Section 7: New Directions for Instructional Design and Technology: Due 12/16/2011

The last section of your textbook discusses the concepts of distributed learning, reusability, rich media and the future of instructional design. Focus on the following for your post:

• From Chapter 28 locate 5 examples of distributed learning. You may pick and choose from the following list.  
• Corporate distributed learning
• Academic distributed learning
• Distributed resource support
• Hybrid classes
• Virtual classes
• Distributed learning based at physical locations
• Distributed learning via virtual institutions
• For-profit distributed learning
• Free distributed learning
• Skills-based training
• Knowledge based learning
• Chapter 29 discusses the concept of reusability. Think back over the courses you've had over your educational career and identify one with poor reusability characteristics. Explain how the course could be redesigned to improve reusability without changing the underlying content.
• Chapter 30 takes a look at using rich media. Find or create a visual for instruction describing its surface and functional features. 
• Chapter 31 discusses the future of instructional technologies in the near future from metadata to nanotechnology. Describe how nanotechnology could be used to improve a specific job or task you are familiar with.  
• And finally! Chapter 32 provides two points of view on the direction of the field - the straight and narrow road and the broad and inclusive road. Which point of view do you agree with and why?

Section 6: Getting an IDT Position and Succeeding at It Due 12/09/2011

Section 6 of your textbook focuses on how to get a job in the profession of instructional design. These rules can also apply to educational technology as well since the two are so intertwined.

• Chapter 24 takes a look at lessons learned from the chapter's author for obtaining a position in instructional design. Take a look at a few of the sources provided for job openings from lesson 1 and search for at least 3 positions that are of interest to you. Describe the general nature of the positions and list the skills required for the job. Do you have these skills? 
• Remember that the field of instructional/educational technology is not just focused on education, but on business and industry as well. Look at the resources provided on page 258 in chapter 25 and select one of these links and complete the self assessment. What did you learn about yourself from the assessment? 
• Chapter 26 lists several websites for professional organizations and websites for professional publications. Visit 2-3 websites for professional organizations and 2-3 websites for the professional publications and address the following:
• Professional organizations:
• Mission
• Cost of membership
• Publications
• Conferences and meetings
• Opportunities for professional development
• Professional publications:
• Focus/Goals of the journal
• Submission guidelines
• Is this a peer reviewed journal?
• Is the journal online? 
• How is the journal and organization useful to you and your career? Were you aware of the organizations/journals that you researched? 
• Chapter 27 looks at competencies for instructional design and technology professionals. If you were responsible for identifying the domains, competencies, and performance statements for a performance technologist, what would they include and why? 

Section 5: Trends and Issues in Various Settings. Due 12/02

Section 5 of your textbook focuses on trends and issues where instructional designers are likely to become employed to include business and industry, the military, the medical field, P-12 education, and higher education. This week's posting will focus primarily on military and education; however, I encourage you to read the chapter in the medical field as it's important to be aware of changes going on outside of education.

• Chapter 18 discusses instructional design in business and industry. Give an example of rapid prototyping and discuss how this could be used in education.
• Chapter 19 discusses instructional design opportunities in military education and training environments. Pretend you are hired as a consultant for the military. They want to use technology in its training, but electronic access is not always available. Using the Full Spectrum diagram, what alternatives could you suggest for a successful program?
• Chapter 21 looks at radical educational change in P-12 settings. Review the Step-Up-To-Excellence methodology and the GSTE. Outline a staff development activity that will introduce both methodologies to your colleagues. 
• Navigating through the ranks of a faculty member in higher education can be tricky. A good institution has support for its faculty and provides faculty development opportunities to grow and learn. Research three different university offices for faculty development. Answer the following questions for each office:
• What are the different names used for faculty development?
• What division is it under?
• What services does it offer?
• How often are programs given and what specifically are they?

Section 4: Human Performance Technology DUE: 11/25

Not all solutions to learning and/or performance require an instructional one. Many times a non-instructional approach is the better solution. This week's posting concentrates on human performance, electronic performance support systems, the use of knowledge management systems, and the concept of informal learning.

1. Chapter 14 discusses the concept of the evolution of human performance improvement. Several sections of chapter 14 present a variety of non instructional solutions to performance problems. Identify a performance problem in your area of work and provide a non instructional solution to solve the problem. 
2. Chapter 15 presents several definitions of electronic performance support systems. In addition to these definitions, locate a few more and indicate your preference explaining why you prefer it. Additionally, describe why you believe EPSS have not been widely used and if they are more likely be become more prevalent in the future. 
3. Knowledge management is the way we manage information, share that information, and use it. Organizations, such as schools, are full of information/data and we must organize that data in a way that we can make sense of it. We use data to make decisions and good data=good decision making. Identify a real or hypothetical problem in your line of work. How might a blended learning approach, including the use of a knowledge management system, be use to solve the problem? 
4. Describe the types of informal learning you have been exposed to in your adult life. What was the purpose? What was the experience like? Was it engaging? Social? What role did you play? What role did the instructor play? 

