Introduction to emerging issue

An emerging issue is an occurrence that may not have taken place in the past, but can

develop and change the present, as well as become influential in the future. The emerging issue

identified involves legal action against George Washington University (GWU), for the content of

an alleged poorly run online program. (Hogan and Petite, April, 2016). Four students filed a class

action lawsuit against the institution, claiming they did not receive the instruction that was

advertised and guaranteed to them in the masters degree program in security and safety

leadership (Straumsheim, April 2016).

Relevance to the field of instructional design

The issue of the design and deployment of online courses offered by institutions of higher

learning is of relevance to the field of distance education and instructional design (Brown &

Green, April, 2016). Poorly designed course content can inhibit the delivery of the goals and

objectives online learners expect to attain, and raise accountability issues about the design of

online courses. The issue of litigation against institutions of higher learning for the quality and

design of course content has the potential to develop into a future trend. When courses

transition from a face to face class to an online setting, the instructional designers role in the

development of instructional strategy is critical to the students learning outcomes. Redesign of

courses to facilitate revised assessment, delivery methods, learning, and teaching activities that

engages distance students is essential to student success in the learner centered virtual

environment.

Technology and the instructional designer plays a central role in the success of online

learning. The learning environment should be created to allow course participants to interact
with, and develop a deep understanding of the subject matter by integration of the learning

sciences into the design. With the rise in enrollment in online education, I predict a significant

increase in the demand for the services of instructional designers in the future. According to

Kim (May, 2016), Online learning grows demand for environments that support active

learning. Active learning is collaborative, experiential, learner centered and immersive to

engage students in productive activities that enable them to accomplish the goals and objectives

of the course. GWU provided online students with PowerPoint presentations and scanned

documents used in face to face classes such as the document seen in exhibit 1.

Documented artifacts

An example of the lecture slides provided to the online students in the course (Exhibit 1)

Initiator(s) of the issue

 Brice Bradford, David Forman, Casey Schreiber and Kenneth Bell filed the lawsuit

that initiated the issue of poorly designed course content against GWU as reported in the

GW Hatchet, the universitys independent student newspaper (Eberhardt, April, 2016).

Examples of [potential] use

The issue has the potential to create more awareness of the design and deployment of courses

by institutions offering online learning. Development of the issue in the field could lead to:

Increased hiring of trained instructional designers to deliver strategically designed online

content to students
Increased accountability to deliver strategically engaging quality online education to

students
Creating increased demand in the instructional design field for skilled designers. The

field will benefit from increased publicity and gain more recognition
Paying more attention to the requirements of state consumer laws and quality of course

content when offering courses online

Continuous improvement in the content and delivery of online courses to suit virtual

environments
Guarantee positive academic outcomes in online courses for distance students

Reflection

I started my search for an emerging trend in the first week of the course to identify a topic

to research. I looked at many topics that were trending, but was hoping to discover an issue or

trend that would emerge any day. Meanwhile I continued searching the internet daily, checking
the suggested, and other websites hoping to find an issue or trend that is important to the field of

distance education, instructional design, and technology.

At first, my concentration was on finding emerging technologies. But, each time I

identified a potential topic, I had to shoot it down because of finding information that referred to

the topic before September 2015. I then tried to find an emerging trend in distance education

and instructional design, and again, I experienced the feeling of futility in my search each time I

encountered any information that made reference to the topic of interest, proving its existence

before September 2015. After countless hours, days and weeks of searching the internet it

occurred to me that perhaps an issue would be a better choice, because an emerging issue may in

time become a trend in the field.

The concern about students suing institutions of higher learning is not new. Students

have sued GWU for the misrepresentation of career prospects (Ramstack, April, 2016).

However, students suing because of dissatisfaction with the course content, and poor quality of

online courses is an issue that I had not heard or seen before. I could have missed this issue

because of not thinking it had the potential to impact the field of distance education. I had the

mindset that only an innovation in technology could emerge to influence the field. Thinking of

possibilities with opportunities for change in the demand for more instructional designers caused

me to consider this issue as having the potential to positively impact the demand for skilled

designers in instructional design and distance education.

I learned during my search to identify an emerging issue or trend that issues and trends

identified by different experts as the top 10 were unlikely to be the same. The realization that

important trends were not necessarily emerging trends increased my understanding of the
challenging, dynamic and progressive nature of the field of distance education, instructional

design, and technology, and this helped me to think that I too could be a futurist.

Concluding remarks

If the realization of myself as a futurist had come to me earlier, I would have approached

the research for emerging issues and trends differently. After reading The Babson Study (Faculty

Focus, 2016), about the continued increase in distance enrollment, the idea of an accompanying

shortage in instructional designers led me to believe that quality of course content offered online

could experience a skill gap between workforce demand and college capacity. (Riter, 2016,

June).

A mind that was more open to see the possibilities of the identified issue growing in

interest, and having the potential to increase the demand for skilled and qualified instructional

designers in the future would have caused me to conduct my research from a different, and

focused perspective from the beginning. Nevertheless, I learned a lot from exploring various

topics in this research paper. It was an exploratory and instructive experience. Moreover, the

thought that I may have misinterpreted the assignment requirement has occurred to me. But this

is what my intuition tells me may be what is required for a topic area that may grow in interest

and utility over time.

References:

Brown, A. & Green, T. (Producers). (2016, April 18). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design,

Educational Technology, and Learning Sciences [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from:

http://trendsandissues.com/
Eberhardt R. (April 2016). The GW Hatchet. Former students file class action suit over quality

of online program. Retrieved from:

http://www.gwhatchet.com/2016/04/13/former-students-file-class-action-lawsuit-over-quality-of-
online-program/

Faculty Focus. (2016, Feb.09). Babson Study. Distance education growth continues. Company
News. Retrieved from:

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/edtech-news-and-trends/babson-study-distance-education-
enrollment-growth-continues/

Hogan, S. and Petite, P. (April 7, 2016). NBC News. Students sue George Washington

University. Retrieved from:

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Statement-From-George-Washington-University-

374980461.html

Kim, J. (2016, May 01). Learn. Technology and learning 4 Reasons why online learning drives

residential classroom innovation. Inside Higher ED. Retrieved from:

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/4-reasons-why-online-learning-

drives-residential-classroom-innovation

Ramstack, T. (2016, April 14). Online students sue George Washington University for fraud.
Hubpages. Retrieved from:

http://hubpages.com/education/Online-College-Students-Sue-George-Washington-University-
for-Fraud

Riter, P. (June 2016) The troublesome shortage of instructional designers. Retrieved 14 June

2016 from:
 https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2016/06/07/troublesome-shortage-instructional-
designers-essay

Straumsheim, C. (2016, April 15). Equal promises, unequal experiences. Inside Higher ED.

retrieved from:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/15/george-washington-u-alumni-sue-
university-over-quality-online-program