An interesting article...

I was watching the news this morning (slightly blurry eyed...I admit it)...when the Today Show aired this piece on technology in the classrooms (and elsewhere...)...and I think it had some good points.

You can find the article here.

The best points made by the article are when they talk about the use of technology in a math classroom. It states:

"The study, mandated by Congress when it passed No Child Left Behind in 2002, evaluated 15 reading and math products used by 9,424 students in 132 schools across the country during the 2004-05 school year. It is the largest study that has compared students who received the technology with those who did not, as measured by their scores on standardized tests. There were no statistically significant differences between students who used software and those who did not.

In classrooms, the programs — such as "iLearn Math" and "Achieve Now" — are used in different ways, depending on teachers. Some educators use the software as a supplemental tool to drill students in particular lessons; others use it instead of textbooks to teach entire lessons."

I know that several times in this course we have talked about how teachers are forced to "teach to the test" - and we have also talked recently about the goods and bads of technology integration. For me, this article shows that technology isn't the be all and end all - that the "old fashioned" ways of teaching information are just as effective as the "new and hip" ways of teaching. What makes this apparent is what this article states in the paragraph above.

I think what Elaine said to me rings true in this situation...and that you need to think of technology as the vehicle to get information across. I think that that is a very strong point...and shows 1) how you know that you are using technology creatively...2) technology isn't the be all and end all...there are other "vehicles" that may be important to the information you are trying to relay...and 3) technology is different for everyone...and everyone is going to interpret it differently.

I know that technology and education will continue to be an interesting thing for me to learn about...both first hand and through the media...but it's certainly interesting to see things come together...with or without technology playing a part. In the months and years to come I'm sure that there are lots of instances that I will look back on what I've learned in this course through the material and my peers...and only build upon things.

Pedagogy First...then Technology

One thing brought up in discussion this week is the importance of a solid foundation of pedagogy before introducing technology. This is something that - after a lot of work this semester understanding pedagogy and instructional design - that I seem to back.

Here's the reason...

Pedagogy and the tools that a teacher uses to create a class and design a framework are like the skeleton for the course. All of the bits and pieces of pedagogy seem to be the backbone for all things that get added to a course to enhance it. A course wouldn't be successful if it didn't have a solid foundation of concepts and educational pieces.

Technology can be successfully integrated into a classroom when the pedagogy...or course structure and content...are solid. I honestly think that the impact of the technology is greater when you can enhance your concepts and pieces of instruction through that technology verses having the technology teach the student. I think that if you let the technology teach the student you run the risk of having pieces of information be skewed or misrepresented.

I think that there is a tendency these days to rely heavily on technology without giving it a lot of thought. For some educators, the more technology the better. But I believe that the classroom isn't successful if you rely strictly on technology. As a student who has gone through schools all of my life in technology driven atmospheres, I can see now that those technologies wouldn't have impacted me nearly as much if I couldn't make educational connections to the content that I was studying at the time I was introduced to that technology.

Technology is a powerful tool...when used correctly. There are lots of positives to the use of technology and I foresee that I will be using it extensively when I enter a classroom as an educator myself. But after learning what I have learned about the importance of good instructional design, I now know that I need to be conscientious about how I use that technology in relation to what I'm trying to teach.

Too Much Technology in the Classroom?? (A response to an Article)

While hunting for articles related to technology and its effects on the classroom, I came across this article from the BBC...which I felt had a lot of relevance to issues that are occurring here in the states as well. It got me to thinking more and more about technology and whether it's doing harm or good when it comes to integration in the classroom.

The article grabbed my attention right off the bat.

"There was a time when teachers stood in front of the class, with chalk poised on the blackboard while pupils scribbled away furiously. Now teachers' presentations have to compete with the expectations raised by the technology children have at home - iPods, Playstations and home computers."

Being someone who has really been immersed in technology from day one - this really rang true in my brain. While I have never actually been in a classroom solely dedicated to blackboards and chalk, I can see how teachers are now competing with technologies. To gain a child's attention takes a lot of effort...especially when they are immersed in their iPods, and cell phones...let alone a computer or video game. It made me respect the teachers who have gotten through that mess and had an impact on me as a student. While I was brought up without the video games, the iPods, and cell phones (up until I was in college)...a lot of my classmates had these items. And looking back on how that effected me...I would say that some time was given on the teachers part to grab the attention of my peers.

