My decision to begin learning about the field of instructional design was something I came to after experiencing a class on serious game development. I was asked to combine learning and fun to generate a game that could suck you into an educational experience that you didn’t want to put down. It was fascinating and fun, like solving a puzzle; an unexpected interest and an unexpected blessing.
My own intentions aside, I was recently asked to make a guess at the future instructional design. It’s an interesting question, “What will online and blended learning look like in 2033?” To state the obvious, I can’t see the future. I can, however, share my thoughts on the vision of the future that I would like to see.
In light of the last 3 years, I’ve developed an interest in seeing the world of online and blended learning move toward a space defined by two characteristics: accessibility and flexibility.
Accessibility
As far as focuses’ of the industry go, this one has been in the spotlight for a long time. People used to do master’s programs by mail.
In the wake of COVID the tools for communication and remote work in both professional and academic spheres are still growing, both in sophistication and reach. The fact that I can truthfully claim to have worked with many amazing people in different counties, holding consistent communications and shared work on complex projects and file systems is all the evidence I personally need.
However, for a more practical example of this characteristic, I’m turning to some of the more exciting examples of software in the field. They’re web-based so they both more or less fit into this category, and I’ll be referencing them both later, but for now, I’ll focus on one.
Rhyme Softworks LLC is a company owned by a little online course provider called Coursera. The reason I bring them up in the context of accessibility is that they provide a service that gives learners access to pre-configured virtual machines in essentially any browser. Software is preinstalled allowing learners to use it without actually owning it.
With the arduous process of purchasing and configuring software out of the way, learners will be more likely to experiment with a variety of complex and robust tools. My own education was guided by the concept of “learn by doing” as much as it was by my teachers. Rhyme represents a lowering of the barrier to entry on computer software, a nifty concept that I hope to see propagate throughout the industry in the coming years.
On a more generic note, the mobile learning scene has only continued to grow in the past few years. Every major learning provider has an app or mobile-compatible site that provides some form of mobile learning.
Children today are being taught their ABCs on iPad games and adults are learning how to fix their sinks from YouTube. By 2033 I have no doubt that mobile learning will be as ordinary as anything you can think of.
Returning to the topic of online learning and desktop devices. I suspect that the tools of the trade are going to see a rather substantial drop in their barrier to entry. Rather, the industry standards like Articulate Storyline are going to see the skill requirement drop from programmer to PowerPoint level so that higher-quality content is easy to produce.
Flexibility
Here is the characteristic that excites me, and frustrates me. I recently finished learning about the Community of Inquiry model for online learning where massive weight was put on an instructor’s ability to generate a compelling social presence. My instructor taught one of his lessons with sock puppets.
What I’m trying to get at is that I’m hoping to see a rise in the level of expressibility that is being baked into some of the programs we use in this industry. For example, Articulate Storyline currently includes some basic timeline editing features that allow for things like animated avatars that move in time with voiceovers and slide transitions. But those tools are still basic and I know that when I made one of those storyline projects, I was not particularly engaged by the cartoon man who moved a little bit while someone else’s voice spoke for him.
But as I said, I’m hopeful.
Meet Spatial.io. Some of you have met before, and I’ll be the first to say that this service is not intended for online learning. Spatial is intended for generating a virtual environment. But when I was introduced to it, it was as a classroom and I can’t deny the potential I see there. Any user can build a virtual space that can be enjoyed either by a browser, in 3rd person, or by VR interface (more accessibility there). Maybe I’m just excited at the prospect of those crazy sci-fi holo-deck schools becoming a reality. Or maybe I’m just sick of synchronous online classes that I could sleep through.
As online learning has grown more popular, one of the weaknesses it has demonstrated was that you can’t engage the students as easily. You need to meet their focus halfway. With applications like Spatial here already, I think that the industry is going to stretch even further to meet the learner in the future. Personally, I’d like for a lot more people to see some sock puppets. I think that type of future in the world of online learning would generate some interesting people.