A Friends Question:
"I have another favor to ask. I think you should have never told me about this option for a masters program, because now you are my sme and I am going to hit you up for your thoughts. SO I was hoping that you would give me your opinion of plus and minuses of Distance learning from an instructional designers point of view? This is for a presentation in 2 weeks so don't feel like you need to get it to me tomorrow. Thank you so much for your help."
My Response
Plus: Distance education is a tool that when used effectively has great potential. When used with sound instructional design methods, distance learning can effectively bring knowledge to people in remote locations and difficult personal situations that have various time or location constraints (full-time job, parenting, bed rest, OCD, leprosy, etc.). In addition, with distance learning schools can increase the capacity of students they are able to serve. Thomas L. Russell has well documented data that proves there is no significant difference in student outcomes between alternative modes of education delivery and traditional modes. So if the same results are found while spending less money all while making it available to a broader number of students, I don't see a reason to not use such a tool.
Minus: Distance Edu. is a tool. When a tool is used badly, there are bad results. Because putting things on-line or making a packet is so easy to do, there are many non-examples of distance learning. A professor/teacher can usually get by on the information they've spent their life gathering and their whit & charm. When you put the same professors class on-line there are often problems. Most classes are not instructionally sound all by themselves but the professor makes them fly because (if they are good) they can add their own personality and liven things up. There is no one to do that at a distance. The content has to be arranged in a way that is self motivating and generates the learners excitement & personality independent of a local cheer leader.
The real problem is that most instruction is simply a journey of trivial pursuit. A class should have analysis, discussion, problem solving; these are the types of things that will generate engaged learners, regardless of the professors personality or the mode of delivery. Distance education will only see the results Dr. Russell found when instructionally sound and engaging material is presented.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
What does an instructional designer do?
Friends Question:
"So I have a favor to ask of you. In one of my classes we are supposed to keep a running blog on instructional design. One of the major questions he wants us to answer is how we would describe to friends and family what an instructional designer does. Would you be willing to answer that question and I would anonymously post your response on my blog? "
My Response
Over the last hundred years we have seen a dramatic evolution in technology around us, yet in many ways we have not been able to practically apply our scientific knowledge of learning into instruction; therefore, instruction and our education process has remained pretty much the same. Instructional Design tries to bring instruction into the 21st century. By studying the science behind teaching and learning, Instructional Design tries to improve teaching and learning by identifying sound teaching strategies and incorporating technology when it can enhance learning.
The majority of Instructional Designers work either in academia or the corporate world. I worked at a university's center for teaching and learning. In this job I worked with faculty to help design courses or improve the teaching and learning in current courses. I would mostly do this by providing research-based evidence that a certain aspect of learning was more effective; I would give suggestions to the faculty one-on-one or in small groups, and then let them make their final decision regarding the implementation of the information I presented. Sometimes I would coordinate lectures or trainings for faculty to access the same information in a more traditional way.
Many faculty, because their name is followed by three special letters, figure they already know everything an instructional designer could tell them. At our university, the center for teaching and learning is able to interact with around 20% of our faculty members; in bigger Universities like Florida State and BYU, the centers for teaching and learning have around a 10% faculty interaction rate. This interaction involves faculty that meet with instructional designers individually as well as any that attend a lecture or training on topics regarding teaching and learning.
Because of the resistance many Ph.D.s have to someone critiquing them and giving them advice, instructional design work in education, ironically enough, is sometimes less progressive than in a corporate setting.
"So I have a favor to ask of you. In one of my classes we are supposed to keep a running blog on instructional design. One of the major questions he wants us to answer is how we would describe to friends and family what an instructional designer does. Would you be willing to answer that question and I would anonymously post your response on my blog? "
My Response
Over the last hundred years we have seen a dramatic evolution in technology around us, yet in many ways we have not been able to practically apply our scientific knowledge of learning into instruction; therefore, instruction and our education process has remained pretty much the same. Instructional Design tries to bring instruction into the 21st century. By studying the science behind teaching and learning, Instructional Design tries to improve teaching and learning by identifying sound teaching strategies and incorporating technology when it can enhance learning.
The majority of Instructional Designers work either in academia or the corporate world. I worked at a university's center for teaching and learning. In this job I worked with faculty to help design courses or improve the teaching and learning in current courses. I would mostly do this by providing research-based evidence that a certain aspect of learning was more effective; I would give suggestions to the faculty one-on-one or in small groups, and then let them make their final decision regarding the implementation of the information I presented. Sometimes I would coordinate lectures or trainings for faculty to access the same information in a more traditional way.
Many faculty, because their name is followed by three special letters, figure they already know everything an instructional designer could tell them. At our university, the center for teaching and learning is able to interact with around 20% of our faculty members; in bigger Universities like Florida State and BYU, the centers for teaching and learning have around a 10% faculty interaction rate. This interaction involves faculty that meet with instructional designers individually as well as any that attend a lecture or training on topics regarding teaching and learning.
