ETEC 561 - Blog 4 - Trends & Issues in IDT

1. Business and Industry

Companies are no stranger to IDT; every company that I have ever worked for (of a decent size – not a mom and pop business) has had a department or individual that oversees training.  One of the main uses of IDT in business and industry is looking at human performance.  Businesses want efficient and knowledgeable employees and it is usually up to a trainer or training department to dig through the performance issues and come up with viable solutions to get employees in shape.  External consultants are also an important part of corporate IDT for those companies that cannot get employees over the performance “humps” or those companies that are simply not large enough to have in-house IDT support.

Healthcare Education

Healthcare education and IDT have a relationship similar to that of business/industry and IDT.  IDT and training are essential parts of the healthcare system.  Medical technology changes at a very rapid pace and with those changes comes the need to train healthcare administrators and practitioners in those new technologies.  In addition to technology, patient care laws and policies also change.  Those that are not on the administrative side of medicine probably do not find about these changes as quickly as they need to.   This is the niche of the in-house IDT educator or consultant; they find ways to deliver this training and set about implementing the training.  They also tend to have familiarity with the healthcare system due to some of the proprietary terminology used in that setting.

Post-Secondary Education

IDT takes a more direct role in post-secondary education.  Where K-12 (or P-12 as stated in the book) teachers worry more about methods and pedagogy, the desire of post-secondary instructors is to deliver content (that they happen to be very knowledgeable about.)  Instructional designers are charged with taking this content and adapting the delivery to it can be effectively given to the students.  All colleges/universities have an in-house IDT team that constantly works with outside vendors and outside consultants to maximize the experiences that students have while taking their coursework.

Across all sectors, IDT has a very influential role.  Our society’s reliance on technology has opened up opportunities for those that are good at integrating technology with learning to help out on every avenue.  Instructional designers and IDT experts across the spectrum use the same process: they identify the problem or bottleneck, design cost-effective solutions, and implement those solutions.  One of the main differences between instructional designers in these settings an in my setting (K-12/P-12) is the clientele that we deal with.  Whereas business/industry/healthcare/post-secondary instructional designers cater primarily to adults or young adults, our primary audience are the students who do not possess the same drive and mentality as many of the adults do.  Our instruction has to be designed to “catch” before it can deliver.

2. The first thing that we must teach our students is that we are all stewards or our society and our world.  This means that problems (and solutions) have global implications (environment and economy.)  It does not take great effort to see that we need to change the way we do some things in order to change the impact that we have on our planet.  If we learned to live more efficiently and cut down consumption, then we would be starting on the right path to alter our future.  The answer, though, is not simply legislating the problems away; we have to have innovative solutions to solve our problems.  My goal as an educator is to make students aware of our situation and foster an environment for critical thinkers to thrive and move on after high school.  Students are afraid to take chances because they feel that they are owed something; instead of relying on their hard work, they take the easy way out.  Our culture must learn that life is not always about everyone winning; it is about learning to be competitive and shining through your merit.  This applies to athleticism as well as coming up with great ideas; I agree wholeheartedly with the statement that often times “great risk leads to great reward.”  I found that to be the case in my engineering career as long as I knew how to make a calculated risk.

ETEC 561 - Blog 3 - Evaluating Programs & Human Performance

1. Two additional models of Instructional Design evaluation are the ADDIE model and Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction.  The ADDIE model is a systematic process that involves five phases.  The five phases are as follows:

A – Analysis – The instructional problem is identified and goals/objectives are established.  The learner’s previous experience and acquired knowledge (as applied to the problem) are also identified at this stage.

D – Design – Learning objectives, assessment instruments, materials used, and content are identified and systematically put into place.

D -  Development – The design elements are assembled into meaningful instruction pieces.

I – Implementation – Procedures for training facilitators and learners is developed.  Facilitators should be changes in all designed/developed aspects of the course.

E – Evaluation – Includes both formative and summative components.  Formative assessments should occur at every step of the process.  Summative assessments should address specific components and give opportunities for feedback.

After much reflection on the ADDIE model, it came to me that much of my instructional design in the tech classes that I teach build upon this model.  Some of the engineering process is mirrored in the ADDIE model and that is a process that I am very familiar with.  I like the notion of assessment not only evaluating the learner but also evaluating the course/facilitator.   That step is important for delivering successful instruction.

The second additional model that I looked at was Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction.  Merrill uses his model to evaluate problem-based instruction, which I deal with on a daily basis as an engineering and technology instructor.  His model involves students in four distinct phases of learning (all centered around a problem.)

According to Merrill, these are his First Principles:

Learning is facilitated when learners are engaged in solving real-world problems.

Learning is facilitated when existing knowledge is activated as a foundation for new knowledge.

Learning is facilitated when new knowledge is demonstrated to the learner.

Learning is facilitated when new knowledge is applied by the learner

Learning is facilitated when new knowledge is integrated into the learner's world.

This model is a little less exhaustive than the ADDIE model but it provides a good basis for effectively using problem-based learning.  My plan is to use this model for evaluation of instructional activities that I plan in my courses this next school year.  These principles all have very tangible aspects and should be able to be easily measured or observed.

Source: http://www.instructionaldesigncentral.com/htm/IDC_instructionaldesignmodels.htm

2. Instructional Design should also address questions such as “Does the course allow for interaction/feedback like traditional methods?” and “Does the course have the same rigor as a course designed to use traditional methods?”.  One of the misconceptions of courses that are designed to utilize a lot of technology is that the level of rigor is not equal to that of traditionally delivered courses.  I do not see merit in this misconception from my experience but many beginning students do.

