Athena Rayne Anderson

It was early 2022 and we were all enjoying the slow march back to normalcy as COVID-19 lockdown was relaxed. I was leading a small, virtual train-the-trainer session on instructional design basics for a large university. We were halfway through an hour-long session and I was thinking, “This is a waste of everyone’s time. They’re trainers. They know this.” Efficiency is important to me, so wasting time makes me cringe.

Suddently, one of my participants blurted…

“I wish I had known this years ago! This would have saved me so much time!”

Me (eyebrows disappearing into my hairline): “This information wasn’t part of your trainers’ education program?”

Participant: “No! This is amazing!”

Me (frowning): “You weren’t taught about instructional design at any point while learning how to be a trainer?”

Participants (five of them, in unison): “No!”

Me (picking my jaw off my lap and re-attaching it to my skull): “Well… that’s a surprise. I though this was all a refresher. Now I’m excited to share it with you and glad it’s helpful!”

Those aren’t direct quotes, but that was basically where the idea for my book, Simple Instructional Design came from.

After the revelation from my group of trainers, I searched online for books that made instructional design accessible. Nope. Nothing but textbooks that were complicated at best and a real chore to read at worst.

I knew from my own experience in higher education that instructional design was not part of basic training for college or graduate faculty. Now I knew that it was not part of educational programs for trainers. If these two massive groups of educators were unaware of instructional design, the chances of K-12 teachers being informed about it were slim. What is going on here!?

I consider instructional design to be the most important tool for efficient and effective education but, for reasons unknown, it’s mostly hidden from those who need it most: the educators. I feel like I’ve stumbled onto a secret. But it shouldn’t be a secret at all! Everyone should have access to this information! I had another lightbulb moment:

Holy shit! I could make this happen!

I set about to write a simple guide to instructional design for busy educators: faculty, trainers, K-12 teachers, workshop presenters, anyone who facilitates learning. My book, Simple Instructional Design, guides readers through the process of creating an effective, efficient learning unit using a straightforward approach that works.

Stay tuned to this blog and the book’s home page for updates. My goal is that the book is either picked up by a traditional publisher or self-published before the end of 2025.