Well, they can definitely have overlapping or similar responsibilities. I would define or describe instructional design (ID) as designing instruction in a way that maximizes a person’s learning experience and best helps close learning gaps. One can’t simply put together information and use it for teaching without taking the learners or learning objectives into consideration. Imagine someone teaches you how to ride a bicycle without telling you that there is a break pedal and that you can move the handles to turn left and right. Because you were taught how to use a bicycle the incorrect way, or without all the information you needed, you will probably end up falling or hurting yourself. In other words, there are specific methods or organized ways to teaching and learning. For this reason, instructional design is also about applying learning or teaching methodologies, theories and concepts, along with cognitive science to design or develop learning materials.
I would describe project management (PM) as the planning, projecting, or estimating a project’s goals, checkpoint, timing, and required resources (including financial resources). In other words, an educated guess of all the possible project details needed to complete a project and overseeing the entire process. Along the same line, one of the most important parts of project management is identifying the logistics and resources along with the continual assessment of the effectiveness of the project. By doing this, changes can be made during the project’s timeline to help improve a project.
Well, those are my two scents. Now, I would like to hear your point of view. What do you think the differences are between ID and PM?
Comments