But as I look over Rob's paper while trying to grow my own ID skills to where they match my level of multimedia expertise, I feel alone in my quest. Rob, you seem to be looking for the current leaders in the Academic ID community to take the lead in technology based training development. That's one way to increase the amount of design in the field of training. But what about convincing those already doing the development that they ought to be increasing what they know about ID?
It might be a tough feat to accomplish, since many of my co-workers feel that they already have enough education, and that academia is nothing to strive for among those already settled into prosperous positions in the corporate world. Most of the time I've heard of instructional design as a discipline, it's been a sub department under the umbrella of a department of education. This means that it is regarded by potential students as a part of preparation for a career teaching school.
As long as the perception exists that the people who design instruction are doing so for "kids," the field won't ever get the respect it deserves. If there's a $3 billion TBT market in the world, maybe some university should set up a TBT department and run ID under its wings.