Are instructional designers really needed for effective e-learning?

The adoption of authoring tools like Articulate, Captivate and Lectora and a growth of so many other rapid development tools has raised questions in many organizations about the value of instructional design. The assumption is that good tools make good training programs and that a resident subject matter expert (SME) with a rapid development tool can remove the need for an instructional designer in the development process.

So if anyone who knows how to use a rapid development tool can produce an e-learning program, are instructional designers really needed anymore?

The answer to that question is definitely “YES!” The value of instructional design in the development of e-learning resides in understanding what instructional design is.

Instructional design is the science – and the art -- of creating an instructional environment and materials that actively facilitate achievement of certain learning outcomes. It is based on theoretical and practical research in the areas of cognition, educational psychology, and problem solving.

Anyone can take a hammer and bang a nail into wood. Even though the tool is good and it is being used properly, the end result is only part of the building process. It takes an architect’s or skilled designer’s plan for how all the pieces should come together to create a building that meets current and future needs.

Similarly, rapid development authoring tools are exactly that – tools. The real value is achieved when those tools are part of a big picture approach to match learning solutions to specific business goals. Without knowledge of instructional design, a person using a development tool is just stuffing learning material into a predefined box. There is no accounting for the many factors that affect learning, such as variation of learning styles, which is crucial in achieving desired results of any learning activity.