The Wave of the Future

Section 8: New Directions in Instructional Design and Technology

This section of the textbook addresses new directions and emerging technologies for IDT. For your final post, reflect on how you might apply each of the following in your current or future position in the IDT field:

1. distributed or e-learning environments My favorite e-learning environment for my 8th-10th graders has to be edmodo.com.  That one site is revolutionizing how I teach and interact with my students.  I was grading an assignment last night, noticed that a large percent were failing, so I posted the make-up assignment on the class "wall" even before I distributed their papers.  For class presentations, students turn in their files to Edmodo.  After that, I can log in to our main computer and open each file for their presentation, eliminating the need for flash drives.  Often, students come to class knowing about new technologies from cool articles that I post to our online class "library."  Students can take polls or comment on each other's thoughts in real-time.  Page 281 asks the question:  "Do we have the conceptual models to adjust to this shifting landscape?"  Sometimes, I feel very equipped, since teaching this way melds with my personal inclination for technology.  Other times, I feel like I am barely scratching the surface of the capabilities of e-learning environments.
2. reusable design or learning objects I learned through the chapter reading what exactly a learning object is.  Now I realize that creating learning objects is a reflex for teachers with little time and with many learning objectives for their students.  For example, during the "setting the stage" part of the lesson cycle, I like to use short clips from sites like Youtube to get students excited about a lesson.  Or I might use the same comic strip to teach two different character traits.  I plan to start looking at the objects I bring in more objectively so I am even more intentional about using the learning objects that I work so hard to find to cover more than one topic. 
3. rich media The use of rich media allows me to speak the same language as my students.  Most of them are interested in video games which have evolved to be highly sophisticated and surprisingly education, with developers of shooting games using the names and images of real military battle gear, etc.  Today's students are used to learning through a narrative.  I will be looking for ways to bring that richness into my everyday teaching.  (Below is a picture of "King" George Washington as reimagined in the Assasin's Creed video game)

4. emerging instructional technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cybernetics, Web 2.0, virtual worlds, electronic games, etc. Last spring, I learned during a tour of the University of North Texas' College of Engineering about the existence of hobbyists and enthusiasts who created video games in their spare time.  Microsoft XNA is (allegedly) simple enough for students to use to develop their own video games using saved chunks of code that they can access from a library.  I am still working with get our school an Xbox so that our students can start working on the virtual environments of the future.

Developing Professionally

Section 6: Getting an IDT Position and Succeeding at It

1.    Based on these intentions, explain what you need to learn. What skills and qualifications do you need? Will you obtain the skills you need in the required courses in your program? What electives might you need to take to help you develop skills specific to your aspirations?

Since I already have my dream job, my goal is to develop my skills so that I am the absolute best at what I do. I teach technology, engineering and robotics courses at the middle and high school level, so getting my M.Ed. in Educational Technology directly aligns with my desire to know my content well. I will still need more resources to develop my engineering skills and knowledge. Courses in physics, robotics, engineering design and basic construction would be beneficial and I could take them free online. Coursera.com hosts hundreds of free online courses from 33 of the nation’s top colleges. Click here to read an article about the site from CNN.  I found a course called “Control of Mobile Robots” taught by a professor from Georgia Tech that starts in January that I am highly interested in taking to further my knowledge.

 

2.    Finally, carefully examine the professional organizations and conferences listed in the chapter titled "Professional Organizations and Publications in IDT." What organizations would best support your continued learning after you graduate? Do you think you would benefit from joining those organizations before graduating? Explain why or why not? What conferences or annual meetings do you think it would be helpful to you to attend? Select at least two and tell what you could learn from attending.

I am interested in the American Educational Research Association mostly because of its broad focus on research related to many parts segments of education, not just technology.  Their website includes resources like rebroadcasts of lecture series and an online job board. Dues are $40/year for graduate students.  I am also  interested in learning more about SALT (Society for Applied Learning Technology) to help offer content-specific information about technology education in particular.  I would definitely benefit from joining these organizations now since they would help me stay up-to-date with all of the latest research in my fields and allow me to explore career opportunities that I may not discover otherwise.  The Annual Brown Lecture Series on the AERA site was of particular interest to me.  It focuses on issues pertaining to equality in education.  SALT has a conference coming up in August on Interactive Learning Technologies that sounds like it would be beneficial for learning about new platforms for electronic student interaction.

 

What do I want to be when I grow up?

Section 6: Getting an IDT Position and Succeeding at It

 

This section of your textbook focuses on jobs in the profession of instructional design and technology: lessons and tips on how to get one and organizations that can support the job search and continued learning in the IDT field. Many of you already have a job in the field or in a related field; however, based on this week’s readings, you’ll reflect on where you are, where you want to go, and what you need to learn or do to get there.

 

1.    Begin your post for this week with some background: what is your current job, what program are you enrolled in, what brings you to that program, and what do you expect when you graduate (change jobs? obtain a promotion?).

 

I am currently the Robotics/Technology Teacher at the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy in Dallas ISD.  I’m new to the content, so I joined the Educational Technology-Leadership M.Ed. program simply to become a subject matter expert to improve the quality of my instruction.  In two classes, I’ve already learned many valuable techniques and approaches as well as increased my technical know-how.

