Hi, I’m Lokesh. I’m the co-founder of Check N Click Learning and Technologies. In this short video/blog, I’ll share the Learning mindset that we at Check N Click adopt when developing courses. This mindset has led to some great success and has led to our Instructional Designers developing a great relationship with our clients.

Here is the video. Yoyu can either play the video or read the contents of the video, below.


Objections to Hiring Instructional Designers

Typically, Instructional Designers do not know the subject matter for which they are developing the training. Hence, training managers need to overcome objections, such as those listed here to hire Instructional Designers.

As Instructional Designers lack subject knowledge, it is assumed that they will take longer for curriculum design. In addition, some stakeholders don’t believe in the value that Instructional Designers bring to a training. Also, another key objection associated with the ignorance of Instructional Design is that a Subject Matter Expert or SME can develop a training much faster and ensure it is technically accurate. In addition, another objection is that hiring an Instructional Designer will increase the cost of development as it will add headcounts and take longer to develop while an existing SME on the team can develop faster without adding the headcount.

Solution: Learning before Writing Courses

So, what’s the solution? Well, the solution is for you to become a Subject Matter Expert. Let’s examine some benefits of adopting this mindset.

The philosophy of Learning before teaching not only helps in overcoming objections but is beneficial for your growth as an Instructional Design Professional.

Let’s see how:

    • By learning more about the subject on which you need to make a course, you will fulfil the role of a teacher. At Check N Click, we truly believe that Instructional Designers are pseudo-teachers. This is because as an Instructional Designer, you are teaching with your writing, slide designs, and choice of topics. And, as you are teaching, can any teacher teach without knowing the subject matter? No, correct? Similarly, as you are the teacher, be prepared before you present a class to your students.

    • Doing a detailed analysis will help you to build relations with your SME. A SME is someone who has years of experience on a given topic. Hence, they respect knowledge. They will respect an Instructional Designer who asks intelligent questions that indicate preparation, instead of an Instructional Designer who interviews a SME without any preparation. Being prepared will save your time and the SME’s time as well.

    • Your views will be valued as someone who is prepared and will be taken seriously and with respect not only by your team but also by SMEs.

    • If you invest time in learning about a course’s content during Analysis, you will make the right course design decisions. As a result, the revisions related to changes in course structure will be minimal. Consequently, your development time and the content that you need to write for your course will take less time. This will in effect reduce the cost required to develop a course while addressing the concerns related to the additional time that an Instructional Designer may take to make a course.

    • In addition, being prepared will help you to ensure that your course will have content that is technically highly accurate.

    • Finally, investing time in learning about the topic of your courses will help you to accelerate your career growth instructional design in education. This is because it will help you to deliver high-quality courses, within budget, and timelines, and with the required quality. Isn’t this what each manager wants from their team?

Probable Limitations of this Approach

Some Instructional Designers work in service companies that require them to change projects each month or every quarter. This approach may have some limitations in such an environment. However, if you are working on a long-term project, adopt the mindset of being a teacher, and learn before you teach.

At Check N Click

We at Check N Click encourage a culture of learning. Hence, our Instructional Designers have been able to deliver consistent quality, with minimal supervision from leads or SMEs, for years to our clients.

I hope these tips help you to be a more effective Instructional Designer.

Thank you for watching. Stay tuned for more free courses.

To learn Instructional Design, consider enrolling for our Instructional Design Course on Udemy.