Instructional Designer James Hill Discusses the Ups and Downs of Technology (Interview)

Experienced Instructional Designer provides insights into getting the most from today’s (and tomorrow’s) instructional technologies.

In his role as Instructional Designer at The Home Depot Inc, James Hill designed and developed training programs and performance improvement tools for front-line sales employees. He has also designed learning for the transportation industry and military. 

What follows is a brief interview between James and Maestro eLearning, as a part of a new series called Trainer Talks.  This series, which will be published on various influential blogs, explores the difficulties of being a trainer and how to overcome them, along with tips and advice to make training more effective and more engaging.

Q. How have 21st century technologies (e.g. Internet, software, etc.) helped you?

Twenty-first century technology has really helped me as an instructional designer by opening up multiple design options. When I started in the industry we were limited to traveling facilitators delivering paper based training materials or very basic computer based training burned onto CD/DVD. 

Now I have multiple design and delivery options available to me. I can design web based training that can be delivered across the globe or I can design blended solutions with facilitators delivering lecture interspersed with interactive simulations and knowledge checks. This has allowed me the freedom to step outside of the box and really look at a problem without the limitations of a delivery method.

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