning design”.

Most of the projects that we take on have their fair share of unique instances and concerns. For blended learning environments this is especially true. For example, when both our ID team and an educator collaborate to pursue the method best suited to fitting online instruction seamlessly with face-to-face offerings. In such a case, we would meet with the instructors, and together we work to make each lesson count, whether that’s for in-person or online purposes.

In some cases, instructors identify academic areas that the student should have prior knowledge or an introductory understanding of in order to participate in any online offering. In other cases, such offerings are designed to provide elaboration and cement in-class lecture topics. This grants students additional exposure and review opportunities for various aspects of their lessons. One of the benefits of this approach is that class time can be used to delve deeper into more complicated issues, adding incentive for students to be prepared.

Flexibility Improves Business Processes

“Flexibility has a direct impact on the quality of our work: The more flexible and agile our process and approach to design is, the better equipped we are to handle challenges found in any project. Further, flexibility on part of our clients also allows us to adapt and resolve any obstacles that may arise in an instructional design project. We have found that in every situation in which flexibility is required, a fresh opportunity to improve and innovate both our processes and approach to design is realized,” was team member Stephen’s perspective on flexibility.

Improvement and innovation also speaks very specifically to compliance concerns within our team. While all compliance training has processes and parameters that must be heeded, the presentation can be unique, original, and user-centered. Through instructional design, these requirements can be ported from required yearly classroom training and other such labor-heavy functions to being initiated as needed by the actual employee. This again demonstrates how well flexibility in instructional design solutions are inherent in how our teams can produce answers for the demands of the many while saving time, money, and staffing resources for all.

Another unique perspective came from ID team member, Jonathan who noted, “I have found that even within our structured and agile-based project management environment, we have still been granted ample flexibility in terms of how we approach the various aspects of instructional design projects. Whether it’s how we work with a client in choosing a project’s look and feel, how we decide who will work on certain aspects of a design, or how we go about evaluating a project’s instructional effectiveness. I think the freedom that we have as a group has allowed us to create to be more collaborative and dynamic for both our clients and our own team. I think that in turn allows us to design instructional solutions that are more creative and better tailored to the needs of each unique project”.

The ability to recognize the unique traits of each project can be attributed to our team flexibility, as well. While this is true for many scenarios, one such example can be seen with moment-of-need training. For example, we know that large system roll-outs can often cause anxiety in the workplace. However, instructional design can answer the needs of such complex systems and challenges. Through targeted, step–by-step directions and interactive simulations of work processes, staff members can receive crucial information and the hands-on training they need exactly when and where they need it, reducing the stress associated with operating within any new system or process.

Ultimately, Flexibility Rewards Clients

“One of my most rewarding projects involved flexibility on the part of both the designers and the content owner in coming to a shared sense of vision. During the course of the project there was a lot of great communication, to clarify a concept or describe a design rationale, or to understand and reconcile differing perspectives, or to change the direction of a design initiative, but always with a universal purpose: a commitment to a successful – and effective – instructional outcome. The flexibility of all involved in negotiating the complexities of a long-term, multi-team effort towards a shared goal was the difference between a solid end result and a truly remarkable one,” shared ID Michelle.

Ultimately, the goal of the client-provider relationship in any situation is satisfaction. But our team looks to aim just a little higher and flexibility nurtures the collaborative foundation we need to work with trust and sustainability. And our Instructional Design team doesn’t just seek to understand and facilitate the goals of the client. We work to make our client’s goals our own. Each of our products is produced with a thoughtful, engaged, and forward-facing style that makes our client’s vision that of our designer’s. This enables us to leverage our training and expertise to push that vision even further.

Team member Christina summarized, “Flexibility sets our focus and facilitates our work. With flexibility as the main ingredient in our work we know that we can always leave a situation better than how we found it. Solutions are not just about pleasing one end of an equation. And true solutions benefit everyone that is involved. One of the main functions of an instructional designer is to be a problem-solver. Rarely are problems solved without flexibility”.

Problems are solved and solutions are created, as a team. While our client’s may meet face-to-face with one or two team members, they are truly getting the collaboration of our entire group, which is dedicated to providing the best design, best quality, and best solutions that can be produced for their success. As a team, our designs are reviewed, screened, challenged, and revised. The end result is that behind every project is a core containing years of experience as designers, education facilitators, technology enthusiasts and self-proclaimed lifelong learners. So now that you know a little about us, the Instructional Design team at USF Health IS would like to know: How can we help you? (Please, see below for contact info.)

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