Attn: Director of Professional Development

After attending a training last week hosted by your lead professional development trainer, I wanted to
provide some feedback that I feel will help your team tremendously as your product grows.

The current Instructional Systems Design model your team is basing your sessions on, the ADDIE model,
may not be the most effective for your team. While there is great value in following this structure, there are
a few key points that were also missed. The design and development components were very strong. Your
presenter clearly stated the objectives of the training, met the objectives, and restated them at the end of his
presentation. The single page outline that detailed the eight steps to follow, was very helpful to take away
and share with the other members of my team, that were not available that day.

This brings me to my areas of concern with your current model. Your trainer did attempt to analyze our
needs, however, he did not identify what we were already able to do and how we currently use the
software. He presented the exact package he brought with him and a no point checked in to see if he was
meeting our needs. At the conclusion of the morning, he realized the high level of understanding and vast
experience our team already had, but at that point it was too late to address. Instructional design should
truly be a student centered process, with the goal being to deepen our skills and knowledge. (Reiser and
Dempsey p. 26) When it was clear we all knew how to run the report he was modeling for us, it would have
been wise to move on to an alternate that would be have new for our group.

I would like to respectfully suggest moving to the Dick and Carey Design Model. This more up to date
model (1996) still offers a very systematic approach, like the AADIE, but includes more explicit
components that would move to a student centered training. The performance objectives would take
conditions into consideration, a step currently missing from your model. It would also provide the
opportunity to revise instruction in real time. With all of the moving components in education today, this is
crucial when teaching teachers and students alike. (Dick & Carey)

Sincerely,

Karen Currie

References:

Reiser, R. A. & Dempsey, J.V. (2012), Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology. Boston,
MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Axmann, M. & Greyling F. (2003), Instructional Design: The Next Generation. Rand Afrikaans University
(RAU).

Dick, W., & Carey, L. (1996). The systematic design of instruction. 4th ed. New York, NY: Harper Collin