A new alternative educational method called e-Learning is activated thanks to the rapid progress in information and communication technology. Regarding the quality of e-Learning, the role and capability of instructional designers are perceived more im...
A new alternative educational method called e-Learning is activated thanks to the rapid progress in information and communication technology. Regarding the quality of e-Learning, the role and capability of instructional designers are perceived more importantly. However, in the reality where the aspect of cost efficiency is emphasized, it is hard to find a study focusing on whether performance activity by a professional instructional designer is carried out properly. Therefore, this study purposed to investigate cases of performance activity and actual conditions of instructional designers who design and develop contents in person in the field of e-Learning development. According to this purpose, it was intended to find types and problems of performance activity through observing cases of performance activity in instructional design based on A corporation's instructional designers. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 49 regular employees and freelancer instructional designers in order to identify performance activity frequency by duty item and difference in performance frequency between the two groups.
In this study, the model to analyze duties of e-Learning instructional designers presented by KRIVET(Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training)(2004) was set as the standards of performance activity. Frequency analysis, descriptive statistic analysis and t-test were implemented to analyze the questionnaire. The results from the above study are summed up in accordance with study questions as follows:
First, regarding performance activity by instructional designers carried out through case observation, the activity was conducted equally for each item overall in comparison with standard items of performance. Even detailed factors of performance activity were all carried out particularly in establishing teaching-learning strategies, designing prototype, etc. However, analyzing demands was limitedly conducted only by the instructional designer who was in charge of project management. Performance activity was found relatively weaker regarding customer management, consulting and marketing support in the stage of operational management strategy or post management. In addition, problems in instructional design performance activity by instructional designers were found communication, managing the writing of SME(Subject Matter Expert) script, sharing the results of analyzing demands, lack of understanding programing and network-related technologies, dependency on previous outputs, capability of presentation, ability to cope with changed demands, etc.
Second, as a result of the questionnaire survey with regular employees and freelancer instructional designers, the item with the highest average performance frequency of the whole instructional designers was designing and producing storyboard based on the prototype, followed by analyzing process characteristics, analyzing and systematizing the whole content, and analyzing learning contents. The result of comparing performance activity between regularly employed instructional designers and freelancer instructional designers showed a significant difference in performance between the two group except for the item of designing board. Regularly employed instructional designers presented a higher performance frequency in all items than freelancer instructional designers. In particular, there was the largest difference between regular employees and freelancer instructional designers in the average performance frequency of contents porting and pilot test, establishing project management strategies, managing contents development, etc. Only for designing storyboard, both regular employees and freelancer instructional designers showed almost the same level of performance frequency. This indicated that freelancer instructional designers were intensively input in the stage of making storyboard.
The results of this study may help education staff or experts in development of human resources in corporations or educational organizations better understand performance activity by instructional designers. These results also can be used as basic data for programs to promote e-Learning instructional designers in the future.