Emerging Trends

Everybody is talking about A.I. and rightfully so. It is becoming almost ubiquitous as more and more companies offer A.I. options and add A.I. to their existing tools, both for professional and personal use. So, it’s no surprise that instructional design tools and practices are being influenced by A.I. (Mukherjee, 2024).

I see a lot of benefit from the automation that is available with A.I. Creating workflows, using agents, and building in customization are all helpful use cases for instructional designers. Plus, it is much faster for me to give A.I. a bunch of data and have it build me an analysis, summary, or report than it is for me to do it myself. I think the important thing with A.I., as with all other tools, is using it strategically and ethically. The phrase “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” comes to mind when considering uses for A.I. And it’s important to remember that unless you have a proprietary version of an LLM, whatever you give it becomes public.

Another exciting trend that I’ve been watching is microlearning (Mukherjee, 2024). Providing content and opportunities for practice in short sessions on a mobile device aligns with current trends about reaching users where and when they are available. Plus, repetition over time is a neuroscience-backed strategy for increasing retention of learning (Sousa, 2022). Microlearning can be an effective piece of a complete learning experience.

References

Mukherjee, A. (2024, October 28). The future of instructional design: trends, tools, and what you need to know for 2024. Chaperone Learning Solutions. https://chaperoneacademy.com/the-future-of-instructional-design-trends-tools-and-what-you-need-to-know-for-2024/

Sousa, D. A. (2022). How the brain learns. (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.