Enacting Collective Design Intentions in an Online Graduate Level Introductory Instructional Technology Course

Abstract

This design case will introduce how collective design intentions shared by a group of three program faculty for an online Instructional Technology (IT) Master’s program at the University of Tennessee (UT) were collaboratively identified and further acted upon within the context of the first course in the program. The course that is the focus of this case is “IT521 Proseminar 1: Instructional Technology as a Profession” in which we explored collective design intentions. The article begins with an introduction of the collective design intentions that program faculty shared. Then the article introduces how the first author enacted those design intentions in IT521 while working closely with the second author. The purpose for sharing this case is to document critical decisions that were made by one faculty member about a course within the context of shared design intentions for the program. The article ends with a discussion of lessons learned about communicating collective and personal design intentions to future designers who may be involved in similar situations.