Section 3: Evaluating, Implementing and Managing Instructional Programs and Projects DUE: 11/18

All too often instruction is developed with little thought as to how evaluation of learning will occur, or the evaluation of the effectiveness of the instruction. Evaluation is usually an after thought - an add on. It's time to start thinking about evaluation on the front end of the instructional design process.

Additionally, there is resistance to the adoption of technological innovations and we must develop an understanding of why and how to facilitate the adoption of innovations with an understanding of why there is resistance.

For this week's reflection activities, I would like for you to concentrate on the following:

1. Chapter 10 discusses evaluation in instructional design and provides you with two evaluation models, the CIPP and Kirkpatrick models for evaluation. Search for at least two other models used for evaluation and summarize these models. Describe how you would use them to evaluate your instruction.
2. Think about a technological innovation within your social system that was recently introduced (social system = place of work, home, etc.). Any innovation has what is known as perceived attributes - relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Describe these attributes of the innovation and which of the attributes assisted and/or hindered adoption of the innovation. For example, was it not compatible with the existing beliefs of the system or was it overly complex to use or understand?
3. Chapter's 12 & 13 focus on project management and how to manage projects when resources are scarce. You have been assigned to develop a series of professional development sessions focusing on technology use in the classroom for teachers. How will you use Situational Leadership to facilitate this project?

Virtual Office

This blog thread is to be used as a virtual office. If you have questions regarding the course, post to this thread. If you did not previously post the URL for your blog in the eCollege course, post it here now for your peers and me to use to 'follow' your blog.

A reminder that our instructional week runs from Friday to Friday. I will normally grade the postings on the Saturday following the end of the instructional week.

Section 2: Theories and Models of Learning and Instruction. Due: 11/11

Section two of your textbook focuses on theories and models for learning and instruction. It is important to be aware of one's learning style as well as know about the various theories for designing instruction for teaching and learning. For this week's reflection activities, I would like for you to focus on the following:

• Identify a specific learning goal and how you would incorporate two learning theories highlighted in Chapter 4 to achieve this goal.
• Find a reference (other than the book) that describes Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction. Then create a table or chart that compares and contrasts those events with the first principles described in chapter 7 and describe how you would apply each of the first principles to the goal you've developed from the first activity in this reflection.
• Develop a new goal or using the one you've already developed, briefly describe how you might use the whole-task approach, scaffolding, and mathemagenic methods to help students learn to perform a task.
• You have been hired to design a course for a topic in your area of specialization. Using Table 9.2 as a template, what would you incorporate into each subcategory to motivate learners?
• Finally, after completing these activities, discuss the benefits of engaging in design research.

Enable Peers to Post Comments to Your Blog

It has been brought to my attention that some of your peers are unable to post comments to your blogs.  Perhaps a few of you do not have the setting open to do so.  Please review the brief video I've created to make sure this setting is applied to your blog and let's see if this makes the difference.  Thanks!

http://screencast.com/t/Kvi8ZQDsGU

Section 1: Defining the field DUE: 11/04

The first three chapters of your textbook focus on defining the field and provide a rationale for the name of the book. Address the following activities in your blog:

1. Reflect on the definitions the book has provided and develop your own definition as it relates to your work environment.
2. Next, study the Dick, Carey and Carey model of instructional design. Redesign the model excluding and/or adding components as needed. Describe how the model adheres to the six characteristics of instructional design and how it fits in your work environment relating to your definition of instructional design.
3. And finally, in chapter 3, there is discussion on how the internet and world wide web will have a major influence on the way instruction is delivered to learners. Based on what you know about these technological innovations combined with what you have read about the history of instructional films, television, the computer and more, discuss how technology is generally used in the field of education and how you foresee technology being used in the future in the following areas: K12 Education, Higher Education and Adult Education (continuing education). For example, think about how we are using the blog to capture learning in higher education. How could it be used in K12?

Welcome to ETEC 561!

Hi all and welcome to the semester! We will use a blog for this course over the next 8 weeks. Each week you will go to my blog to read the blog reflection cues. Then, in response to the cues and your reading of the assigned chapters in the textbook you will post your written reflections on the blog you are creating throughout the course. Be sure to take the steps needed to "follow" my blog. You will eventually follow other blogs as well so that you can comment/read what your peers have posted. Go to http://breeze.tamu-commerce.edu/blogger/ to learn how to create a blogger account and begin creating your personal course blog.

My Five Granddaughters