The plus side of technology integration was also talked about in this article... (As said by Steve Powter, quoted in the article.)

"Rather than sitting behind desks and looking at a piece of paper, the pupils can play with things on screen and move things around. The kids are used to it. They walk into a room and if the white board has something written on it they follow it instantly."

TRUE - but this brings up a point in my mind. Attention spans of children these day tend to be less and less by my observation (people can feel free to disagree with me here). Can you really maintain a child's attention by keeping things technology integrated?? Is there a point where good old fashion teaching (without technology) has an impact on these students as well??

As a known fact, the costs of technology are rising all the time...and a lot of schools have a hard time keeping up with technologies that are changing so frequently. I think that if technology were more affordable there would be a lot of teachers who could afford and would take the time to learn them and possibly integrate them more into the classroom. I'm sure that things will change over time...but right now...I think for some schools it's a struggle to overcome the issues that come with technology integration.

Student's Needs...

The reading from our text this week was actually incredibly informative...so I thought I would put a few thoughts down here so that I can refer back to them at a later date...

1. Addressing patters of students needs to benefit many learners (pg. 97-99)

When I first saw this diagram, my reaction was "what a novel idea". It was nice to actually see someone address something that a lot of my classmates (including myself) have addressed time and time again when it comes to designing an effective classroom and instructional design. I would think that the tactics talked about though (routinely meeting with students in small groups, etc) might be hard in a strictly online format. Which makes me wonder how you could even realize that someone has a learning need. Is it obvious as someone who's evaluating that learner?? I suppose a lot of these questions will be addressed when I finally am at the head of the classroom teaching, but it's something to think about - especially with online learning becoming a bigger thing. What I liked about this diagram though was that it seemed to address common things that can be problems for learners - and gave practical and functional solutions.

2. Essential Questions

Up until this point, I never really thought about the idea of effective essential questioning. This course has brought that to light for me. I (at this point) find that essential questions can help a student reach their goals for the course; and help the teacher reach their goals as well. It's almost as if the essential question is a guide - to help get you back on track if you need to make sure you accomplish certain points. I now have a deeper respect for the element of design pertaining to essential questioning - and I believe that they are a good foundational block to good instructional design.

3. The importance of deepening student thinking

Explain, Perspective, Interpret, Empathy, Apply, and self-knowledge. When the text listed out the Performance verbs when it comes to the six facets of understanding I had a connection to that. Using verbs made things connect for me...as I can relate to action in a classroom. And action in a classroom can be many different things - sometimes it's as simple as imagining how you (the student) can take things to the new level. I think at the completion of this course (or close to it) I want to take another look back on these Six Facets and apply them in a more broad sense - especially walking away from this course with a strong understanding of Instructional Design.

Connecting Some Dots...

This weeks readings really seemed to connect some dots for me. I say this because as a student, I didn't always recognize the techniques that were being used to get me to understand information - and yet, I probably never had the need to connect to those techniques. But this week, the readings helped me recognize what I once didn't see...and I now have names to go with the techniques that I have been put through throughout my time as a student. The reading that had me connecting all of the dots was the "Instructional Approaches: A Framework for Professional Practice Saskatchewan Education". And upon reading this article, I found that there are three types of instructional methods that I relate to the most...

1. Discussion

I really connected with the line "Effective Discussions are normally based on material familiar to the students." This relates back to the way I interpret information. I tend to have "light bulbs" go off when I am part of a good group discussion. There are times when I will read material...and *think* that I understand it...and when I am able to talk about what I have read amongst my peers, I tend to find myself understanding the material better and sometimes in a deeper way. It's always interesting to me to be amongst a group of people with very different backgrounds...such as we have at Marlboro...because I really think that different backgrounds improve the value of discussion. The more one has to work from, the more diversity in the way you apply the information you are learning.

