Week 8: Chapter 18 Reflection

I found it interesting that the nature of instructional design practice in business today included work environment. I never thought of the two (instructional design & work environment) going together until I read this chapter. Of all the different careers I have held and in my current position, I consider the work environment to be an important element to my success. I would not thrive in a position where I would have to be a "sole designer" and have the success or failure of the project all on my shoulders. I much prefer a team approach. I find myself leading on some projects, but I need my team members to work along with me for efficiency and success. All members bring something unique to the table and I value a team approach all the way.

Legal issues are something I think about daily in my current position, more so than any other job. In higher ed we are constantly being reviewed and updated about FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) rules. FERPA governs and protects students' rights to their individual education records. I am sure the training I have received and the written information and updates I receive almost weekly are something the Instructional Designers took very seriously and I bet the university employed consultants when designing, producing, analysing, and evaluating FERPA training sessions. What happens if we don't comply to FERPA? LAWSUITS--that cost money and time.

Chapter 18 states that over 70% of training in the US is still delivered classroom style, with nearly 20% of the training delivered via the computer (Industry Report 1999). Since that time I would guess that percentage is much higher. I am sure the author is correct in stating that on line delivery is likely to mushroom--it has tremendously in just the last 4 years. If one just goggles the words "on line training development" you will see an endless list (page after page) of websites that offer just about everything a business would need/want for technology-based training. Another thing I noticed when I went to a couple of these websites is that the designers have built in assessment and evaluation, proven effectiveness and continuous updates to keep pace with changes in the way people learn. It's the only way for business and industry to keep up with the trends and globalization of today's world.

My EDT 5410 Experience

On October 1-4 I went to a NACADA Convention in Chicago and I headed to all the "technology-related" sessions I could!! Over and over I thanked and blessed this class I was taking. Almost every session I attended they asked the audience to raise their hands if they had ever utilized wiki's, blogs, pod casts, social bookmarks, facebook, etc., and also asked if we knew how powerful Web 2.0 was. Not that many hands went up in the air. As I reflect over the last 8 weeks, I feel awesome about what I have already learned and the idea's I hope to incorporate into my profession. I have more vision's of creating pod casts for our students, having a facebook account for advising purposes, sharing bookmarks with my co workers, starting a freshmen blog. I would never be thinking and incorporating these awesome tools into my professional life if I wouldn't of enrolled for this course. The hands on learning is fun (scary at first) but a definite confidence builder as we continue to grow.