| A key challenge in the new paradigm for post-secondary institutions is the inclusion of a distributed learning focus in the university's vision of the future. Successful development of an informed strategic integration within the academic agenda will be based on understanding the circumstances facing staff and faculty throughout this transition. Instructional designers are the frontline professionals dealing daily with this distributed learning assimilation challenge. As a way to gain a realistic perspective, my thesis research investigated the changing roles, responsibilities and experiences of instructional designers developing distributed learning courses at a provincial university.; Throughout the interviews, three main themes consistently reoccurred: an instructional designer's background, beliefs and perspectives influence the design approach and processes; relationship building is an important aspect in instructional design practice; and there is a critical need for efficient, effective and integrated strategic planning by the institution of a distributed learning agenda. These key findings reflected the complex and multi-dimensional nature of instructional design, highlighted the professional requirements for designers to constantly advance their skill sets, technical expertise, and creative problem solving techniques as well as fine-tune their project coordination and foster an attitude of patient diplomacy. The findings also reiterated the confusion, hesitation and apprehension caused by a university's decision-making process. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
