Dr. Camille Dickson-Deane PMP visited RMIT’s CoB Learning Design team from the University of Technology in Sydney to talk about her view of instructional design in the past, present and future.

The idea of instructional design originally arose through creating comprehensive instructions where someone can learn a new skill quickly. She says the idea of instructions should still be at the core of it, regardless of exciting new technological advances.

“It’s continually evolving but the core heart of it…I think an ‘instructional designer’ talks about the designing of instructions so that people can do things.” She says, “The technology can’t guide. The pedagogy has to guide”.

New technologies and the speed with which they are changing, can be overwhelming and she says that anything can change and be introduced but as long as the pedagogy remains the primary, the foundations will stay the same.

“Our role is to enhance the academic’s pedagogical style…part of that is not teaching them tools…but having them craft how they design their instruction and then [advising] what tools would help them.”