Moral Dimensions of Instructional Design

In Osguthorpe’s article, the moral is defined as “instructional designers conduct and view their wok in relation to those who will use their instructional products.” That is, instructional designers need to focus on learners (users). They not only need to be a good artist, but also a leader who has good conscience of craft, membership, sacrifice, memory, and imagination. In other words, for being a good instructional designer, a person needs to be able to lead the situation and come up alternative solutions in a short time with wise judgment.

Instructional designers can not treat their jobs as same-old routine. They need to probe into depth in every scope and relationship with team members and users. Recently, I watched a movie, “Groundhog Day”, which is a quite popular film. Phil, the main character, is the weather man who provides information to his audience. However, he does not enjoy the job and treat it as the same old routine. There was no human interaction in his job, and he is not happy. In the end, he has changed to a person who is willing to look into people’s need and leads (changes) the situation. He becomes a subject to act instead of an object to be acted upon. Similarly, instructional designers are active subjects to act and lead the situation.

Since the instructional products can influence users’ minds and mental activities, instructional designers need to be careful with what/how they lead others. They play the role of teacher or the weather man, Phil. The information they provide is inactive, but the personality and their approach directly interact with users. Instruction and teaching seek to change the current situation. If users can feel the care and understanding from the program or instructional materials they are using, they have better retention and are willing to be changed. Then the learning (the change from the current status to be a better being) can occur.