The End of ID

In all honesty, I think I learned more in this class than I did in both of my other two classes combined. Not only did I get a crash course in different on-line technologies such as blogs, web page design, KSOL, Moodle, and GoogleDocs (which I use like crazy now), but I also learned about how involved the science of Instructional Design is. The main issue I struggled with (mostly that I noticed during my project work) was just how difficult a thorough design would be to complete for a traditional classroom environment. I don't know if this is just because I didn't see enough solid examples from the book on how ID is used in classroom work (in a secondary, non-collegiate sense), or perhaps it was because my topic was difficult for me in general, but it seemed to me that a teacher would either need a great deal of outside help (to help with planning and testing and evaluation), or they would need a great deal of extra time and compensation to complete a good instructional design project with all steps intact. Now, when it comes to non-traditional class planning (like software development or more individualized educational "packet" teaching), this might not be as difficult, both because you would likely be working with a team, and also because you would have more time for planning, since students are working mostly independently. This process also seems a better fit in more technical type environments such as trade or career education, but perhaps it was because I saw more of those examples mentioned in the book (or I'm just crazy, and that's not the case at all). I'm sure as teaching and education continues to evolve, it will fit this process more and more clearly, since I believe that's the way the educational system is developing in order to provide students with an efficient and effective education.

Learner Evaluation

One of the issues that has been coming out in much of the research that is consistent across all learning styles is the fact that student-centered learning is a much more effective method than instructor-oriented learning. Even in Instructional Design, if the research and Learner Analysis tends to support this type of learning, it is easy to see how all types of instruction will evolve to be focused on this type of delivery. If this trend becomes more popular, then I wonder if this means that the responsibility for determining factors such as learning styles and multiple intelligences will be on the student as well. In most traditional school settings, this type of research and evaluation is done by the school (or it is just starting to get done to assist students, in any case). However, as student learning becomes more student-centered, and as student options for their education becomes more varied, then students are going to have to take a more direct hand in determining a large portion of their learner evaluation.

The benefit of this would be two-fold. First, it would ensure that in all future learning, the student would have an effective understanding of their own learning styles and intelligences. This would guarantee easier educational experiences for them no matter which educational route they decide to take. In addition, since their educational experiences will likely continue past school and into their careers, this type of knowledge can assist them in that area as well. Second, if research holds true that students who have control of their own learning and evaluation are better learners, then it would, by extension, seem logical to let them control this type of evaluation as well in order to foster the most efficient and effective amount of learning.

This kind of standard would benefit Instructional Design as well. If students had a greater amount of knowledge and hand in determining their learning style and intelligence evaluations, this would greatly simplify learner and needs assessment stages in Instructional Design. Again, this would be beneficial in both educational and occupational environments.

I see this developing as a trend from external pressure on learners to be able to compete effectively in an educational or occupational environment. If education continues to evolve in order to provide a more effective student-centered environment with a variety of educational options for the learner, and because the responsibilities of educational institutions and Instructional Designers are already overloaded with other aspects of instructional design, at some point, learners are going to have to share some of the responsibility of not only their education, but also in its design.

Designing Motivation

I think that any person who goes to school for long enough has to have some kind of motivation that is important to their learning, because at some point, these students will be forced to take some type of class that is part of their general education requirement, but it's not something they're interested in. If the motivation for most classes is that it has something to do with a student's future career, they are very interested in learning the material. Motivation in that instance kind of comes with the territory. However, when it comes to those non-major classes, a student has to switch their tactics for motivation, because they won't be able to buy the fact that they'll use it in their future. The greatest lesson I ever learned in undergrad was that I needed to find some new way to motivate myself for general ed classes. Thankfully, I had some good teachers who knew their classes were general ed, so they tried activities that would make the subject as interesting as possible, or they worked to create activities that were relevant in most people's lives, or they used as much multimedia as they could to to keep our attention. If I didn't have one of the good gen ed teachers, then I had to work on motivating myself. Usually, I could force myself to do about an hour of uninteresting work a day, so if I could make myself space the work out, I could maintain an effective level of motivation. I also tried making a game out of it, like I would see how fast I could finish a certain page number for reading. So, obviously, motivation comes into play along a long enough educational time line.

