Chapter 18 Instructional Design/Technology

Chapter 18 describes several different or noteworthy ways Instructional Design/Technology has been used in business & industry. As I read this chapter, I was particularly interested in how these approaches could be usefully applied to my own professional work. Professionally, I am in a leadership role and I also serve as a team member at the administrative level. One of the issues facing special education is one of highly qualified teachers and quality teaching practices. In using School Improvement Teams or performance improvement project teams, we can design curriculum or instructional materials to meet specific program objectives. Our project teams can for example, examine components of our teaching process. We can use charts, rubrics, and organizers in a methodical approach to help teachers develop and expand their knowledge and skills. The ultimate goal is to achieve outstanding teaching practices and exceptional student achievement.

In terms of prototyping, our school improvement process goes through a series of rather quick tests and trials to arrive at a finished product. This design approach will create a quality plan to include online assessments, effective communication for stakeholders, and a process for monitoring student growth in Math and Reading.

As I reflect on the past seven weeks, my technology skills have been rather challenged. I am enjoying distance learning as part of the instructional design process. I have been rather intrigued by the tools and tasks I have been able to challenge. I was often frustrated but pleased when I was able to perform the tasks related to technology. The systematic design procedures were challenging but exciting to learn. I often reflect on this class and have begun to use the terminology or technical language when describing and employing these practices. On the one hand, I would have appreciated more technical support from the instructors; on the other hand, the time I spent tackling the tasks, the more independent I became at resolving some of the issues related to the designs.

This is my first instructional design and technology course and I feel that it is an appropriate introductory course. This course offers fairly new concepts for me and in several instances a learning curve. Nonetheless, I am enjoying learning the various types of instructional design and the related tools.

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After opening the above link, click on podcast and then click play. Checkout the various sites with education news.

Human Performance Improvement

Human Performance indicators involve a myriad of scientifically sound and cost-effective approaches to promote performance improvement. Human Performance Improvement (HPI) has three phases. In the primary phase, there is a determination of mission goals. The goals should be defined with desired outcomes. Once the goals have been identified, we are ready to measure accomplishment towards our goals. As our solutions are imposed, it will we hope become obvious that goals have been positively affected.

In my school, we spend a significant amount of time addressing behavioral problems which impact negatively impact the academic success of our students. I liken Human Performance Improvement (HPI) to our school’s behavior management system. The behavior management designed to improve student outcomes across the curriculum, is a process which begins with the end in mind, improved student behavior. The behavior management committee is comprised of key stakeholders who set up a framework which supports ideal performance and desired outcomes.

The behavior management committee identifies the root causes of problems which impact or inhibit student performance. The committee explores student performance gaps; plans for future improvements in student performance; designs and develops cost-effective and ethically justifiable interventions to close performance gaps; carries out the interventions; and evaluates the financial and non-financial results.

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Week 6 Reflection: Major impacts of the Internet and Web

In response to question 1a of Chapter 3, I think the Internet and Web will have a major impact in the several of the areas mentioned. For example, Educational programs at grades k-12 can address a wide range of skills and needs by using certain web sites. The Internet and the Web can allow for different levels of learning. Teachers can access a wealth of resources which are readily available on the web. Using the Internet in the K-12 classroom allows for combining audio and video clips with hyperlinks and rollovers (movement of the mouse resulting in the change of an image).
The Internet and Web can have a positive impact largely because of the potential to assist with student learning and achievement.

In Higher education, we are experiencing a surge of online courses, degree completion and graduate programs offered with the Internet and Web. It provides immediate access to databases and resources that may not be otherwise readily available. Information on the Internet is typically diverse and up-to-date which can however present some problems with validity and reliability.

The impact the Internet and Web has on Adult Education is huge. The implications are positive and negative. With international, national and local security, the advancement and trends in this medium has been of great significance and demand. Historically, the military/government and has (and always will be) been on the cutting edge of technological trends. Our text points out that " the human performance technology movement underlines on-the-job performance business results, and noninstructional solutions to performance problems, has broadened the scope of the instructional design field."

In my district, our Technology department regularly schedules workplace learning opportunities for employees. The department offers training in webpage design, computer software designs and word processing programs. This is one way in which we recognize the importance of adult education in the business industry. The ID practices are aligned with the growing demands of the technological demands of our industry.

Reflection Week 5

Photo Sharing and Instructional Design

Photo Sharing can be a wonderful assignment for our students and can be incorporated into educational activities or a unit. One activity/lesson which comes to mind involves students sharing their life story through the use of photo graphs. Another activity which I found fascinating was the development of a slide show. Personally, I found the creation of a slide show a great deal simpler using photo bucket as compared to Microsoft office. Along with this concept would be monitoring the quality and content of the photos (an area of concern). Guiding students on materials, photos, or graphics is essential. Many of my students have trouble focusing on the essential elements of a unit so guidance is especially relevant. Whenever we use computer technology in the classroom, consideration is given to content and the learning objectives.

The instructional design processes involved in the ADDIE model explains the five elements of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. These activities according to the authors are not linear but rather offer a cyclical process where it becomes necessary to move back and forth among each. What was intriguing were the characteristics of learner centered, goal oriented, and focus on performance, assumption that outcomes can be measured in a reliable way, the Instructional Design is reliable and valid, ID is empirical, iterative, and self-correcting, and ID is a team effort. When I read through the model, I was reminded of our school improvement process and the operational functions of the school improvement team (SIT). Some the key characteristic of the SIT team include:
o Analysis & Planning tools for collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, guidance for analyzing causes and establishing improvement priorities, and a model for action planning and matching needs to resources.
o Collaborative Implementation: Develop an online resource guide of research-based programs and strategies, serve as a liasions to programs and interventions to facilitate goal attainment, and provide technical assistance with implementation.
o Professional Learning: Coordinates programs to build KRESA/school capacity, broker services to facilitate training and development, and guide implementation of national professional development standards.
o Quality Assurance: Disaggregates and analyzes outcomes and policies, reports the impact on student achievement, provides guidelines for program evaluation, and recommends action.

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