Military and Instructional Design

What instructional design practices and issues in corporate and military do you feel are similar and different from k-20 education?

1. Efficiency is (or should be) a priority in both the military and education.
2. Ultimately, the goal is for the learner to LEARN the material. The purpose and emphasis is different in different situations. In the military, not learning something can get you or someone else killed. In business, not learning something can get you fired. In schools, unfortunately for many kids not learning something seems to have little ramifications – especially when they see summer school as an easier alternative. This needs to change in education!!
3. The military does not seem to differentiate for different learning styles – one size fits all approach. But the same could be said about some teachers…
4. In the military the learning is much more hands on or in the field training. Classrooms traditionally tend to be learning within 4 walls of a room for 50 -90 minutes a day. Subjects are learned, but not connected or made relevant to one another. Thankfully ID can help change this.
5. The military leadership supports lifelong learning – as the book points out on page 191, opportunities present themselves most often to those who have sought to continue learning. This is not always a priority for students in a classroom. Often they “memorize” not learn, the material to pass a test and quickly forget the material. Emphasis is not always placed on applying that learning and seeking more information independently.

Should we develop general theories and models of ID that are applicable to all environments or should there be local theories and models for business, military and education?

I believe that as some basic rules of ID and Learning Theory are established and undergoing further testing and research eventually more institutions that need to instruct learners (businesses, schools, the military) will begin to use research based methods. I don’t think that there will ever be a “one size fits all” approach, because different agencies have different needs that need to be met or resources available to them and slight alterations may have to be made.