When it comes to what I tap into to motivate students, there is a lot that depends on my attitude and how I begin a lesson. I can't be too excited, as that always makes students suspicious. However, if I look uninterested, that will never turn out well. Even if I'm having a particularly bad day, I really have to turn on the Oscar performance. If I'm somewhere in the middle, but closer to excited, I can empathize with students by telling them that I understand that they may not be interested, or that they may think the material is too difficult. I can then give them some examples from my own life about how I motivated myself even though the work seemed uninteresting or difficult. I also try to be one of those good teachers that I had by trying to create activities as close to their real lives as possible, or to use a variety of media to teach information and assess their learning. This also helps with managing students as well. I won't have nearly as many discipline problems if I can just get the students to find some motivation somewhere. When I taught Shakespeare in Western Kansas, I especially ran into student motivation problems, whether it was related to disinterest or fear of difficulty. So, I tried to cheer them up with anecdotes about my own first fears of Shakespeare, and how easy they're going to have it compared to the teacher that I had for English classes. I also go over activities with them to practice how to get meaning out of text even when you don't know all of the words used. We also did activities during the reading where they had to adapt a scene or two into a more modern film version. And, of course, even though it broke the flow of the story, I would continuously stop the reading at regular intervals in order to check for understanding and to cheer them on.

I don't think it matters that a student's motivation is different from a teacher's, as long as they are going in the same direction. I'm sure a teacher is worried about how a given student will do on their assessments, and whether their competency is adequate enough, or whether their lesson is effectively reaching the greatest number of students. Students are wondering how lessons will help them get into the school they want, or how the lesson could possibly help them in their future careers. They are vaguely focused in the same direction, but they're coming at goals from different angles. It's only when the student isn't motivated enough toward the goal that causes problems. There are other factors that can cause a gap in learning between student and teacher, but I don't think it's the difference in motivation that's behind it, only the lack of motivation on the part of either the student or the teacher.

How to Make a Horror Film

Okay, I messed up and posted this assignment on the message board instead of putting it on my blog. Sorry about that...here goes.

The How-To guide that I picked for this activity was one for making a horror movie. I imagine that this was probably written by a younger person meant to give ideas for horror filmmaking to someone his age. There were two main problems that this author had with this guide: organization and lack of content in some areas. This guide was divided into 4 sections: Steps in the Process, Tips, Warnings, and Things You'll Need. Now, I'm not sure if the author got to choose the order of these topics, but it would seem a lot wiser from the start if you put the Things You'll Need Section first, as that would help the Process section make a lot more sense. Also, getting all of the necessary items together is actually the first step in the process, so it makes sense that it would be the first section. There doesn't also seem to be much of a plan when it comes to how to order the whole Process section. Some of the steps seem to be organized chronologically based on the actual filmmaking process, but other steps just seemed to be added out of sequence, as if the author remembered something and added right where he or she was in the writing process. There were also several things missing from the content and description of individual steps that led to some confusion (and more than a little laughter). First, the author does not go into detail at all about what type of camera would be good to use in this process (or even what features on a camera might be useful to use in making a horror movie). The author says that a filmmaker should use "scary or scratchy" music without explaining what they meant by such music, or they could at least provide some examples of what that type of music is. Although the author has some good ideas for tips, he or she doesn't explain them fully enough that someone who isn't as familiar with literature or film would understand. For example, the author points out that the filmmaker should make an ordinary object the center of the drama, which is a fantastic idea for a horror movie, but he or she doesn't go on to explain what this means, how it can be done, or give examples of this idea. Also, the author completely skips most of the actual plot process of the filmmaking, although he or she does state, "You don't really need a script." Now, I'm as cynical as the next film buff when it comes to the horrific state of horror movies these days, but no script at all? I would think that some writing, or at least a detailed outline, would have to be involved in a good horror film, even an amateur one. Why not take the time to do one when it's cheap to write one? Some of the funniest parts of the guide included the use of Robert DeNiro's Hide and Seek as a prime example of the scary horror movie. Out of all the scary movies out there, that's the one that comes to mind first? Also, in the Things You'll Need section, the author has included "chainsaw" with no explanation whatsoever. I hope this kid has good parents.

Designing Instruction is Like...

Designing instruction is like medical treatment. The first thing that doctors do is get a thorough analysis of the illness (problem), patient (audience), and situation (environment or context). This is done by talking to the patient about the symptoms (interview/survey are kind of a needs analysis), examining the patient (task and need analysis), and running tests (task and needs analysis). If the problem is particularly complicated or mysterious, the doctor may confer with experts, do online research, or confer with his or her peers (this is part of the goal development and the beginnings of the design phase). Then the doctors work with the patient to treat them (design and evaluation), and the treatment is followed by one to several checkups in the following days or weeks (evaluation). Another important part of this simile is the idea that this system does not work in a vacuum. There are many factors such as hospital administration and policies (state and local boards of education) that have a profound affect on each step of the process above. Also, just like in designing instruction, medical processes are also influenced by financial concerns such as insurance (school or business funding for instruction). These factors can change the process in beneficial and detrimental cases, or they could have no effect at all. Also important to remember is that there is no set process when it comes to medical procedures, even if the illnesses (problems) are the same. This is simply because no patient (audience member or student) is the same, so each needs to have their own individualized treatment. For example, while one patient may be cured with antibiotics, another may require a completely different treatment due to allergies to antibiotics. Some may have other conditions which must be remedied before treatment for the new illness can begin, just as some students need help from special services to help them catch back up to where learners at their current age level are at.