2. Visual Aids or Focused Imaging

Having the ability to see something through a visual representation can help pick up the missing pieces when it comes to understanding something. I have a respect for visual aids...whether they be pictures or videos...or simply a concept map of a subject...especially when they help me connect the pieces of a subject together. Focused imaging...or "the process of visualizing an object, event, or situation" is something that I think is beneficial to a student. Sometimes is difficult for me to completely understand something unless I can see myself using it in a situation that's current to me.

3. Hands on Experience

What surprised me was that I didn't see any direct method that related to Hands on Experience in the reading. For me, hands on experience was what helped me get through my preliminary collegiate years in the television studies department at Lyndon. What helped me understand the concepts being presented throughout my first two years as a TVS major was to be hands on with the television cameras I was going to be using not only in years that followed, but in the field as a photographer for a news station. That experience made me that much more comfortable with the things that were thrown at me later in my career.

Hopefully as the few weeks in the semester tick by I will start to see the light at the end of the tunnel (so to speak) when it comes to instructional design. Though I know that instructional design is something that will only perfect itself as I use it more...it's something that I have really started to sink my teeth into...and I think that I'm starting to connect the dots that have been laid out before me.

Metaphors...and Learning...

Jill had a great point this week...so I'm going start with that....

Jill: "My understanding of metaphors and their value in the learning process became clear during my Human Computer Interaction course just last semester (and I'm old!). We explored how metaphors can be used when designing technology to enhance system usability. As a result of that discussion, I was able to apply the concepts to how people learn, and now, to transfer."

What really hit me when she made that comment was how things as simple as metaphors can make an impact on how people learn and apply what they are learning to things they are currently taking part in. Metaphors are something that all of us seem to use on a regular basis (sometimes daily) when we are trying to explain something. And how keen of someone to realize that they can be used on an educational level as well. Metaphors could be a way to make information a lot clearer to students who don't seem to be grasping concepts the way you initially present them. But can you overuse a tool such as a metaphor to get a point across?? I think you could. While a powerful tool, too many metaphors could possibly make a point become sloppy...making it so that someone may grasp a concept at first, and then get confused by another metaphors points.

All of the learning tools we are learning throughout this course seem to have their pluses and minuses. It seems to be up to the instructor to make the choice as to what tool they choose to use. Thus, making the concept of Instructional Design more in depth or complex. It excites me to learn about these different levels, and I'm intrigued by the different tools that keep coming out throughout the readings. I hope that in time I will be able to implement these tools in an effective manner.

Reflections...

Reflections...

The past few weeks have been very interesting for me. This class has opened my eyes to part of teaching that I never really fully understood. The idea of Instructional Design seems like a fairly simple prospect until you really start to dissect it and understand all of it's parts and pieces.

Like the ice forming in the brook behind my house (picture to the right) Instructional Design is never the same from course to course (year to year in the case of the brook). The ideas of Fink, DC&C, IEEE, and Tomlinson & McTighe are all different, yet they are all Instructional Design. Each educator has the ability to use methods in whatever way they want to achieve their end goal - which may just be to create an educational classroom for their students where the students walk away with knowledge they didn't have before.

A revelation for me over the past few weeks is how much work really goes into preparing a successful course. While I'm sure, over time, the process becomes easier, there are lots of parts and pieces that seemed easy for me to integrate in (such as projects, readings, etc)...but now that I see there is a balance in Instructional Design, I realize how important it is to carefully choose the parts and pieces that go into the course.

The ideas of Evaluation and Assessment are the pieces of Instructional Design that still baffle me to this point. I don't really think I will truly understand the difference between the two of them until I am faced with making evaluations and assessments in my own classroom. While I still am a little "gray" about which is which, I do believe that they are both important parts of the Instructional Design process. I see them as checks and balances...to make sure that both you the instructor and the student are maintaining some grasp of what has been achieved and what goals need to be met.

The hardest thing for me the past few weeks has been the fact that I'm not an educator (yet) as some of my classmates are. The only experience that I have teaching is as a TA my senior year of college. I have learned SO MUCH from those who are educators in the class, but feel a little disconnected at times. I don't feel that I have a lot to bring to the table conversation wise because of that inexperience. While I know that it's good to have a mix in the room of educators and non-educators, I sometimes wish I was at the same level as those with years of experience.

