DB/13

What I thought was really neat and viable was electronic training jackets and cognitive science and neuroscience contributions. These two seemed to be more realistic than say nanotechnology and cybernetics. The idea of smartcard technology is here so more applicable to my lifetime. Perhaps this could be used for medical history and only certain people identified via thumbprint or retinal scan could access it. The brain is so powerful and really only the surface has been scratched. Think of the applications for this if we could learn more about memory and neural activity related to certain actions. Perhaps certain parts of the brain could be stimulated to improve learning and/or retention. Of course, as the authors point out we may need to pay heed to ethical and legal issues related to this topic.

I think my favorite activity for this semester was the blog/webpage building and the social networking. As I have mentioned before these two aspects of technology I will use regardless of getting back into teaching or not. I think these are relatively easy applications and you can be quite creative. Also screencasting seems intriguing so I definitely am going to try to do this for my project if I can everything to line up right.

DB/12

I really enjoyed reading this chapter because it provided some insight into how learners learn! What good is using rich media if it doesn't enhance the learning process? I feel that the area of cognitive processes of learning is so important because instructional methods of instruction depend on it. I will use a couple of ideas from this chapter. I have always used the seven plus or minus 2 chunks of information. Ever wonder why we have 7 digit phone numbers? Because that is all we can remember in our short term memory at a time! Anyway I will continue to use that. I will also use the attention, activation of prior knowledge and motivation because these must be used to be an effective teacher. I was/am still a proponent of the activation of prior knowledge because this is connected to long-term memory. Every lesson I taught was somehow connected to prior knowledge even if it was something we just learned. Some of the evidence the authors used to support and improve learning was pretty obvious like "students learn better from words and pictures than from words alone" and "students learn better from animation and narration than from animation and onscreen text". For me it was intuitive because as a student it was so much more interesting if their was pictures or a video.

Website: Enviornmental Science

http://sites.google.com/site/kathypages09/

In the past I have taught Enviornmental Science and Geology so I thought it would be fun to create a page about the Carbon Cycle. The Annenberg site has alot of really great resources for teachers to use in various subjects. I would recommend all my classmates check this site out as well. Anyway, there are alot of awesome animation I have used in the past about concepts which are hard for students to understand so I included some additional information on the carbon cycle plus a lab we might do if I was teaching this class. :)

Screencasting

Screencasting is an awesome tool that I can see myself using frequently in my current position. When we first opened the Shoreline Wellness Center we needed a program that could keep track of all aspects of a multimillion dollar facility. This included accounting, membership, scheduling, prospecting, inventory, and selling services (personal training, childcare etc.). So we bought a total system called CSI which cost alot but was a very complete program and could do everything we needed in one program. CSI had consultants who came out to our facility and trained us using this system. They did not use screencasting or tutorials at all so it took along time for the key managers to learn their particular part of the system. What I am planning to use screencasting for is to actually make several short tutorials on how to actually add a member, or a prospect. When I hire a new membership representative it takes along time for me to train them because CSI is so complicated. By using screencasting I will be able to show the new staff how to do certain operations. This will be so much easier and quicker. The new staff will be able to access these tutorials and use them over and over until they have the operation down. I will use screencasting to teach the new service desk employees on how to take pictures and ring up sales. These are basic functions needed by both membership and service desk employees. CSI has quarterly updates of their software so I will be able to tweek existing tutorials to include the new information. I think this will cut down on the time needed for training. I would also like to design an evaluation after training to pinpoint any gaps in the instructional process.

If I were to use screencasting in a high school setting I would use it in my Anatomy & Physiology course. One of the systems we studied was the skeletal system. There are about 206 bones in the human skeletal system. My students had to learn not only most of the bones but they also had to learn certain parts of the bones where muscles and ligaments attached. Obviously this was part of their lab so I had pictures as well as actual bones students could study. For the more difficult parts of the bones which make up the skull I would use screencasting. Either I would make the screencasts or I might have my students make tutorials for each other. This would be dictated by how fast we were moving through the material. I could see my students enjoying this and I could use these tutorials over and over. I am not sure how practical this would be in this type of class but I think it could be another resource for my students to learn anatomy.

