Week 5

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How might you incorporate photo sharing in an educational activity or unit?

I am not a teacher but I can imagine all sorts of scenarios one can incorporate photo sharing into an educational unit. At the college level in one of the general education classes such as History of Art a professor could share photos from the Renaissance through the contemporary period. You can also utilize the tag feature so students can find the photos introduced in that period. One could drag-and-drop photos onto a map to show where the art pictures were taken. Or the student could browse a world map to see where pictures were taken. I can also see creating hyperlinks for more information about each period of art as another extension of learning.

Another scenario is in a photography class. Students can be super creative with the headings and descriptions and basically tell a story with their pictures. Students can also describe the type of picture dimensions in the description.

Of course there is always a concern when allowing students the freedom to post and create web pages, blogs, photo sharing, etc. Students can disrupt any learning environment whether it is in class or on-line. I would have students sign a “code of ethics” when using these tools. If they break the rules and post or download something inappropriate, then the privilege is taken away. I don’t think this would be a problem at the college level, however in middle and high school, you may encounter some immaturity.

I love the "how to greet people in various languages" feature when you log onto flickr.

Chapter 2 Reflection on What is Instructional Design?

The chapter started off sounding kind of techie and systematic to me, with all the mention of complex and systems theory, however, as I continued to read through it, it got better.

Instructional Design is not an exact science—like the author points out the “ADDIE activities are not completed in a linear step-by-step manner”. It is often necessary to go back and forth among analysis, design and evaluation when working on a project. That is the great strength of this process—being able to communicate with team members and clients and go back to the drawing board if needed.

In a prior job as a research associate my team utilized the same systematic process described in Chapter 2, I didn’t realize it at the time, but now that I am studying about Instructional Design I see the correlation. Our evaluation team used the same ADDIE phases in the following ways:
A=Analysis—we always conducted a needs assessment before the start of a project. We conducted surveys, completed site visits and completed interviews to identify the problems and the scope of the project. Data collection continued throughout the project.

D=Design—we came up with goals and objectives so that we could measure them in the end. We knew what the client wanted to accomplish at the end of the project through these objectives. We all shared the same vision.

D=Development—we then developed materials so that the objectives we wanted to measure and accomplish could be defined and could be evaluated with hopefully positive results.

I=Implementation—we implemented and delivered the instruction whether the projects involved students, teachers and/or administrators. It all depended on the project and the design and development of the materials.

E=Evaluation—we always conducted post surveys as well as pre surveys to compare and measure the results in a systemic process. We also conducted post interviews and other processes such as site visits to evaluate the end result.

I was pleasantly surprised to find many, many similarities in what I have done in the past and what I have read in this chapter about Instructional Design. A huge part of instructional design allows for communication among team members and with the clients and in my experience the client was a school district involving the students, the teachers, and the administration. I particularly enjoyed working on the Michigan Math and Science Centers Evaluation.

I find the characteristics of Instructional Design very useful and I agree wholeheartedly with the authors that Instructional Design is:
• Learner centered
• Goal oriented
• Meaningful performance
• Measurable outcomes (reliable and valid)
• Practical and self-correcting
• Team effort!

My delicious website:

http://delicious.com/betsydrummer

WEEK 4

Social Bookmarking

The name “delicious” was intriguing. Who ever came up with that name is creative. The whole system of social bookmarking is a neat way to store and manage bookmarks. Many times I have been at a different computer and wanted to go to one of my bookmarks, I have to Google it in and many times, Google doesn’t bring the exact website to your fingertips.

I started tagging my favorite advising bookmarks and found it a great way to keep them in one spot. One step further, when I asked delicious to bring up all the tagged bookmarks with advising as the tag, I was pleasantly surprised to see many, many websites for advising all over the country. I could have spent a couple of hours just checking out each website to see what the buzz is about “advising”.

A scenario I can image social bookmarking would be helpful is in an organization that does evaluation work, such as the Evaluation Center at Western. Researchers working on the same project can easily share this list and also direct grad students to it. You could also find the list through keywords.

Another advantage would be if that particular site would periodically verify that bookmarks still work, and if not, alert users that the URL no longer functions.

I am thrilled to have learned about another “tech savvy” tool.

Trends and Issues (Chapter 1)

I agree first and foremost that there is no single definition to describe this field. I could relate to the first section of the chapter, I remember when the word audiovisual first became popular—as a student I looked forward to something different than just the teacher talking on and on. The field has taken huge leaps and bounds over the years. As I read the different definitions over the span of years I was in awe at how far we have come in this field.

