Instructional Design/Technology in Different Contexts (D/10)

As I think about the different contexts in which we have looked at the role of instructional design/technology, the themes that seem to register with me are 1) the instructional designer as an individual and 2) the instructional designer as part of a team. In all of the areas (business, p-12 and higher education), there are instances where the instructional designer is solely responsible for everything and there are instances where they are part of a team. The role of the designer seems to depend on the purpose and the task for which the designer was hired.

One vivid example that I recall, came from the higher education area. In the example, the ID was an associate professor. He was responsible for not only his professorial duties, but in addition, he was expected to advise undergraduate students, mentor graduate students, sit on committees for his department and publish and do studies in his area of ID. He needed to publish and do studies in his area to do like his colleagues before him and contribute to the field.

Things were different in the business field. Here it seems that publishing and studies were not as much of a concern and that it was preferred to have the ID take care of the designing. Then the business could employ the design in the context that they needed to. For example, once the ID had created the design, the employees could access it for themselves and complete the tasks at times convenient for themselves and the company.

I admit that this material was rather hard for me. There were so many examples and it was so hard to remember which parts of the text were supposed to be about the role of the ID. However, I do believe that my current professional working environment could learn from the other contexts described in these chapters by assessing which ways of instruction seem to be most beneficial for the goal(s) trying to be achieved.

Tracing Treasures (Making Your Own Map)

I would use this mapping function to have students in a Social Studies class for example, trace the history of an item that they own. I would have them find the location in which the item was made and then learn about the origin of the item if possible. If the students couldn’t learn about the origin of the item (or even if they can); they would learn about the country and other products that are exported and imported.

They would mark the country, city and/or providence. They would also identify waterways and discuss how easily or difficult it would be to transport the resources from the area. They would examine what resources that country, city and/or providence had that may be limited in relation to another country and what that other country may be able to offer in order to barter.

I also would like them to ultimately think about how the things that they purchase help or hurt the country producing the product; and what they can do to change things that are unfavorable.

View Larger Map

Previous Assignments (Reflection D9)

I am extremely glad that I took this class. I am learning how to use all kinds of technology that I had never been exposed to before. I am finding that I really wish I had more time to play with the programs; but due to time constraints I don’t. I do try to add to my blog etc. when I do have more time (earlier, I added more pictures to share- I have to go back and put titles etc.).
I appreciated the help from my classmates. I understand that as a teacher there are other responsibilities are when someone is doing their homework at the last minute, you may not be able to respond as quickly. Especially as some classmates that may be night owls anyway J And sometimes, it helps to have something explained from different points. In school, I found myself explaining things to other students because they didn’t always understand it the way the teacher presented it.
It can be frustrating when you don’t get something, but rewarding when you do. I like to ask the class if I don’t know how to do something but then test myself to see if I can figure it out before someone answers my question.
There is no doubt that I will incorporate some of what we have done into my professional work. I am always sharing what we have done with my colleagues. They all love the robot YouTube clip (I use it for stress relief).

Issues That Hit Home (Reflection D8)

One of the issues in chapter 21 that hit home was the piecemeal approach to change. Most of the time people feel that it is better to take the piecemeal approach when there are things that are working in the system. There seems to be no reason in this instance to change the entire system. However, if nothing in the current system seems to be working, then it makes sense to make a systematic change.
This hits home because I feel that I am currently in this debate. I am under new management and am mortified that a systematic change is being made before evaluating the current system. I feel that there are many pieces (in fact most of them) that are working and that having a systematic change is actually making things worse. That is not to say that they systematic change may not work, but there may not be anyone around to notice (people are leaving like a plague is coming).
Another issue that hits home is the issue of not always getting information on the process of change; but being told what the end result should be. This hits home every time I think about no child left behind. There is all sorts of information on what needs to be changed but no information about a process to get to the change. In addition, there is no funding for the changes that are required to be made.
As stated in the chapter, change without funding to continue and support the change is short-lived (in so many words)

Business and Industry (Reflection D7)

