What is SIM?

In classroom-based teaching, the basic resource is the teacher. He or she may use other resources such as textbooks or audio-visual aids, but the teacher remains the central component of the system. He or she performs many functions. In distance learning, there is no teacher. The teacher is replaced by a combination of learning materials and tutors. Because tutors are expensive and because distance learners mostly study at home, the tutors are only involved with learners for short periods. This means that the learning materials have to carry out all of the 14 tasks above, except for marking work. In other words, the learning materials themselves will define what is to be learnt, provide information, give examples and so on. Creating materials that can do this is a complex technical task. That is where the need for a good understanding of instructional design comes in – the subject of this handbook.
CC-BY Commonwealth of Learning, 2005

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