During development of instruction and into the implementation phase, how the instruction will be distributed and implemented is another thing that the instructional designer must consider. In this phase of instructional design, the designer must consider how the teacher will be prepared and how the learners will be prepared for the instruction.
The facilitator plan is a document that the instructional designer may create for the instructor, and is most often used with the ADDIE model of instructional design (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation), and it assumes that the course facilitator will receive training prior to conducting the class.
A facilitator plan includes:
The following is an example of a facilitator plan for a business writing course:
In your role as an instructional designer, you may or may not be involved in the selection of the teacher or trainer, if the instruction is to be delivered via a facilitator. The trainer will ideally have facilitation skills. He or she will be responsible for not only delivering the instruction, but setting the pace of the class, responding to learner issues, and even possibly providing subject-matter expertise if he or she is knowledgeable in the content area.
Train the Trainer events can be used to prepare the instructor to deliver the content. In a Train the Trainer session, the instructional designer often acts as the facilitator, delivering the instruction to the instructor as if he or she is the learner. Other information likely shared includes:
The following is an example of a Train the Trainer agenda for a business writing class:
Preparing students for training helps to ensure that they interact with the instruction effectively.
Part of this phase of design is identifying how many students will take part in the instruction. If the training will take place in a classroom, classroom logistics will need to be determined, possibly by the instructional designer.
Another aspect of preparing students is identifying any communication that needs to take place before instruction begins. Students should be notified of information pertinent to the training, including any prerequisite information that they need to have completed before the class or training takes place. For example:
Margaux Judge has worked as an e-learning editor and instructional designer for over ten years, writing and editing a wide variety of courses, from technical topics to soft skills. She has a Bachelor's degree in English and Textual Studies from Syracuse University and a Master's degree in Television Writing from Boston University.