"A lot of eLearning professionals, especially those who have just started with their practice, often ask about the need for theory. Why bother with an instructional design theory at all? Isn't practice enough?
Practice and theory actually goes hand in hand. This is true not only in instructional design but in any other field or discipline. Theory, far from crippling your practice, will actually help you improve the quality of your eLearning material. While a learning theory won't answer all of your design problems, it offers clarity throughout your process and directs you toward finding solutions."