 

This chapter allows us to stop for a second and ponder the age-old question:  “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  I am grateful to live in a time when professional evolution is an expected part of a career arc.  One of our administrators showed the music video below to our students for inspiration.  As an adult, the chorus of the song reminds me of the professional freedoms I am privileged to enjoy.

 

 

Nas “I Can” video

 

2.    Next, describe the kind of work that you want to do and the type of organization or institution in which you want to work. Use the WorkMatrix^TM in the chapter titled “Getting a Job in Business and Industry” to help organize your thoughts. Do you most desire first, second, third, or fourth level service? Or would you rather design or develop instruction? What features of work are important to you? What economic sector do you want to work in?

Thankfully, the WorkMatrix™ reminded me that I am currently doing exactly what I want to do, where I want to do it and with the population that I feel called to serve. I feel most fulfilled in first level service delivering creative content to excited and capable students.  I get fulfillment from helping others learn and feel more capable.  I would struggle in a job where progress is hard to monitor.  I also need support and trust from my employers and from the population I am serving. I prefer working in public service, specifically, in public education.  I have worked in non-profits and private schools before.  What I quickly discovered is that every segment has its own unique set of struggles. 

 

Interdependence Helps with Evolution

Section 5: Trends and Issues in Various Settings

The chapters in this section identify trends and issues with instructional design and technology in a variety of settings: military, health care, P-12, higher education, and around the world. In this week’s blog post, tell which setting you are working in or intend to work in. Then identify one thing that you learned from reading about each of the other settings and explain how that concept, idea, or approach could be adapted to your setting.

Page 178 of our text makes the following declaration to start this section:

Instructional design today encompasses much more than simply producing instruction. It is now associated with analyzing human performance problems, identifying root causes of those problems, considering a variety of solutions to address the root causes,and determining and implementing the appropriate solutions (Rothwell & Kazanas, 2008).

Because of this new broad definition of instructional design, more crossover exists between different arenas and strategies that apply to broader audiences.  I am a technology/robotics teacher at a public school.  One of the things that most teachers will agree on is that “good teaching is good teaching,” meaning some standard strategies apply to most all children no matter their level.  The same tenet goes for instructional design.  This section encourages me to glean from a variety of arenas to hone my instructional design techniques. Below are the ideas from several different arenas that I plan to use in my school setting:

Ideas from business and industry: 

Businesses hire external instructional designers to assess their effectiveness and design instruction accordingly:  I think I can change the way I view observation walk-throughs by my administration.  Instead of waiting for them to randomly happen, I should proactively ask for an observation to help with my overall delivery.  That would require an increase in my humility, but would ultimately make me more prepared to effectively teach and learn.

They use technology as a training solution:  Now that we have www.edmodo.com, I could set up folders in the links and attachments library that have articles to help my students with common issues.  Also, I could do a better job of creating platforms, like blogs for them to offer technical support to each.

Ideas from the military:

The military explores high- and low-tech options as solutions to problems with training design (page 189).  I think that we as teachers are too quick to assume that a high-tech answer is the best route for delivering information.  There are sites and apps for pretty much anything that can be imagined and the accessibility to these technologies has increased with whole districts having 1:1 laptop and iPad to student ratios.  I was teaching a lesson in the computer lab where students were to post their responses to www.corkboard.me .  It is a virtual corkboard where students “pin” virtual post it notes and type their answers.  However, I spent more time correcting behavior—students were purposely typing on other student’s notes, resizing their notes so that they covered the entire screen, etc.  Since that lesson earlier this year, my new mantra is “sometimes a post-it note just needs to be a post-it note.” As I plan every lesson, I want to make sure, like the military, that I am using the most effective mode of delivery, be it low- or high-tech.

Ideas from healthcare:

Problem-Based Learning versus Evidence-Based Medicine-As I read this section, I could not help but think about the way teachers traditionally learn.  We follow an arc similar to that of med students in that we go to school for training, observe, teach under supervision, then we are deemed ready for the classroom.  However, the switch to Evidence-Based Medicine is interesting in its emphasis on physicians finding evidence from medical literature.  I have decided to become more of a scholar-teacher.  Currently, my first reflex when I encounter a problem is to talk to other teachers.  I rarely ever look for educational literature written by experts.  One of my first steps was enrolling in TAMU-C.  My next step is going to be to read Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov over the winter break with a friend who teaches my same age group.  Please list any books that have been helpful to you in the comments section.  I am looking forward to building my library and learning to do scholarly research reflexively as I encounter issues in instructional delivery and design.

 

Ideas from higher education around the world:

Instructors are content experts but may not be pedagogical experts (page 218, 221).  This was a resounding theme in this chapter from instructors around the world.  I feel like teachers in P-12 are just the opposite—we know pedagogy, but not necessarily all of the nuances of our content (theory, instructional history, etc.).  In fact, I think that pedagogy prowess is valued more highly than content expertise.  That would explain how districts can so easily reassign teachers to new content and grade levels for arbitrary reasons like fluctuating enrollment numbers. My goal is to continue to dive deeper into my content until I am a true subject matter expert and resource for my students and colleagues.