It was refreshing to read that in 2006 the AECT committee included the word ethical. I agree that those in the profession must maintain a high level of professional conduct. Really, every profession should have a Code of Ethics. I wouldn’t want an accountant doing my taxes if he/she wasn’t ethical.

I agree that professionals in the field of instructional design and technology (IDT) must be concerned with human performance and focus on improving human performance in the workplace. I liked that the new definition included a new emphasis on improving performance in the workplace—“human performance technology or performance improvement movement.”

I was surprised to read so much about the human performance end. I have always agreed that the human element in the workplace is most important to job performance. Creating, using and managing are all part of human behavior. The AECT has included these words in their definition.

As the chapter concluded, I have to say I relate more with the authors of this book as to what I hope the field is all about.

Week 3: Reflections on using a wiki

Today is Sunday and I have logged on to the E-Learning system and have created a wiki account. However, I am very confused at this point and just wanted to make sure I document how I am feeling at this time. I am hoping my partners in this assignments will be familiar with a wiki and can get it "started".

About 5 hours later, I think I finally got it. Not that I have worked on it for that long. But I have logged on and off several times as time allowed today. I also watched the video and that helped. I am anxious to see if my partners can log on and also edit and collaborate.

Today, Monday, one of my partners logged on and added some text and we commented to each other on the wiki in the comment section, so I feel so much better. I believe we are collaborating on a project "on line" and I think its pretty neat.

How I might consider using a wiki in my career:

I am very curious if the the students I advised in the upper level business administration courses have ever used a wiki. I am going to start asking some junior and senior level students in the undergraduate programs if they have ever used a wiki. I can see where a wiki would be very, very convenient for group projects. I often hear of students being upset with their "group" because they never attend project meetings and never contribute to the project. Or I hear complaints that a member of the project brought down their overall grade because of not doing what was assigned to them. I believe that if the professors allowed the use of wiki's for group projects, it would make it easier to contribute when and where it is convenient for each individual. If I were a teacher I would like to set up a wiki for a group project. It is an awesome tool and I think every graduate of WMU should be exposed to it.

Week 1 Reflections for EDT 5410

Assignment 1- Readings and Reflections

Beyond Technology Integration: The Case for Technology Transformation and Of Luddites, Learning, and Life

The first article I read Beyond Technology Integration: The Case for Technology Transformation has a recurring theme “quantum improvement”. I do agree our current educational system needs “quantum improvements”. And I also agree, only through transformation will our educational system provide students with a “customized and diverse” education leading to improvements. The question becomes how do we bring about such a transformation?

The author mentions sorting students in this article and again I agree with his theory. Sorting does not work, as early as preschool there are great differences in learning behavior among students. Children have different backgrounds and learn at different speeds. The AR (accelerated reading) program that many school districts have adopted is a wonderful example of software that will keep track of individual student’s progress in reading. Each student can read at their own level and speed and the computer generated reports inform parents of their child’s progress and standing.

The quantum improvements the author is talking about makes sense to me if they can be implemented. The schools have to be willing to invest in professional development for teachers to learn about the information age (Table 1) and learn all about “technology transformation”. The learning institutions will also have to have a budget for buying technology. Learning this technology will allow teachers to individualize education and achieve the concepts of the learning-focused paradigm of education needed for this transformation to take place.

This article for me was much better than the Of Luddites, Learning and Life. I think since this article was written our school districts and higher learning institutions have been transforming toward this paradigm. I know Western Michigan University continues to upgrade their E-Learning courses and add additional programs that help to deliver more technology based instruction to our students. In just the last couple of years, “quantum improvements” have been made at WMU and we are well known for our IT department.

The Of Luddites, Learning and Life article was extreme to me. I disagree with Postman when he states that technologies are a distraction. Maybe some students spend too much time on Facebook, but that can also serve as a networking tool. Students have to have the discipline to be able to distinguish if they have the time for distractions or if they need to get some homework done.

About the only thing I can relate to in Postman’s article is when he talks about the principle functions of school is to teach children how to behave in groups. Children do need to know how to participate in a disciplined way, but it is not entirely the schools responsibility. Parents also have the responsibility to train their children at home to be socially responsible, to help them think critically and to act right! Information is not the cause of crime; it is not the cause of marriages breaking up either. I don’t agree at all with Neil Postman’s article when he states that information has become a form of garbage.

The Charles Reigeluth article was much more enjoyable for me to read than Postman’s. Postman appears to be out of date with reality and maybe angry with the technological advancements that have been implemented in schools in the last 20 years. Reigeluth is more forward thinking and positive about what can transform schools to make quantum improvements in the way we teach and learn.