PhIxDA Meeting 10/9

Chris and myself met at the POPE in South Philly for a few drinks and to discuss PhIxDA. We started off talking about how 2 weeks into us starting to meet, we almost didn't and how disconcerting that was and that as long as its more then one person getting together on a regular basis we could consider it a PhIxDA meeting. We then talked briefly about what we felt the goals of the group are and how we see the group growing and expanding to other fields such as interior design, graphic design, engineering etc. From there Chris and I began a dialog on the delivery of information in an educational environment. We discussed how we perceive people accept and retain information and talked a lot about learning patterns. We also discussed the role of an Instructional Designer, specifically the role of an Instructional Designer on projects without Interaction Designers. I feel that as an Interaction Designer we are not only developers, but Instructional Designers as well. We make a lot of decisions relating to graphics and interactions that affect how the end user will utilize our product. This to me is not just Instructional Design but more Interaction Design, a merger of a lot of disciplines into one role that is involved in all processes from beginning to end. Chris believes that instructional design has less to do with interaction design and more to do with chunking Information and mapping it to curriculum. We also discussed good models for teaching people that currently exist. I used the example of how a good video game instructs users how to use the controls and then in the first level of game play gives small hints as needed. eventually leaving you on your own after a while. Chris agrees that play is a very useful tool in learning. but goes on to say that the subject matter drives the delivery method. Different subject matter would require different models. He plans on researching and mapping out some basic templates. (hopefully he will share them with us). One example would be the VisualQuickStart Guide series of books. This shows how small chunks of information can lead to an understanding of a bigger picture.