The Distance Institute offers a wide range of capabilities. Our goal is simple: provide cost-effective e-learning solutions and support. The Distance Institute works as a partner to ensure training, courses or seminars produce the best possible results.

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Our Approach

Instructional Design is a Process:

Instructional Design is a systematic process. The development of instructional content begins with a draft of instructional outcomes as well as technical specifications. These are drawn up while being mindful of the latest trends in online learning theory. While the tendency is to "jump right in" careful planning is key to ensuring quality. Developing outcomes starts by defining a "knowledge gap" -- in other words, what the learners need to know as compared to what they already know. Instruction materials are developed to meet these needs and learners are evaluated to ensure learning objectives are met.

Instructional Design as a Discipline:

Instructional Design is an academic area offered by a number of universities. While most graduates seek employment after completing a master's degree, some continue with their studies and earn a doctoral degree. Graduates from instructional systems programs are typically the highest paid in their entry level positions as compared to all other academic programs. Why? Instructional designers add tremendous value by ensuring course materials are developed to have the desired impact - and measure the reults. Instructional designers are familiar with current research, instructional strategies, new technologies and the processes that are used to develop effective instruction.

Instructional Design as a Science:

Instructional Design is a science. The field shares some of the same procedures used in engineering, and the underlying behavioral, and cognitive psychology science that informs us how people learn. Detailed specifications for the development, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance of instructional content have fallen out of years of research from these other disciplines. How instruction is delivered and evaluating achievement is a complex, disciplined science that helps us to understand how leaning takes place in large and small units of subject matter at all levels of complexity.

Instructional Design as Reality:

Improvement in performance through training is not an accident or an event. Instructional Design is a process that leads to successful instruction.

Instructional technology is a simple concept; using technologies to support systematic application of strategies and techniques derived from behavioral, cognitive, and constructivist theories

Another way of thinking about instructional technology:

...Instructional Design
+ Computer based media
+ Instructional development
=.Instructional Technology

We are committed to the discipline of project management. Our managment team includes two certified Project Management Professionals. Our approach to production includes good communication, documentation and fiscal discipline.

Northern Speech Services

The United States Environmental Protection Agency

The New Media Group
at Montana Tech, the University of Montana