The one tip that I can give someone is be multifaceted. You need to understand the psychology of learning, technology, gaming, eLearning, online instruction, curriculum design, classroom instruction, assessment design and evaluation, etc. You can learn from various fields and professions and transfer that knowledge to Instructional Design and vice versa. I had no military experience when I entered the Army’s Civilian Intern Program for Training and Education back in 1997. I learned about the program from my graduate advisor, Dr. Tom Brush, during my comprehensive exam. His wife was just completing the program. The program was very intense, immersing you in everything Army specifically how they design training. My education allowed me to bring that aspect into the Army’s ISD process known as ADDIE. At that time, the Army’s primary focus was “training” Soldiers and not necessarily “educating” them. Helping the Army Leadership and training developers understand how people learn provided them with a new insight into why Soldiers “just weren’t getting” the training. Today the Army’s education system is a balance between training and education, which creates 21st century Soldiers who are ready for the challenges of contemporary operational environment.
