Selection Of A Delivery

SystemBy Leonard Coprich

Background

Creating an instructional strategy involves taking all of the information you have accumulated to this point and generating an effective plan for presenting your instruction to your learners. Creating a strategy is not the same as actually developing your instructional materials. The purpose of creating the strategy before developing the materials themselves is to outline how the instructional activities will relate to the accomplishment of the objectives (Gagne, 1988).

Selection of Media and Delivery Systems is the fourth and final element of an instructional strategy. Once decisions have been made about content sequencing and clustering, and the learning components have been planned, it’s time to turn your attention to selecting a delivery system for your overall instructional system, along with the media you will use to present the information in your instruction. The selection of a delivery system indicates a general preference for emphasizing certain instruments to accomplish instructional events. Within this general preference, specific agents or media can be assigned, event-by-event, objective-by-objective to accomplish the intended goal.

Objectives

Describe considerations in selecting an instructional delivery

Media Selection for Domains of Learning

Other Considerations in Choosing Media

Conditions of Learning

Consolidate media selections and confirm or select a delivery systems

Selection Of A Delivery System

Instruction is the methodology that is used for

managing and delivering the teaching and learning

activities

This general methodology is called the delivery system

Delivery system and instructional strategies are not

synonymous

Delivery System Defined

Traditional model

Large-group lecture with small group

Computer based instruction

Site based internship and mentoring

Telecommunication course

Video conferencing course

The overall delivery system includes everything necessary to allow a particular instructional system to operate as it was intended and where it was intended.

Some examples of delivery systems include:

Classroom delivery

Lecture

Correspondence

Videotape

Videoconference

Computer-based

Web-based

In an idealistic instructional design process, you would

first consider the goal, learner characteristics, learning,

and performance context, objectives, and assessment

requirements, and then work through the following

considerations and decisions to achieve the selection

of the best delivery system

Once you have chosen a delivery system, various media can then be chosen to deliver the information and events of your instruction. Media constitutes the physical elements in the learning environment with which learners interact in order to learn something. The choice of media is done as part of the instructional strategy.

For example, in a distance-delivered program, the decision was made at the beginning to use a web-based delivery system. Within the program, however, various media can be chosen to deliver the instruction, as long as they are compatible with the original delivery system.

The choice of a delivery system is generally made at the

course or curriculum level. For most teachers, the

delivery system is usually already chosen, a classroom

for example. However, the ideal way would be to base

the decision on your goal, learner characteristics,

learner and performance contexts, objectives, and

assessment requirements. With this in mind, though,

we should turn our attention to selecting media to

deliver the instruction.

Media Selection for Domains of Learning

Different types of media should be chosen based on

the type of learning your objectives fall in to. Verbal

information requires less elaborative feedback, so there

is less need for interactive media. With intellectual skills

elaborative feedback is more important, so some form

of interactive media would make a better choice.

Examples include direct instructor feedback, tutors, or

interactive computer.

.

Media Selection for Domains of Learning

(cont’d)

Motor skills eventually require a performance of some sort from the learners, so the instruction should include the actual physical environment or the actual equipment that will be used for the assessment. When teaching attitudes it is best to have a model of some kind who chooses to exhibit the desired attitude. In this case visual media, such as a video, can be used. Keep in mind that a single lesson or course may involve instruction in several domains, so you may end up selecting several different forms of media.

Other Considerations in Choosing Media

When deciding on media to use you should of course make sure that the media you select will be available in the learning environment. If you design your instruction to require a certain type of media then it’s up to you to make sure that it will be available when the time comes. If you can’t do this then you should limit your selections to those which can reasonably be expected to be available. You need to make sure that learners will be able to access the materials in the medium you select.

Will the materials be needed at home? If so, can you give them out?

Will students need to access a computer lab or learning center to get at the materials? If so, what hours will it be accessible?

Finally, if you select a particular medium to present your information, you should make sure that you are able to produce materials for that medium, or that you have access to people who can.

For example, many designers would like to create instructional materials that feature Final Cut movies because Final Cut allows you to combine audio and visual elements in unique and exciting ways. However, the reality is that this can be a difficult and time-consuming process if you are not skilled in using Final Cut. You will likely want to limit your selections of this type of media to those you can create materials for, or set aside time to learn the required products.

