As an instructional designer, you've likely heard the buzz about artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to change the way we work in our field. Perhaps you're curious about how AI can enhance your work, or maybe you're feeling a mix of excitement and apprehension about these rapidly evolving changes. Whatever your perspective, one thing is clear: AI is reshaping the landscape of instructional design, and professionals like us must understand and harness its potential.
AI can Supercharge our Work
When we hear "AI in education," many of us immediately think of ChatGPT or other large language models (LLMs) making headlines. While these tools are powerful, AI's role in instructional design extends beyond text generation. In fact, you may already be using AI-enhanced tools without realizing it:
- Learning Management Systems (LMS) use AI algorithms to track student progress and suggest personalized learning paths.
- Video editing software employs AI for automatic captioning and content analysis.
- E-learning authoring tools now offer AI-powered assistance for content creation and optimization.
AI can serve as a collaborative and brainstorming partner for instructional designers, supercharging our work in several key areas:
- Brainstorming: AI can generate ideas for learning activities, assessment methods, and content presentation, helping us overcome creative blocks and explore new approaches.
- Efficiency: AI-powered tools automate time-consuming tasks like creating detailed rubrics, learning aids, and course outlines as well as proofreading, tech editing, and basic content creation, allowing us to focus on higher-level strategic work.
- Content Analysis: AI excels at quickly analyzing large volumes of articles, documents, videos, and audio content. It can summarize key points, identify themes, create self-check or quiz questions, and assess the readability and complexity of materials, aiding in the selection and adaptation of resources for learning designs.
Supercharging Instructional Design Workflow
As an instructional designer, I've found numerous ways to incorporate AI into my daily work, enhancing my efficiency and creativity. Here's how I'm currently leveraging AI tools:
Course Development
- Brainstorming course outlines and learning paths
- Scaffolding and differentiating learning experiences
- Editing and revising course content
- Aligning learning outcomes with activities and assessments
Content Creation
- Writing personalized and individualized case studies and scenarios
- Creating comprehensive rubrics
- Drafting formative self-checks and quizzes
- Developing scripts for instructional videos
These applications of AI have significantly streamlined my work processes, allowing me to focus more on strategic instructional decisions and learner engagement.
Maximizing the Supercharge with Effective Prompt Engineering
The key to harnessing AI's capabilities lies in crafting effective prompts. Through experimentation and practice, I've developed several strategies:
- Persona Adoption: When using tools like ChatGPT and Claude.ai, I prompt the AI to take on a role, such as an instructional designer, a specific learner, a teacher, or even a subject matter expert within a particular field depending on my goal. This approach helps generate more relevant and nuanced responses tailored to our field.
- Incremental Approach: I like to start with small, specific requests and build on the output piece by piece. I talk (type) to the AI using a conversational style like I would talk to a colleague. This method is more effective than asking for complex, multi-faceted responses in a single prompt.
- Clarity and Specificity: I am learning the art of crafting prompts that are clear, concise, and specific. Providing context, such as the target learner or learning objectives, helps to generate more targeted and useful responses.
- Iterative Brainstorming: I use AI as my brainstorming partner, generating initial ideas and then refining them through follow-up prompts. This iterative process often leads to more innovative and comprehensive solutions.
- Combining Human Expertise with AI Output: While AI provides valuable input, I consider its output as a starting point or rough draft. We must apply our professional judgment to evaluate and refine the generated content to ensure it aligns with sound instructional design principles and the specific needs of learners.
By employing these strategies, we can harness AI as a powerful tool that complements and enhances our skills as an instructional designer, rather than replacing our human creativity and expertise.
Benefits and Challenges with AI in ID
As with any technology, AI brings opportunities and challenges to our field. Let's explore some of the key factors:
Benefits
- Efficiency: AI significantly reduces time spent on routine tasks, allowing designers to take on more projects or devote more attention to complex instructional challenges.
- Enhanced Creativity: By providing various ideas and perspectives, AI tools can jumpstart the creative process and help designers break out of conventional thinking patterns.
- Personalization: Because of AI's ability to take existing content and quickly recommend changes and alternatives, we can offer unique and personalized learning experiences.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: AI can process vast amounts of learner data, providing insights that inform instructional strategies and help measure the effectiveness of learning interventions.
Challenges
- Ethical Considerations: As AI becomes more integrated into the design process, we must wrestle with questions of authorship, originality, and the appropriate level of AI involvement in creative work.
- Privacy Concerns: The use of AI often involves processing large amounts of data, including potentially sensitive learner information. Ensuring the privacy and security of this data is paramount.
- Quality Control: While AI can generate content quickly, it may not always meet the standards of accuracy or relevance required for educational materials. Developing skills in prompt engineering and output verification is crucial. We must be critical thinkers.
- Overreliance: There's a risk of becoming overly dependent on AI tools, potentially diminishing human creativity and critical thinking in the design process. Thinking of it as a partner offering a starting point can help maintain that AI-human partnership.
Supercharging Your Instructional Design Practice
As we look to this exciting future, you might be wondering how to start incorporating AI into your work. Here are some practical steps to begin your AI journey:
- Start Small: Experiment with user-friendly AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude.ai for tasks such as brainstorming or content summarization.
- Explore AI-Enhanced Platforms: Investigate how your current authoring tools or LMS may already incorporate AI features. Platforms like Articulate 360 or Adobe Captivate are integrating AI capabilities.
- Develop Prompt Engineering Skills: Practice formulating clear, specific instructions to get the best results from AI tools.
- Stay Informed: Follow AI developments in education through the various online platforms. There are groups to follow on LinkedIn. You subscribe to newsletters and follow various IDs discussing AI and our work.
- Collaborate and Share: Join online communities or local meetups of instructional designers to share experiences and best practices for integrating AI into the design process.
- Prioritize Ethics: Familiarize yourself with ethical guidelines for AI use in education, such as those published by UNESCO or the Institute for Ethical AI in Education.
The AI Era of Supercharged Instructional Design
As we watch the landscape of our field change due to these rapid developments in AI, it's natural to feel a mix of excitement and apprehension. However, remember that AI is not here to replace us – it's here to supercharge our capabilities and free us to focus on the aspects of our work that require human creativity, empathy, and strategic thinking.
By embracing AI as a collaborative tool, we can create more engaging, effective, and personalized learning experiences than ever before. As instructional designers, we are uniquely positioned to lead this transformation. Our expertise in learning theory, instructional strategies, and learner-centered design will be crucial in ensuring that AI is used ethically and effectively in educational contexts.
So, let's approach this new AI era with curiosity, creativity, and a commitment to lifelong learning. By doing so, we can harness the power of AI to not just adapt to the future of instructional design but to actively shape it. The possibilities are limitless, and the future of learning has never been more exciting. Are you ready to supercharge your instructional design practice with AI?
Dr. Lynn Lease is the Academic Program Director for Southern Nazarene University's Master of Science in Instructional Design & Technology (MSIDT) program. For more information about the MSIDT program or to learn more about Southern Nazarene University, please contact pgsadmissions@mail.snu.edu.
You're invited! MSIDT Info Session Wednesday, August 21st at 12:00 PM CDT RSVP here!