| Current conceptual models of instructional design were developed for face-to-face and CD-ROM delivery, and may not be fully adequate for online learning. In addition, instructional designers have not typically paid much attention to principles drawn from other disciplines and particularly from the educational and technical processes of other design professions such as architecture. Such professions make significant use of active learning strategies in the studio context that would benefit online instructional design. The purpose of this study was to develop and refine a conceptual model of online instructional design based on methods drawn from the field of architecture. A preliminary model, called Iterative Collaboration, was created through a process of conceptual and visual modeling to represent the non-linear, collaborative, and active nature of the online learning environment. A panel of experts using a Delphi process in two phases critically reviewed the preliminary model. This Delphi process was supplemented by a case study of traditional instructional design.{09}The results of the expert critique showed that the preliminary model paid serious attention to student needs and adequately reflected the complexity of the online learning environment, but was difficult to comprehend from its visual manifestation, and was impractical as a guide for the practice of online course design.{09}A modified model emerged that reflected the cyclical nature of designing for the online environment and that helped explain the active and collaborative interactions of an online version of the studio model of learning. Implications of the model for online design and for further research into understanding the nature of the online learning environment were presented. |