Lessons the Hard Way

For this blog, our assignment is to conduct a learner analysis on ourselves. I decided that since I had posted on our class message board that the learner analysis I was most interested in was the Dick, Carey, and Carey method, I would turn the focus back on myself to practice analyzing using their method.

Instead of focusing on entry behaviors for a specific class, I decided to first look at my history as a student. I remember always being very focused as a younger student. I never considered leaving an assignment incomplete or a concept unlearned. I enjoyed reading in my spare time, and I was already showing signs of enjoying creative writing myself. When I was in the third grade, I wrote a play about a space monster that some friends of mine and I acted out in class. When I was in the sixth grade, I wrote a story that my teacher got published as a book in our local library. I loved games and puzzles, especially when I was introduced to logic problems by one of my middle school teachers. When I moved to the middle school level, I had missed some kind of test that would have placed me in the advanced math class, and so I was placed in the middle level math track, which was completely frustrating to me. As I moved into high school, I felt less challenged by the classwork, and so my work progress began to become half-hearted, and I started to develop procrastination tendencies. When I became a junior, however, I found a class that finally challenged me. My junior and senior English teacher, Mrs. Claire, was one of the most demanding teachers that I had ever met, and she expected nothing but the best from me. She really helped me hone my verbal and logical skills, as she would have essay tests over literature units that would literally last weeks at a time. This may sound grueling, but every single one of her students loved it. Not only did I decide to choose Language Arts education as my major, but I couldn't have been better prepared for any writing assignments I would ever be faced with in the future. I did enjoy my other subjects to a point in school, but I found it harder and harder to put an effort into them. It might have been that most of them were not nearly as challenging as my English classes, but I think I tended to have a personal preference that played a part in it as well. In college, I had a hard time with self-motivation, and my procrastination became more pronounced. I continued to work hard on my English classes, and in addition I began to work in Theater more, which was something I had only done in an extra-curricular fashion in high school. As for grade performance, I mostly earned A's and B's, with the occasional C thrown in for good measure. It wasn't until I got into my first Master's Degree program that I turned around my study habits, mostly because I didn't have any choice. A Master's in English required me to read a book a week practically for each class, so there was little time in my life that wasn't devoted to homework. I started to organize my time and life a lot more efficiently, and this has thankfully carried over into my teaching career and work on my second Master's Degree.

As for attitudes toward content, I would say that I'm someone that finds some interesting angle in all of the learning I do. It also helps that I'm only taking classes in my major now that I'm in grad school, but I also think that there are many learning experiences outside of something I pay for that I have learned to enjoy, simply because I'm adding to my knowledge of the world. I have a great attitude toward most content. As for my attitude toward delivery systems, I'd say I have the easiest time with discussions or group activities. Maybe it's the teacher or old Theater major in me, but I just can't stand lectures, or anything that's one-sided. An example of the type of delivery method that I hate happens pretty much during most teacher inservices I go to these days. We're there to learn a new concept (or more likely there to rehash an old one), and we have to sit there all day taking notes while someone talks to us. I like learning, but only if it's collaborative. I also really enjoy anything technology related, as I've always been a complete tech nerd. Even though I love this aspect of learning, it hasn't really been directly involved in my education really until now, since most of my previous majors and classes either avoided technology as much as they could, or they were before much technology (other than overhead projectors) had been integrated into classes.

As for academic motivation, I would say that it's quite high for me now. Not only am I getting a degree in education, which is something I've always been interested in, but it's also technology-related for the most part, which makes my excitement for the classes increase two-fold. Although the work can seem a little complex at times, it's always challenging and I never seem to want for motivation. Any time you take away the challenge for me in my history as a learner, my motivation and work ethic always seems to slacken in turn.

My general learning preferences would have to be verbal, especially when it involves two-way communication or group discussion. Nothing helps me flesh out concepts like discussing them with others. Additionally, I would say that I'm a creative learner, as I like brainstorming interesting ways to present my learning or ideas (mostly verbally, as I'm not very artistic). I would also say I've fallen into the more logical type of style as I've gotten older, as I tend to be cautious and think ideas through or problem-solve as much as I can. I also think my logic tended to become more pronounced once I started working more on organizing my time to become a more efficient student.

