Distance Education Innovations and New Learning Environments: Com ...

For example, if the conditions include a face-to-face learning environment, then the instructional methods to reach the instructional goal of developing collaboration techniques may include the following: Divide the learners into teams in class, have each individual introduce himself or herself, then give each team 30 minutes to complete a task, after which the learners must then reflect as a group on what strategies they used to complete the task.

On the other hand, if the conditions include an at-a-distance learning environment, then the instructional methods to reach the instructional goal of developing collaboration techniques may include the following: Have each learner post a picture and short bio on a shared Web site; divide the learners into groups; and give them a week to complete a task, which they must post to the Web site. Afterwards, have learners write, post, and respond to individual reflection papers on the process and strategies they used in their teams to successfully complete the task.

In summary, different contexts or conditions elicit different instructional methods. An instructional strategy that works well in one context may be unadvisable in another. Hence, promising instructional design theories will not only have an abundance of prescribed instructional methods but will also describe the conditions under which different methods are most likely to be successful.

Usability

The final criterion for judging the viability of an instructional design theory is usability. This criterion is of a pragmatic nature. Instructional design theories are created for instructional designers. If instructional designers find a theory difficult to manage or implement; unappealing or convoluted in its presentation; or, in general, less user-friendly than other theories, no matter the other strengths of the instructional design theory, even if it fulfills the other important criteria already discussed, designers are less likely to adopt the theory. No matter the values, strength of the instructional prescriptions, or the number of strategies, if the instructional prescriptions are not presented in such a format that facilitates