Fake interview with Mr. A

This is a fake interview used to break the ice during the first day of class. It is meant to be humorous. In my experience I have found that humor helps to establish a rapport with students. The video is also an example of the types of videos students will be making in the class. This will help to create interest in the upcoming class projects.

Final Presentation

Edtech 572: Final Project Presentation

This is my final presentation of my instructional design project developed for Edtech 572. The purpose of this instruction was, "To demonstrate to current faculty members of Clarkston School District a new software program called Moodle and have them create an online presence to foster communication and enhance school learning within the district."

Comments on Report #1:

My instructional design project was to develop a class for the faculty of Clarkston School District to introduce them to Moodle software and create an online presence. After identifying a problem I conducted a front end analysis to determine its causes, a solution, and whether the solution was financially feasible. I had developed my purpose of instruction. As I continued through the Dick and Carey model of instructional design, I conducted a goal analysis, identified sub skills and entry behaviors, and conducted a learner analysis. All of this led me to the completion of report number one for the class.

Click here to see report #1

Comments on Report #2:

Report number two seemed to me to be the hardest part of the instructional design process. It was during this phase of the project that I felt I learned the most about instructional design. As I have progressed through the instructional design process, I received some valuable input from my one-to-one and small group evaluations. This input has caused me to make a couple of revisions to report number one.

The first was the removal of step eight which was designed to teach students how to develop an interactive quiz. In my formal evaluation it was commented on by both novice and experienced students that this might be a bit overwhelming for a three hour training. As a result, step eight has been removed from the first report.

The second change was the removal of the pre and post tests to put the focus solely on the project based assessment, since it was felt this would impact students' attitude and motivation to the overall class. The comments I received stated that when the faculty was pre-tested, they tended to develop a more negative outlook on the preceding training. This was information received from both test subjects and my IT Coordinator who has conducted many technology trainings in the district.

Clearly identifying objectives is a staple of good teaching, and I really felt that this was very informative for me. I have spent many hours writing objectives for my teaching, but the way the process was explained in the Dick and Carey book seemed to really resonate with me. They mention the three basic criteria of a good objective as behavior or skill identified in the instructional analysis, conditions that will prevail while a learner carries out the task, and criteria that will be used to evaluate learner performance.

The instructional strategy was a concept that I understood but had just never conducted to the degree I was forced to in this process. As I worked through the instructional sequence of my instruction, pre-instructional activities, student grouping, and pre and post test, I was very comfortable. When I began to create the link between objectives and instructional activities, feedback for each objective, and strategies for teaching the terminal objective, I was out of my comfort zone. I felt what I learned will benefit me not only in instructional design but as a teacher as well.

The last portion of report number two was very comfortable for me. Developing instructional materials is something that I do daily, so I was not concerned about that process. Also the formative evaluation was interesting for me. I have always sought input into my lessons and teaching. I liked the formative assessment piece, but having students attempt instruction prior to completion is something that is very valuable but not always possible.

Click here to view Report #2

Comments on Report #3:

As I began to develop report number three in my instructional design process I felt that I was coasting at this point. The feedback that I received from current staff and administration in our district supported what I have designed. I realized with the completion of the formative assessment that the acronym KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) seemed to be very appropriate for my instruction. After that I just had a few adjustments in my instructional materials and on the website I would use for the instruction. At that point the project was completed.

Click here to view Report #3

Materials:

1. In my instructional design I will used the following materials:
A blank website template for each member. (Using Moodle I created a classroom for each of the prospective students with the same format for instruction.)
2. Computer Lab (Used schools computer lab to provide PC, projector and internet connection..)
Projector
3. Internet Connection and Survey (click here to see a copy)
4. Instructional Packet ( Created a reference sheet for students to refer to if they felt lost or confused.)

Summary:

The whole instructional design process was very intriguing to me. I really felt that this is a field that I would like to study more. While I know that I have a long way to go in learning all of the nuances of this process, I really feel that I got a good idea of what instructional design is all about. The success that I had with my instruction developed in this class further motivates me to look into this field with great interest.

Week 11: Spring Break!

Well spring break has come and gone. Seems as though it was a blur but nice to have a break. In the course of my spring break I discovered a new “Pearl of Wisdom.” I decided this to spray parts of my yard with roundup to kill off the weeds beginning to sprout this spring. As I sprayed I did not consider where I was stepping and moved around the yard spraying different areas. Problem was that I walked over the grass with the roundup on my shoes. PEARL: “When spraying roundup to not step in weed killer and walk across grass.” Well I now have a unique lawn with perfect footprints burned in to my grass. Who knows maybe I will start a new trend.

