Page 190 - Making Instruction Work

chap 15 3/11/97 5:08 PM Page 176

176 making instruction work

Example #3, continued:

are likely to misuse those wonderful devices. They may even
damage themselves or others in the process.
Modules of instruction are like that. It’s one thing to make
them work while they are under your control. It’s something
else to be able to make them work when they are under some-
one else’s control. It’s one thing for you to be able to smooth the
path of the learner by offering a resource here or by anticipat-
ing a problem there. It’s something else to be able to get others
to do likewise.
You have done the first part . . . the big part; you’ve created
modules. You’ve tested them and revised them and you’ve
made them work. Now it’s time to add whatever is needed so
that someone else can make them work. And if there is one
thing you can believe, it’s this: Murphy’s Law lives; if anything
can go wrong, it will. People will administer your module at
the wrong time, in the wrong way, without providing the nec-
essary materials or supplies or space. But it’s even worse than
that. Unless you provide instructors with all the information
they need to implement the module correctly, they won’t
administer it incorrectly . . . they won’t use it at all. It will go
right up on the shelf. After all, the instructor “knows” how to
teach the material in your module, and since that way is famil-
iar, it will take precedence over your module . . . unless you
make the process of module administration clear and com-
plete, put the words into their mouths that they will say to
their students, and tell them exactly what they need to do to
prepare and to administer the module.
But what else is there, you may be wondering? After all, you
have created modules that are self-contained in that they only
need an instructor to provide feedback for practice. What else
is there? Think about it this way.