Reflections

This semester had introduced me to the basics of design. When I walked into class the first day I knew absolutely nothing about instructional design, and though I have a very long way to go in my understanding of instructional design, I feel like I have learned a lot from this class.

1)You will never get it right the first time - When you are designing instruction you will always have to make changes and re-evaluate. That is part of the job. If you think your first draft is perfect, you probably aren't looking at it correctly and should have someone else offer feedback.

2) It is okay that you will never get it right the first time- I think great designers have embraced the idea that they are not failures if they have to change and re-do. Revision is a great learning process!

3) It doesn't matter what you think of your design, it only matters if it works- When I have been going through the design process I have been tempted at times to focus more on the look of the design, instead of if it really helps the learners. Successful designs focus less on packaging and more on great instruction.

4) Give yourself plenty of time to pay attention to the details- Details take so much time! To complete a project well, I think the best tool you can give yourself is sufficient time. If you feel like you don't have enough time for detail, then your design could really suffer.

5) Learn from others' bad designs- I think one of the most interesting topics in class was when we talked about bad design. There is so much bad design out there and it can help us avoid mistakes that have already been made. By learning from others mistakes we can be ahead of the game in making great instructional design.

I know I still have so much to learn, but I am grateful for the things I have learned in this class!