I am looking forward to the weeks ahead...as I'm sure they will fill some of the holes in the Instructional Design process. This class has been nothing but informative...and I look forward to diving in deeper and learning more.

Assessment and Evaluation - Some Thoughts

Assessment...as I assess the past few weeks of class, I can see that thus far, I have reached my goals for the course. I have really wanted to have a greater grasp on what Instructional Design is and how I can be a better educator by using it effectively. I am now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This weeks readings really left the area of differentiating between Assessment and Evaluation a little gray. However...with the help of my peers (thanks to all of you!) I have a feeling that over the next few weeks I will better understand where one fits over the other.

What really threw me was how many different types of Assessment there are, and where each one comes into play. Tomlinson and McTighe made it really clear for me when they discussed the 6 Facets of Understanding (Figure 5.2, pg. 67). The concepts of explain, interpret, apply, perspective, empathy, and self knowledge were the concepts that I could relate to the best. Those 6 facets are great indicators to both a student and a teacher to know whether they are grasping the subject at hand. By going through each six of those facets, they can assess whether they are grasping concepts.

As for Evaluation, I still view this as something the teacher predominately does. I really see this time as a time for the teacher to look back on everything that has happened at the end of a course and make a mental checklist of all the things that were and weren't accomplished in terms of goals and objectives. While it's important to remember that each class is going to be different from year to year or semester to semester, I think it's important to at least go back and make sure that you have achieved what you wanted to achieve. It's a way to keep yourself in check.

Checks and balances...that's what assessment and evaluation are in my brain. Each comes at a certain point in the instructional design process...and each achieves something at the point they are conducted. When you as a teacher assess your students you are making sure that the material you give them is not going to be too much or too little for them...and when you're the student...it's making sure that you are keeping up with the material presented. Making sure that you are getting out of the material presented what you need to. And as a teacher, when you evaluate the end process, it's almost as though you are checking to make sure that goals were met, that material that needed to be relayed was relayed, and making sure that you were able to give your students a stimulating environment that they all got something from in the end. Good Instructional Design has these two concept, Assessment and Evaluation, naturally built into it.

Thoughts after 02-10-07 Class

I must say, the class this past weekend was one of the most engaging for me thus far this trimester. I'm really starting to get a handle on what I will be able to apply to my life outside of Marlboro when it really comes into fruition...and I'm really excited about it all. The discussion this past weekend in class began to center around the ideas of Assessment and Evaluation. What interested me the most is that prior to really diving into the conversation I didn't really think there were a whole lot of differences between the two. BUT...here's what the class came up with as a whole:

ASSESSMENT:
-Looking to see if the course is on course (teacher)
-Objective Measurement (teacher, and possibly student as well)
-It's something that the teacher really does a lot of
-Tool used to discover the students learning (teacher)
-A time to ask: Is the student grasping concepts? (teacher)
-It's a student oriented activity

EVALUATION:
-This could be a time for the students to evaluate of the course (how is the course going? Are they enjoying what they learn? Are there any problems that need to be addressed).
-Teacher/Student Performance, followed by the course
-A time for the teacher to assess whether they reached their goals/objectives

From the conversation in class, I got the feeling that Evaluation was the time where both students and teachers could reflect, where as Assessment is geared more towards the teachers so that they can check in on themselves throughout the course.

As I continue to read the readings for this week I am sure I will make deeper connections. It's a part of Instructional Design that I really haven't gotten into at all, and I hope that after I read more about the topic that I will have a deeper understanding of the differences between the two.

Reaction: Bloom's Taxonomy

This week, the reading that I seemed to connect with the most was the article talking about Bloom's Taxonomy. I think the reason it resonated with me the way it did was because I was able to see connections between the terms that they were using and the classroom itself.

Take this picture to the left for example. (Courtesy: http://www.coe.uga.edu/epltt/bloom.htm) This is the "new" Bloom diagram...as talked about in the article. The words used in this diagram are words that just about everyone can relate to...whether they be educators or students. And the other neat part is that each of them can interpret the diagram as they want. Those words can mean something different to each person, but in the end the goal is achieved by all parties.

