Instructional Design and Technology- Week One Relection

1. Reiser and Dempsey provide readers with several definitions of Instructional Design and Technology. For the purposes of this class, however, the authors maintain that the field of Instructional Design and Technology has two basic elements, "the use of media for instructional purposes and the use of systematic instructional design procedures..." (p. 7). I find that this definition meshes well with my role of preparing pre-service teachers for the classroom. For me, Instructional Design and Technology is not necessarily a field of its own, but a key element in the field of education. I believe that every educator in today's society needs to be proficient in Instructional Design and Technology. To me, this simply means that teachers need to have the ability to include appropriate instructional technology in their lesson planning. Technology should not be included as a last minute way to "enhance" a lesson, nor should it be included simply for the sake of using technology. Instead, technology should be an integral part of the lesson cycle, and it should always serve a specific purpose. Shortly stated, instructional design and technology is the ability to plan and implement the use of the very best media resources to teach specific skills to learners.

2. Although I may be tempted to use certain media based on my own preferences or opinions, I know that as an educator in a teacher prep program, I cannot do that. Understanding the six characteristics of instructional design and following a lesson design model
similar to Dick, Carey, and Carey's model, I know I must begin with the end in mind, asking myself what the goals or learning objectives are for my students. Then, I must consider what skills my students already have, and what they will need to know or be able to do to learn the new skill. Only then can I move forward with the planning process, asking myself questions such as: 1) What media and other resources do I have available that will teach or reinforce the desired skills? 2) Which of these technological resources provides the most authentic learning situations with the most amount of student interaction? 3) Is this the best way to teach this skill? 4) Is it feasible? Then, after the lesson begins, I must frequently assess the situation. If students are not learning the desired skills, or if behavior is not changing in the intended manner, I have to investigate the reason and correct it. That may mean clarifying directions, providing important information, redirecting students, or simply beginning again in a different way. In addition, since I am helping to prepare pre-service teachers, not only must I do this for my students, but I must teach them to do it for their students as well. I must teach them to begin planning lessons with the end in mind. I must also show them how to find, evaluate, and use appropriate technology to reach their students in the most effective way possible.

Please see the graphic representation of my slightly revised model of instructional design shown below.

3. Technology is used in today's classroom for a number of reasons. The internet provides almost instant access to an immeasurable amount of information, audio and video files, duplicates of primary and secondary sources, lesson plans, virtual field trips, and other open source materials. Students and teachers can connect with peers, both near and far, to create learning communities, explore various cultures, or expand social networks. Teachers have access to interactive whiteboards which open up a world of virtual manipulatives, learning games, and a host of interactive lessons. In addition, many record keeping tasks are completed electronically. In other words, technology is playing an increasingly prevalent role in all levels of US education.

Since the world is becoming more and more of a global society, and we must prepare today's students to be competitive in a technology driven economy, I expect the instructional technology trend to increase exponentially over time. While I do not expect the US to follow Korea's lead in instituting robot teachers, http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-22/tech/south.korea.robot.teachers_1_robot-english-teachers?_s=PM:TECH, I do expect other changes. I believe that we will soon have even better access to programs like Rosetta Stone, so that students of all ages can learn a second language, even if there is no teacher available to teach them the desired language. I also expect to see an increasing number of K-12, higher education, an adult education programs take advantage of distance education and web-based classes in an effort to cut cost, expand student learning opportunities, and share resources between locations or institutions. Teachers at all levels will continue to use technology in an effort to differentiate instruction and meet the needs of students with various learning differences. In addition, the availability of mobile devices increases the possibility that classrooms will move out of the confines of the school building and relocate, at least for a portion of instructional time, into the real world. 

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! Although I have followed a couple of blogs in the past, I never even considered creating my own blog until I was required to do so for a class I took in the last subterm. I was quite shocked to discover how easy it can be to design and maintain a blog on my own. Now I feel like I'm right in my element. I have created this blog as a reflection and communication platform for ETEC 561, Learning & Technology, and I cannot wait to get started.