Learning by Design

Learning by Design
I check elearningpost a couple of times a week, but I plucked this link from George's blog. The article is long and a bit dense if you're not into this stuff, but it accurately reflects how I view my own professional development...although probably in the opposite direction. The author talks about being an instructional designer moving more into the realm of true design. I've taken a more convoluted path, from an education degree, to learning-content creation, to interaction design and information architecture...but I see myself moving more into the realm of instructional design. For me, that means learning more technology and getting the credentials, however misguided that approach might be. His critique of the instructional design field is probably spot-on -- the primary one being that it tends to take an industrial view of learning: analyze needs of organization, create solution for all, implement solution, evaluate. I've thought of this at web design conferences put on by User Interface Engineering or Adaptive Path -- user-experience work is all about finding creative ways to give individuals what they want...but it seems that most education is focused on giving students what someone else wants them to learn.