I've recently become involved in creating training programs using video/satellite TV. I'm comfortable doing instructional design, but video is new for me. Does anyone have any good resources (books, websites, anything) on best practices for this kind of training? What is the role of the instructional designer in a training video? What about the role of the director? Who writes the script? Who decides how things should look or how information gets presented? I have a lot of questions, but not a lot of answers. I would really appreciate any input.

I will admit that I haven't had the opportunity to create a training video but to me the roles would be similiar to this: the instructional designer would set the stage of whatever training you are doing which means I would have them write the script as well as set the physical environment. the director would make sure the actual filming and "acting" are effective and correct.

Hi IDKes:

The first question I would ask is the media able to support the learning objectives. If so, the role of the instructional designer would be to ensure the content of the video supports the events of instruction necessary for the students to learn (IMHO: otherwise it is just an information dump wrapped in a video format). There are several instructional design models that purport the events of instruction; Robert M. Gagne is one of the more notable (I suggest a WEB search).

The other roles and responsibilities the you ask about are pretty much project specific.

Lots of fun and great challenges ahead.

Good Luck!

Cj

I have written over 30 hours of video material for training, most of it when I worked for IBM back in the 70s, and 80s. The best book I ever saw on the subject was: The Nonbroadcast Television Writer's Handbook by William Van Nostrand. The book pretty well says it all, and the beautiful part is that it is from the perspective of an instructional designer.

If you would like more conversation on my experiences and suggestions, contact me directly.

Thanks,

Thank you to everyone for the feedback so far. I look forward to any other input anyone else has.

Pete, thanks for the book recommendation. I've reserved a copy at my local library, which I'll pick up today.