Rapid Instructional Design
Rapid Instructional Design Overview
Rapid Instructional Design focuses on efficiency and responsiveness as well as student engagement. It does this through being adaptable and mutable. Because Rapid Instructional Design is so flexible it can be easily used in fast paced environments. Whether this is focused on streamlining design related processes, focusing on quick rollout, or focusing on authoring tools will be driven by the context and the designer. (Prasad, 2021). Rapid Instructional Design does not rely on a rigid set of steps like many other instructional design models, although there are several potential stages that are recommended (below).
Implications of the Rapid Instructional Design Approach for Instructional Design
Analysis and Needs Assessment
As with most instructional models, learner needs should be assessed and learning goals should be established. However, this may not be done/perfected in the beginning and is included in the iterative prototyping process. Additionally, using what is already known about the learners (and objectives) is encouraged when appropriate rather than creating analyses from scratch. Various stakeholders should be consulted to aid in this assessment.
Design and Planning
The overall plan for the course (including delivery and format), or portion thereof, should be laid out. Using technology with existing templates for storyboarding, etc. is encouraged. Further, the balance of content presentation to interactions should be determined here. Assessment is also considered here.
Content Development
Course content and activities are developed and curated. It is highly encouraged to reuse any existing content available and appropriate. Further, an additional time saver and effectiveness booster is to lean more toward activities where users can practice their skills over time-intensive presentations of information.
Prototype and Testing
A mock-up of the learning experience is created. This may/should not include every detail, but rather enough to elicit feedback during testing from mock learners or other stakeholders. Ideas gleaned from feedback from this prototyping and testing should be immediately (or as quickly as possible) incorporated back into the learning experience.
Deployment and Iteration
The learning experience is delivered to the learners. This is not the end of Rapid Instructional Design. Implications from feedback from the delivery (to include assessment of learner achievement) should be continuously incorporated into the learning experience for future iterations, helping to make sure learner needs continue to be met.
Evaluation and Maintenance
An underlying feature of Rapid Instructional Design is to evaluate and refine learning experiences on a continuous basis. Maintenance is required to ensure changes in context, learner needs, technology, etc. keep the course updated.
Rapid Instructional Design is becoming a more and more popular way of approaching course design (check n click, 2022). As such, it is an option that instructional designers should consider. It is particularly suited for things like microlearning and workshops but is very flexible and could be used in almost any context.
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Rapid Instructional Design is based on efficiency and flexibility. So, cost savings could be gained with such an approach. It is also important to remember that some of this efficiency may also lead to effectiveness. Instructional Designers are encouraged to focus less on developing material/content, and more on creating activities that allow learners to practice skill (Pearce, 2022).
Instructional Designers, especially those well versed in more traditional Instructional Design models need to remember that they may not have all of the learner’s needs and objectives up front (Thais, 2019). This may be somewhat of a uncomfortable situation for some Instructional Designers. It could feel like a bit of a moving target when first using this approach.
Strengths and Limitations of the Rapid Instructional Design Approach for Higher Education (Opinion)
A strength of the Rapid Instructional Design Approach in higher education is that it can leverage existing learning materials and activities. If a course has already been delivered, there are a lot of materials and activities that exist for that course. Rather than starting from ground zero, this approach welcomes the incorporation of these existing elements.
Sometimes in higher education the overall learning objectives are provided by a party outside the design process. Although this may be less than ideal, it can readily be accommodated in the Rapid Design Approach.
Because courses in higher education are usually very extensive and long. Since the Rapid Instructional Design approach allows for testing on a small-scale version of the instructional experience, testing may be more feasible than with models that require complete testing.
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One limitation in higher education might be that because Rapid Instructional Design encourages reusing graphics, templates, etc. the learners might get bored with redundancies. The learners are often taking many extensive classes over a four (or more) year time period. If too much is reused the users might become disengaged. Similarly, although standardization can be a terrific thing, especially in a e-learning context care needs to be taken to make sure that students are relying on their ability to master course content more than their ability to master a course format. (Think of multiple-choice standardized tests, there are many people who are just good at taking these types of tests without regard to the content. A similar thing might apply here: students get good at the course format and know where they can get away with cutting corners, etc.)
Another potential limitation in higher education is one that would apply in any context, but I feel it has the potential to be particularly damaging in higher education. Instructional Designers must take care to not shortcut quality when they shortcut design time. The reason I say this may have a larger effect in higher education is that a student might, for instance, be taking a 15 week-long course, encounter poor quality in week 2, and then have a bad attitude toward the rest of the course (even if the remainder is of acceptable quality.)
check n click. (November 11, 2022). What is Rapid Instructional Design? Retrieved from https://check-n-click.com/what-is-rapid-instructional-design-rid/
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Pearce, K. (May 11, 2022). Learning by Doing: 7 Principles of Rapid Instructional Design. Retrieved from https://www.diygenius.com/rapid-instructional-design/
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Prasad, R.K. (May 17, 2021). “A Training Manager’s Guide to what “Rapid eLearning is and what it’s not.” Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/training-managers-guide-to-what-rapid-learning-is-and-not
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