Week 10: Revising Instruction

This week took information gained last week in my evaluation of instruction and added images to instructional packet. I also moved to a more constructivist approach, removing the pre and post tests and focusing the evaluation solely on having students complete a web page to show mastery and completion of terminal objective.

Week 9 Formative Evaluation

This week I began to look at materials that I have designed for this instruction. I conducted a one on one evaluation of my Instructional packet for students and got some very good feedback. Both potential students stated that pictures to lead them through the process would be very beneficial. I received the same results in my small group study. Also, our IT Coordinator who is an (SME) in technology training expressed concern over the pre and post tests. Stating that, “faculty seemed to develop a poor attitude and were much harder to motivate to learn” when these types of activities are given.

Week 8 Instructional Materials

This week I began working on my instructional materials. As I began looking into this and considering my learners, I realized the most useful instructional material would be a cheat sheet so to speak of all of the directions given in class. This would serve two main purposes; provide the learner a resource once they leave the class and need a refresher and two, an alternate way to view instructions given in class. This would be a two to three page packet that would include directions and screenshot pictures to assist the student in class and in their work environment.

Other instructional material that I may consider would be a more developed help section on the actual website.

Week #7 Instructional Strategy

In looking over my post from week six I see that some of the clustering of instruction can be condensed and omitted. I have removed step nine all together since it was dealing with adding interactive content and this does not correspond with my instructional objective or my terminal objective. I have re-clustered some sub steps since they have the same sub skills and are part of the same overall step in the process.

When I considered D&C's five factors for clustering:

1. Age of Learners
2. Complexity of Material
3. Type of learning
4. Varied activity focusing attention on task
5. Amount of time required to present material

I found that these changes would best fit my learners and material to cover. Allowing me to better meet the needs of my audience.

Now I am turning my attention to development of comprehensive instructional strategy. The Dick and Carey book gives 5 major learning components for the instructional design process.

1. Pre-instructional Activities
2. Content Presentation
3. Learner Participation
4. Assessment
5. Follow-through Activities

#1 Preinstructional Activities

Motivate: At this point of the instructional process we must motivate/inform/ensure that students have prerequisite knowledge. To accomplish this the use of Keller's ARCS model would be very useful. Three important questions to consider through out design process to ensure you keep motivation of the learners are:

1. Is material relevant to my personal needs and interests?
2. Am I confident that I can do this by expending reasonable effort?
3. Did this satisfy my needs and interests?

This information can be derived from the learner analysis done earlier in the design process. Keep the instruction manageable for the student and do not overwhelm them.

Will continue to ensure the three questions can be answered affirmatively through out the instruction.

Inform Learners: Assist student in focusing on objectives and what they should be able to do rather than everything that will be covered.

In the Moodle lesson students will be advised of objective at the beginning of the lesson. The objectives will be condensed so as not to overwhelm them but still convey material to be covered.

Inform Learners of Prerequisite Skills: This is to let the learner know the relationship between what they will learn and their prior knowledge. To ensure that they are going to be able to be successful in the environment. Two ways to accomplish this:

1. Pretest
2. Recall of relevant material

In the Moodle lesson prerequisite will be done by activating prior knowledge to show hoe this information can benefit them.

#2 Content Presentation

Present only relevant material and use examples; illustrations, diagrams, demonstrations etc.

In the Moodle lesson students will get only information they need to meet the terminal objective.

#3 Learner Participation

Provide lots of feedback and hands on application when possible.

As we progress through the Moodle lesson students will actively participate in creating their page. This will facilitate their ability to meet the terminal objective.

#4 Assessment

Assessment for the Moodle assignment will be completed as follows:

1. Entry Behavior Test: No Entry Behavior Test will be given.
2. Pretest: No pretest will be given.
3. Practice Tests: These will be assessed as the student progress through the different sub steps and completes each phase of instruction.
4. Posttest: Will be the completion of their project ie. a web presence and completion of the terminal objective.

#5 Follow Through Activities

The two aspects of follow through activities are: Memory and Transfer of Learning

Memory aspect for the Moodle lesson will rely on visual ques to remember content learned. Specific buttons and drop down menues will assist the learner in continued success and mastery of content.

The second aspect Transfer of Learning should be 100% since instruction is takeing place on similar computers and same software that they will use in their classrooms.