Because of the resistance many Ph.D.s have to someone critiquing them and giving them advice, instructional design work in education, ironically enough, is sometimes less progressive than in a corporate setting.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
IDD 315 Sketch
The past year I have been teaching IDD 315 (Introduction to Principles of Instructional Design) at BYU-Hawaii. I’ve been working with Dr. M. David Merrill to make this course task-centered, peer-interactive, technology enhanced. We’ve developed some pretty interesting things so I thought I would share.
IDD 315 is a class designed to teach the principles of instructional design. Being such, it is important the class itself be an example of effective design. Dr. M. David Merrill’s task-centered instructional strategies serve as the backbone for the instruction being created for this course.
The class is designed around a number of tasks that increase in complexity and depth as the semester unfolds. This task-centered approach is based on the study that mental-models provide a more sustainable form of memory. A mental model is a set of related ideas—a holistic representation of the parts, relationships, conditions, actions and consequences of a complete problem or task (Jonassen).
The students are introduced to their first mental-model when I demonstrate the analysis of a piece of instruction. The students then analyze another piece of instruction similar to the one I demonstrated. For example one of the first articles the students read is Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction. Before the students read the article I showed the students a piece of instruction identifying its elements of activation, demonstration, application, and integration. I briefly explained each the four aspects of first principles during the demonstration and drew on the student’s natural instincts to develop amendments to the instruction that would improve it.
After class, the students read First Principles of Instruction and critique another piece of instruction. By demonstrating the task first, the students were given exposure to the content in a meaningful way, they knew what they would be expected to do with the content they would read, and were able to see the real world applicability of the information. After reading the article students were immediately able to apply the knowledge in an activity, solidifying the knowledge into a mental-model.
Another important facet to the class is that it’s peer-interactive. Peer sharing, peer collaboration and peer critique require learners to test their mental models, to refine their mental models, and to share their ideas. These activities create flexible mental models, facilitate learners’ ability to apply their knowledge in new situations, and provide opportunities for learners to work together as they will be required to do in the workplace following their education (Strobel & Tillberg-Webb). Therefore, Following the students attempt to complete the given task, students post their assignment on blackboard for all to see and in groups of three to five, compare each others critique.
In groups each person has to defend his or her analysis and explain why they made the decisions they made. By sharing, the groups understanding of the task is broadened, their opportunity to review the content reviewed, and their perspective of analysis refined. The group takes the best aspects of each persons’ work and together submit another analysis. Because everything is posted for everyone to see, I am able to give feedback to individuals or groups at any point along the way.
Throughout the course, we go through three classes of tasks. The first class being centered around First Principles of Instruction, the second centered around Levels of Instructional Strategies , the third centered around task-centered instruction.
The tasks very, but the format stays the same. The students observes a task, are exposed to the topic components specific to the task, they solve the problem, post their response, meet in a group and compares responses with each other.
IDD 315 is a class designed to teach the principles of instructional design. Being such, it is important the class itself be an example of effective design. Dr. M. David Merrill’s task-centered instructional strategies serve as the backbone for the instruction being created for this course.
The class is designed around a number of tasks that increase in complexity and depth as the semester unfolds. This task-centered approach is based on the study that mental-models provide a more sustainable form of memory. A mental model is a set of related ideas—a holistic representation of the parts, relationships, conditions, actions and consequences of a complete problem or task (Jonassen).
The students are introduced to their first mental-model when I demonstrate the analysis of a piece of instruction. The students then analyze another piece of instruction similar to the one I demonstrated. For example one of the first articles the students read is Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction. Before the students read the article I showed the students a piece of instruction identifying its elements of activation, demonstration, application, and integration. I briefly explained each the four aspects of first principles during the demonstration and drew on the student’s natural instincts to develop amendments to the instruction that would improve it.
After class, the students read First Principles of Instruction and critique another piece of instruction. By demonstrating the task first, the students were given exposure to the content in a meaningful way, they knew what they would be expected to do with the content they would read, and were able to see the real world applicability of the information. After reading the article students were immediately able to apply the knowledge in an activity, solidifying the knowledge into a mental-model.
Another important facet to the class is that it’s peer-interactive. Peer sharing, peer collaboration and peer critique require learners to test their mental models, to refine their mental models, and to share their ideas. These activities create flexible mental models, facilitate learners’ ability to apply their knowledge in new situations, and provide opportunities for learners to work together as they will be required to do in the workplace following their education (Strobel & Tillberg-Webb). Therefore, Following the students attempt to complete the given task, students post their assignment on blackboard for all to see and in groups of three to five, compare each others critique.
In groups each person has to defend his or her analysis and explain why they made the decisions they made. By sharing, the groups understanding of the task is broadened, their opportunity to review the content reviewed, and their perspective of analysis refined. The group takes the best aspects of each persons’ work and together submit another analysis. Because everything is posted for everyone to see, I am able to give feedback to individuals or groups at any point along the way.
Throughout the course, we go through three classes of tasks. The first class being centered around First Principles of Instruction, the second centered around Levels of Instructional Strategies , the third centered around task-centered instruction.
The tasks very, but the format stays the same. The students observes a task, are exposed to the topic components specific to the task, they solve the problem, post their response, meet in a group and compares responses with each other.
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