Return on Investiment (ROI) and resource management should always be evaluated when looking at instructional programs.  It is not effective use of time or money to do things just for the sake of doing them; in the same light, if an instructional program is not operating efficiently or to its full potential then the prudent option is re-evaluating and re-designing the program so that it does.

3. One of the biggest performance problems in my line of work is that teachers (and, often, administrators) are not technologically prepared to meet the needs of 21^st century learners.  They are very adept at instruction and analyzing data but when it comes to using Microsoft Excel or Gmail, they are clueless.  Unfortunately, spreadsheets and e-mail are staples of education so this forms a huge technology gap between newer teachers and those yet to embrace the technology.

Two of the solutions to this problem are through the use of knowledge management systems and informal learning.  In my opinion, the two of these go hand-in-hand.  Knowledge management systems are a great means of accessing and storing all of the informal learning options for learners.  MOOC providers such as Coursera, Khan Academy, Udacity, and Udemy offer courses in technology, office applications, math, and science to anyone that has the desire to learn.  These courses are self-paced and learners are all part of a community to help them through the courses.

ETEC 561 - Blog 2 - Theories & Models of Learning & Instruction

1. Epistemology is more a philosophical idea than an instructional method or theory.  Epistemology is concerned with the very nature of what knowledge in addition to how knowledge is acquired.  The ideas behind knowledge can change given the context of the information; the instructional methods and theories then adapt to that changed epistemology.

As educators, we cannot effectively enlighten others with knowledge if we do not truly know what knowledge is and how it is attained.  This would be like learning to do mathematics by shortcuts and tricks; it completely bypasses the intricacies and beauty of the subject matter.  Once we are able to define what we are aiming to teach (or what knowledge we wish to further) and how the learner is to acquire it, then we can develop the proper method or theory to instruct students with that knowledge.

2. The stance that I align most closely with is that of the relativist.  As described in the text, the description of the relativist that reality is subject to perception or a subject's frame of reference.  A person's reality is based upon how they are experiencing it.  If things are generally going well for them, even a bump in the road will not cause them to lose their heading.  On the other hand, if it seems that the whole world is out to get them, then even the slightest set back sends them to the end of their rope. 

I have had a few conflicts in the past with other instructors on ways to teach certain topics.  One particular colleague happened to be a math teacher that had always been of the mindset that there was one correct way to go about solving a problem.  When students were working on proofs, they could reproduce her solutions and even come up with mathematically accepted methods of working the problem but she would not give them credit unless they worked the problems exactly as she had showed them in class.  She was a contextualist and believed that the ways she had been taught were the only ways; this conflicted greatly with the way that I taught my class - if students could use "legal" methods to work a problem and come up with the correct solution, then it didn't bother me.  I am not about to re-invent the wheel just to build the cart.  She and I finally had to sit down with our department chair and work out the differences; she eventually conceded, though, and became a little more open-minded with the work of her students.

3. Behaviorist theories are more based on observing and making predictions.  Behaviorists find solutions to problems based on the experiences of the learner.  Behaviorists can also attempt to condition the learner to react or make decisions in a certain way.  Instruction is built around how students will react to certain cues or stimuli and those are adapted to change the effectiveness of the instruction.

Constructivists, on the other hand, look at past experiences and the abilities of the learner.  Learners solve problems by thinking through them rather than being motivated by feedback.  Learners in the constructivist environment would be more self-motivated and able to make corrections to their own learning if redirection is needed.  Constructivists modify instruction based on feedback received by students rather than the other way around.

Students in a behaviorist classroom are more extrinsically motivated than those in the constructivist classroom.  Behaviorist learners are more akin to receiving feedback and acting on that feedback; their motivation comes from the instructor telling them that they did a good job or guiding them to the next step.  Constructivist learners tend to have more self-motivation; they learn from their experiences and use those experiences to guide them through the steps of problem solving.

ETEC 561 - Blog 1 - Defining the IDT Field

1. Although previous definitions of the "educational technology" or "instructional design and technology" fields were numerous, they seemed to focus more on the media and the delivery.  Later and current definitions began to consider the human aspect and how technology can be systematically implemented into the classroom and other educational settings.  Educational technology doesn't rely on so the type of technology used (whether it is the latest and greatest or older technology); the purpose and the implementation of the technology is what matters.

2. For my Forensic Science classes this year, I had the students produce a video in the form of the television series CSI.  They were graded on a rubric and had to include most of the Forensic techniques that we studies and used in class.  They were also required to share the videos with other teams via our class YouTube channel.  This project was very student-centered, goal-oriented, focused on meaningful performance, and a team effort.  These four aspects of instructional design were met by this project.  Although there were parts that were empirical, iterative and self-correcting, for the most part, the project was not.  I would have been better with this characteristic if students did more work in smaller and measurable chunks rather than giving them a firm due date and allowing them to work at their pace.  Likewise, validity and reliability were very subjective since I was the sole source of grading.  The rubric made grading consistent but there were still some subjective aspects of the scoring.

3. Although Reiser makes a good point in his distinction between instructional media and instructional design, I am not sure if I completely agree.  Teachers, chalkboards, and textbooks are all forms of media that are essential to instruction.  Yes, they can be used exclusively but that does not diminish their importance to the instructional process.  The purpose of instructional design is not entirely incorporating media into instruction; the design of instruction should also focus on student engagement outside the use of instructional media.  Effective instructional design doesn't always have to include the use of technology as defined here.