An Ode to ADDIE . . .

Let me begin by saying I’ve always been a sucker for rhymes . . .

Who’s Addie, you ask? If you’re a seasoned trainer who does your own Instructional Design work, you may know “Addie” very well already. For those newer to instructional design, ADDIE is an acronym for a step-by-step process that lets training professionals plan and create on-target training programs. Briefly, the five stages consist of:

Analysis: determine who are your learners and what they need
Design: identify the elements required for learning transfer
Development: create and assemble program elements
Implementation: launch the training program
Evaluation: determine if the program meets the business goals

A while back, Stephen Gannon (Director of Business Development at Family Friendly 89.7 KSGN) posted a wonderfully creative poem on Linked-IN, Ode to Addie, which nicely captures the ADDIE Instructional Design model, its quirks and challenges.

ODE TO ADDIE

Words and Music By Stephen Michael Gannon, Standup Trainer

ANALYSIS
To Analyze Addie, you first have to decide, just what she needs to learn.
Under what conditions would she take it well? We don’t want Addie to crash and burn.
How much can she handle? What are her beliefs? And what would enhance Addie’s pride?
What would keep Addie’s brain from receiving the goods? Just how do we get it inside?

DESIGN
“Addie needs De Sign” the Frenchman declared, “De logical, orderly plan.”
“De sign is de strategy vie must employ to take ADDIE from vere she began.”
“Goals, subject, research, treatment, practice, and tests,” all designed to be placed in the can.
Give Addie knowledge, skill, and a heart for the work to take Addie into her new land.

DEVELOPMENT
When Addie’s Development begins to appear–her pictures taken and placed in a book,
Addie’s story, then, begins to unfold “a songbird sings in a tree by the brook.”
Yes, artists, musicians, and cameramen too, the writers and don’t forget nerds.
Put Addie’s lessons, into a course, with computers, and pictures, and words.

IMPLEMENTATION
Now to Implement Addie, another story indeed—a procedure for training the trainers.
Curriculum, outcomes, methods, and testing—teaching them to be entertainers.
Train them all on the new tools of the trade—software and hardware to boot.
From registration to course evaluation and don’t forget how to handle disputes.

ANALYSIS
You Evaluate Addie through her Formative years and sum it up when she’s finally done.
You’ll learn what she knew, what she learned from you, and what works best–a smile or a gun.
If she’s not getting it, you’ll tweak Addie’s training. If she got it, then shoot for the moon.
Then give her a test, and if she gets an “A,” wolf whistle and say “va va voom.”

Copyright, Stephen Gannon, January, 2013.

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