One noteworthy way that instructional design/technology has been used in business and industry is to decrease the cost of training and increase efficiency. These businesses and industries have decreased the cost of training by doing training by using the web and the Internet. This way, they don’t have to pay as much for an actual human being to come in and instruct the workers. And because the workers can essentially “read” instructions etc., it takes them less time to be trained and they can get back to work sooner.
This of course helps with efficiency because the workers are being trained for the least amount of money, in the least amount of time and then putting what they learn into practice sooner. This helps the company to get its products out faster.
Another noteworthy way instructional designed/technology has been used in business and industry is to internationalize and localize its products in order to be globalized. As explained in chapter 18, there can be many different aspects that companies must deal with if they want to go global. There are different customs and different meanings for things; therefore, a company must be careful not to offend or their product (in a particular country- for example) may be short-lived.
The company must internationalize their product by making it generic and then localize it by letting people from that culture that understand subtleties add things to it for the people in that country to understand. This goes beyond just changing the language, and includes things such as color.
I feel that the first element of decreasing the cost of training by using web or Internet versus an actual person is something that can definitely be used in my current position. I am an academic advisor and there are only four of us to service 4,800 students. Therefore, we can never all get away and go for training. It would be a great benefit to us to be able to get training right from our computers so that we can take turns as our schedule permits. That way we won’t have to play rock, paper, scissors because there is not enough money to send all of us and so the Director ends up going :(
I think that we can also use the elements of internationalization and localization. We give a lot of presentations to different groups and in order to reach our specific audiences, we have to be able to tear down our presentations and make them generic. We then have to speak with some of our international students that can help us to localize our presentation for the group that comes from their country. For example, a few years ago, we had an international student working with us to do her internship and I was able to gain lots of insight from her. I did several interviews and asked lots of cultural questions that enabled me to connect with my international students in a way that I never had before; because I was given new information and with it a new perspective.

The Human Factor and Podcasting (Reflection D6)

The Human Factor

I thought that there were quite a few ideas, concepts and/or principles in chapter 14 that could be applied to my professional work. However, I currently feel most strongly about the idea that improving human performance does not require training; but can be done via other means. Sometimes little things such as better work selection procedures and incentives (as stated in the chapter); even appreciation is all that is needed.

I personally would prefer better work selection procedures; I feel that this alone would give me the incentive to continue working hard. It would also give me the incentive to continue trying to keep us from reinventing the wheel. I have been at my job the longest and now have new management; so of the new ideas aren’t so new L

I could see that in some instances, incentives could be good to get students to help others; and to go beyond the requirements of the assignments. And I can also see where better work selection procedures can be put into play. As a teacher, I could select different procedures for students based on some of the things they like to do. For example having a student that likes to draw present a drawing instead of writing and students that like to perform can do a skit (this won’t be for every assignment of course). The students will love this and you will notice the difference in their “performance”.


Podcasting

The podcast link that I choose is a hospital site that was designed to give people information about the types of procedures that they will go through; when they are going to have an operation. It is a cardiac website and has different podcasts on different types of cardiac issues. It was put together by doctors.

I can see podcasting being used for professional development and in the classroom for individual subjects; as an instructional tool. In this way the teacher wouldn’t be the only one imparting information. I could also see this replacing book report presentations for students. It would be a fun way to share the same information with their classmates. Of course they would need the time to do this at school as some may not have access to the tools needed to do this at home.

What Will Be the Impact of the Internet and the World Wide Web (Reflection D5)?

Given the trend in education, I think that the Internet and the World Wide Web will continue to have a great impact on both adult education and higher education. However, I think that its trend of having little influence on the educational programs K-12 will also continue.

When it comes to adult and higher education, I think that the needs of these students dictate the type of instruction that is used. As was stated in Chapter 3, most of these students have jobs, families and are unable to take traditional courses. As a result, the demand for on-line courses etc. is on the rise. The length of time that it takes to complete some of these courses is shortened and innovations like the Internet and the World Wide Web allow these students to get together without physically meeting.

The K-12 system is set up for students to physically get together. It is also designed to last over a longer time span. And although the Internet and the World Wide Web may help them to learn things “faster”; most schools require specific things be covered in specific grades. If they learn everything in Kindergarten, why would they need to continue on? I am being facetious of course.

And of course there are always the dangers of the Internet and the World Wide Web that teachers worry about with K-12 and not so much with adult and higher education programs. I feel that this is a large part of why the Internet and the World Wide Web won’t have as great of an impact on K-12 as adult and higher education.