I think the part about Bloom's Taxonomy that really helped me connect was the idea that "Learning, teaching, identifying, educational goals, and thinking are all complicated concepts interwoven in an intricate web." There isn't an easy answer to teaching. Different things work for different people. And there is no *right* way of doing things - just suggestions that help you learn and teach.

That takes me to the other thing that all of these Educational Design articles have hit home about...GOALS. I'm a believer that if you don't have goals, you don't know what you can achieve or what you want to walk away from a course with. You would think that most everyone in the classroom has a desire to gain something from a course. I love the concept that Karen mentioned - Goals are just dreams with deadlines. A firm concept that everyone can relate to in one way or another. Goals have been important to me as a student over the past 4+ years because without them I'm not sure that I would have experienced the things I have thus far.

Hybrid vs. Face to Face - Does it effect Instructional Design?

I've done a lot of thinking over the past few months about whether I could picture myself teaching in a hybrid environment or whether I would feel more comfortable working solely in a face-to-face environment, and I have to tell you I'm torn. But I think what made me think harder about it was the concept of Instructional Design and how it can impact both sorts of environments. And the more I thought about how I could use different elements of the Fink model in my classroom planning in my future career path, I could see the differences that I as an instructor would have to make to make the design of the course work for the platform it's being taught in.

For instance...in an hybrid environment where you're only seeing students every so often, you really need to know how to read a students actions online to see if they are grasping the concepts presented. And if you aren't quick about seeing that someone isn't on the same page as everyone else, there's a good possibility that that student will fall by the wayside. You (as an instructor) need to be more intuitive as to what's going on in that online environment. You need to make sure that the resources you are posting are presenting material in a variety of different ways so that multiple students with different learning strengths can grasp the concepts. The tricky part is that you won't know if they are grasping the concepts until they post to discussions that show that they are understanding the material given.

To the contrary...a face-to-face environment allows you to see the students interact with the material that you have given them from the get-go. Facial expressions and actions in the classroom are huge factors to me, as someone who can quickly pick up on facial expression and body movement. In a face-to-face environment you are also given the opportunity to understand the students learning styles better as you are dealing with them one on one (to a certain extent) on a regular basis. Your instructional design for a course could be drastically different in a face-to-face environment because if most of your learners are visual learners, you could limit your resources to the more visual, and not auditory or literary.

It all goes back to knowing who your audience is and setting firm goals to refer back to. If you know your audience and know your goals, instructional design as a whole can become a lot easier. You as an instructor can relay more information to your students by knowing their strengths and weaknesses. Though I see the pluses of a hybrid environment I can see if being trickier to gauge students and their learning disabilities unless you are able to get from the student what their learning strengths are.

My point here is that Instructional Design is slightly dependant on the environment you are working in, and the platform in which you are teaching. I feel that to be a good instructor, you need to have the best tools and resources for your students at their fingertips...but it's hard to do that without knowing who the student is and what they are able to get out of the material you provide them. You need to be open to changing the design of a course if the group isn't grasping a concept or has been lead off track. Instructional Design is about flexibility and patience. You may not get it right the first go round, but make changes to it as you go to best suite your goals as an instructor and the goals of the students.

Instructional Design - A Framework

The readings this week were eye-opening for me. Not being an educator, it's interesting for me to see educators map things out in such a concise way for others to use. What interested me most was how similar, yet different these ideas/suggested framework should be.

But even though there were some minor differences, they maintained some common ground. The idea that learning goals for both the instructor and the student being concrete places to start was something that I found useful. It's hard to even start designing a course unless you (the instructor) really have a handle on what types of things you are hoping to achieve in the course before you design it.

The design that seemed to best suite an instructors views and needs in my opinion was the Fink model. It's foundation was simple. Goals, so that both the student and the instructor know what they are working for, assessment so that you can maintain the objectives of the goal and activities, to make things come together and to cater to the different learning styles that are prevalent in a classroom. By keeping design simple, this model proves that you can achieve what you want to in a classroom without compromising anything.

As someone who isn't that familiar with instructional design, the Fink model seemed the most realistic. It was something that I can easily work with and see myself referring back to at later points in my career. It's something that I hope to refer back to within this course as things progress as well.