Other than a few bad experiences with some bad educators, I tend to have a very healthy attitude toward educational organizations. Every educational institution has its bad administrator, but I really feel trusting of most people in charge of my learning, and they've very rarely let me down. I think it would be difficult to be an educator myself if I was short on trust for the organizations involved. I try to promote that trust in my own students, even though doing that in my current job is difficult, as nearly all of my students have the exact opposite attitude I do, sometimes with good reason. However, what's great about teaching is that this challenge is a learning experience once again for me, as I learn to appreciate how great my own education was for me, and I am able to use my own experiences as a learner to build back up a good trust with my own students.

As I mentioned previously, I enjoy working collaboratively when it comes to learning. It's very difficult to find someone that I don't get along with, if only as a fellow learner. I have learned great skills in my education and experience that help me with working in a variety of groups with a great variety of people. I feel as though I'm very balanced as well when working in a group, as I'm a strong enough worker that I make sure that I have something to contribute to the group as well, but I'm not so strong that I don't appreciate what I can learn from other group members. Since I've been training to become the lead tech person in our school, I've really felt that I've become even more motivated in successful group work, as there's something even more interesting to be involved in when it comes to education.

I think the main points of a learning analysis on myself is that I enjoy group learning experiences, preferably involving technology. I enjoy challenges, and my work will actually worsen if a challenge is not provided. I can find a way to become motivated for many types of learning experiences, as I have a general interest in all types of new learning. I think I would be a good candidate for the types of environments that our educational systems are evolving towards, which is good, as I plan on being a lifelong learner, and I'd hate to get behind on the times by not evolving myself.

Why Design Instruction?

In thinking about the question in the title above, I really began by thinking, as I usually do, about the negative image teachers usually get in their profession. Recent headlines and news segments today are no different than they have been: Schools are failing students, teachers are overpaid and not held accountable for enough in their profession, and even the age-old argument that "those who can't teach," or that, really, anyone could do what instructors do.

So, what I believe is the strongest answer to this question is that if teachers are going to argue against this wave of negativity, they have to first and formost remain professionals in their careers as educators. Primarily, this consists of planning instruction with the careful and systematic approach with which they've hopefully been trained to use. Many people could step into the job of training for a day and teach a lesson or two, but it is only a professionally trained teacher who can assess the needs of students in a correct manner, design instruction to meet that need, and then evaluate those designs to ensure that needs are met. This is a process that can take years to get used to, and it can take a lifetime to master. If critics continue to have isssues, then this system by nature at least creates records (if the designer or designers are professionals) which can show the world how just as much planning, study, and professionalism goes into designing instruction as it does to, say, construct a building or conduct scientific research.

It is the correlation between instructional design and scientific research that is also important in underlining another reason for having a design for instruction. There are really two reasons why scientists use systems, especially the scientific metthod, in their studies and experiments. The first is so that, in publishing their findings, anyone can see proof of the work put into their efforts, and the results obtained. This is similar to the argument for instructional design that I outlined above. The second reason scientists use a uniform system in their work is so that other scientists can duplicate the work done, either to test it themselves for effectiveness, or to improve and build upon the original work to create something improved. This same argument also works concerning the need for designing instruction. If instructors use uniform systems in their design, then other instructors could duplicate this instruction on their own to test or improve the design. These systems work to create an efficient and effective scientific community, and they can do the same for the community of instructional designers.

When thinking about communities of instructional designers, in fact, it's still hard to imagine just how much innovations in technology and communication have changed the world of instructional design, not to mention the individuals responsible for it and their relationships with their peers. If a wide variety of professions are becoming more and more networked as time progresses, including instructional design, then its easy to see how design will become dependent less on individuals, and more dependent on teams of designers, both because it makes their efforts more efficient, but also because it is becoming more and more difficult for individuals to remain effective designers with the explosion of information and educational media varieties out there. If the evolution of instructional design is moving from individual to group work, then it is an obvious point that using a system approach will be a necessity in effective instructional design.

Welcome to the Blog!

This is it! This blog is being constructed as part of a class I'm taking on Instructional Design. Part of the intent of the course is to allow me to learn new learning methods (mostly online-related) I can use in designing innovative instruction for my own classroom. i am a graduate student at K-State University, all while I'm teaching full time for the local school district! I hope to learn a lot from these classes throughout the semester, and as a computer geek, I'm really excited to be learning new technological innovations in education. Enjoy!