Selection Of Media And Delivery

Media selection for domains of learning Intellectual skills

Verbal Information

Psychomotor Skills

Attitudes

Media selection for certain learner characteristics

Media selection for certain task requirements found in objectives

Media selection for replacing the need for instruction

Practical considerations in choosing media and delivery systems

Conditions of Learning

Gagne believes that the purpose of all instruction is to provide the events of instruction mentioned earlier. These events can be performed by teachers or by the materials themselves, as long as they are successfully performed. The nine events of instruction are applicable to all domains of learning outcomes. However, the details of how they are presented imply different sets of conditions for learning. The conditions of learning are a set of factors that influence learning that must be taken into account during the design of instruction. Gagne distinguishes between two types of conditions, internal and external.

Internal conditions of learning refer to the learner’s internal states and cognitive processes. These internal states consist of prior knowledge, motivation, attitudes, etc. Cognitive processes refer to the ways in which the learner interacts with their environment.

External conditions refer to the things taking place in the learning environment, and include the arrangement and timing of stimulus events. Gagne’s theory proposes that learning takes place at all times, because learners are constantly engaged with their environments.

Internal conditions

Internal conditions of learning refer to the learner’s

internal states and cognitive processes. These internal

states consist of prior knowledge, motivation, attitudes,

etc. Cognitive processes refer to the ways in which the

learner interacts with their environment.

External conditions

External conditions refer to the things taking place in

the learning environment, and include the arrangement

and timing of stimulus events. Gagne’s theory proposes

that learning takes place at all times, because learners

are constantly engaged with their environments.

We cannot directly control the internal conditions.

However, Gagne's theory has led to a set of strategies

for providing external support for learners as they

attempt to achieve a goal. These strategies differ

depending on the domain of learning.

The following slides will help you decide on effective

strategies for each domain:

Verbal Information

Provide a meaningful context for effective encoding of information.

Draw attention to distinctive features by variations in print or speech.

Use terms or definitions in a sentence.

Present information so that it can be made into chunks.

Relate the information (term or definition) to preexisting knowledge.

Present all terms clearly using the fewest number of words to convey the meaning. If more than five terms or units of information are to be presented in one lesson, group related terms or units into five or fewer clearly defined categories.

Use a variety of concrete (observable) examples when possible, emphasizing the clear and well defined features that relate directly to the information.

Explain clearly how learners will be expected to recall the information while it is initially presented.

Make information readily accessible to learners, and provide opportunities for them to explore "nice-to-know" information associated with the knowledge.

Practice with immediate feedback!

Provide cues for effective recall and generalization of information.

Intellectual Skills

Encourage learners to recall previously learned information or examples that illustrate concepts or rules being presented.

Clearly communicate the definition of defined concepts, using the fewest number of words.

Call attention to distinctive features.

Stay within the limits of working memory.

Present verbal cues to the ordering or combination of component skills.

Break down the process of performing or applying rules into steps, and clearly communicate these steps to the students.

Demonstrate an application of the rule for the students.

Present varied examples or instances of concepts and rule applications, calling attention to the distinctive features of examples, definitions, and procedures.

Present nonexamples or non-instances of the concept if they will help to clarify the concept.

Schedule occasions for practice and spaced review.

Provide learners with opportunities to "play" with concepts and rules within simulated or "real" environments, identifying and selecting their own examples and nonexamples of concepts and rule applications if possible.

Present a variety of contexts or experiences that allow the students to practice applying the rules or identifying/describing concepts (transfer), providing guidance throughout early stages of practice.

Cognitive Strategies

Recall relevant rules and

concepts.

Describe or demonstrate the

strategy.

Provide a variety of

occasions for practice using

the strategy.

Provide information feedback

as to the creativity or

originality of the strategy or

outcome.

Attitudes

Establish an expectancy of success associated with the desired attitude.

Assure student identification with an admired human model.

Make students aware of the personal benefits gained by making choices based on attitudes (preferably by someone the students admire).

Clearly identify examples of choices made by people who possess the desired attitude (credible and attractive-similarity, familiarity, appearance).

Clearly identify instances in the students’ lives in which making choices are based on the attitude being presented.

Allow students the opportunity to practice making choices associated with the desired attitude (role-playing, group discussion, etc.) and give them feedback.

Arrange for communication or demonstration of choice of personal action.

Positive feedback for successful performance; or allow observation of feedback in the human model.

Motor Skills

Verbally guide learners

through routine.

Visually present example of

routine execution.

Encourage the use of mental

practice.

Arrange repeated practice.

Furnish immediate feedback

as to the accuracy of

performance.

SummaryThe selecting of a delivery system is an important part

of the instructional design process. It is at this point that

the designer must be able to combine knowledge of

learning and design theory with his experience of

learners and objectives. Perhaps it is this component of

creativity that separates the art of instructional design

from the science of instructional design.