ADDIE vs SAM Model

I had a job interview yesterday with a warm and jovial lady who was kind enough to put me at ease. Interviews can be stressing. She asked me which model I use in my instructional design processes. I quickly said ADDIE since it is what I have known and required to use at work for so long. She told me they use SAM at her company so when I got home, guess what I did? I researched SAM model and much to my amazement and joy, I can say that I can easily convert to SAM and can see that it is basically a "rapid development model".

SAM cuts out all the tedious steps and gets the job done faster. Sure there will have to be more care at each step along the way with a quality check or two but time is of the essence in business. It could also mean that a lot of work was done without approval and may need to be completely modified. The key to SAM is to ensure that the objectives are clear and have been met. The article I read was very informative which described ADDIE as "ready, aim, aim, aim, fire" and SAM as "ready, fire, aim".

As an E-Learning Instructional Designer (EID), I would ask the necessary questions ahead of time to ensure the objectives are clear and provide templated samples of the various learning modes that could be used in the lesson, right at the "get-go". This would include layouts, scenarios, branching, knowledge checks and any other material that the client could choose from if they so desired. Even, after this, there is no guarantee that what is presented to the client will not require modifications and that as an EID, I must be prepared for changes.

By the way, SAM stands for Successive Approximation Model. Really? Ugh? At least when you breakdown ADDIE, you know what each letter means. Anyway, I'm all for agile processess and streamlining but also for meeting objectives, satisfying clients, producing professional and effective learning solutions. After all, it's about the learner and their eagerness to learn. I want the learner to be excited about learning, not just receiving a certificate because it is mandatory.

I'm going to leave you with some snippets from a site I found that helps see SAM more clearly. I want to write more about SAM in later blogs.