RD/11

I am not sure which competencies you want us to look at but I think the instructor level is where most of my competencies lie. Although I have not been a teacher for several years I still think stimulate and sustain learner motivation is always difficult due to the level of technology teachers compete with. I think I possess the professional foundation competencies for both the ID and the training manager but after that I need more training and education. I would like to be able to analyze the characteristics of existing and emerging technologies and their use in an instructional environment to better utilize the technology in current applications. Select and use a variety of techniques for determining instructional content to be able to offer different ways to teach. The 3rd competency is to evaluate and assess instruction and its impact-specifically be able to evaluate so I can modify the instructional process.

R/D10

It seems that the biggest impact of IDT has been in the business sector which makes sense to me. In business or industry the bottom line is profit. The stakes are high especially for the stockholders. Although education is of the utmost importance there really isn't a driving force or a way to enforce certain aspects of education. What I mean is that money is more concrete whereas education is harder to measure.
As far as I can see IDT has had very little impact on both P-12 or higher education. P-12 needs a major overhaul so I think ID is not at the center of attention for most school districts. Once schools start to change (transform) then ID may come to the forefront.
I see higher education utilizing IDT significantly more than P-12 because of profitability. Universities have to stay viable which means they have to make money much like corporations. I found this chapter very interesting because the authors implied the professors only knew the subject matter and NOT how to teach. I will have to admit most of my science professors just lectured and because of that I found myself imitating them especially my favorites in my high school classes. Science is pretty lecture orientated anyway because of all the concepts.
During my education way back when we had a few classes on how to develop lesson plans but it would have been nice actually to have an instructional designer produce my lessons!
I don't think my current professional working environment could learn from P-12 or higher ed. but certainly from business context because I work for a hospital.

Map Activity

I had a hard time coming up with an activity which would incorporate a map. I have taught environmental science and geology in the past so thought I would incorporate this map activity with plate tectonics. Usually in geology volcanoes are studied. I would have my students do research and find active volcanoes all over the world. I expect their maps to look similar to mine with geological features as well as when eruptions have occurred. I would want them to include some history of the volcano as well as an aerial and topographical view. I also would expect pictures and videos. This could be incorporated with earthquakes too.

My Map

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&view=map&gl=us&ie=UTF8&cd=2&geocode=FUhXKAEdKIK-9g&split=0&msa=0&msid=113809456567262709313.00046f52b43af8fccfc96&ll=19.402973,-155.250893&spn=0.073508,0.110035&t=p&z=13&lci=com.youtube.all

RD/9 Experience in course

I think so far this course has been very interesting and definitely applicable to both my current profession and education in general. Most of the technology tools I have wanted to learn more about like blogging and podcasts have been very beneficial for me. Especially since I am kind of "forced" to learn about both and then apply it by making my own. So far I have been able to figure things out on my own using the web sites and examples you have directed us to. I learn best by actively doing something so this has been the perfect format for me. I know once I get back into teaching I will be using the blogging and podcasting technologies for sure. I will be using the blogging personally as well. The social bookmarking tool is going to be one of my favorite tools because I bookmark so many sites and I use several different PCs. Photo sharing was relatively easy. Chapter 2: What is Instructional Design? was very interesting so I plan to use the ADDIE methodology to the extent I am able in the school setting. I think this is an appropriate first course for students pursuing a masters degree in this area.

R/D8: Chapter 21

Currently, I am not in the field of education so my reflection is probably out of date (7 yrs ago) compared to you my fellow classmates. I concur with the authors that the type of change should be about an ecological systemic change process. However, I think it has been more piecemeal at least in my experience. It seems districts jump from one bandwagon to the next without properly researching and preparing for the change! Case in point is the whole block scheduling and mastery learning idea I have mentioned in previous blog entries. After about 2-3 years my high school has switched back to periods and block scheduling/mastery learning has gone by the wayside. The district had good intentions but did not have the proper process in place. I think this occurred because the front line (teachers) were not properly trained (prepared) and the district could not financially support this type of teaching. I remember having to teach a 90 minute science class with minimal resources to engage my students for that time period! The first year about killed us! It also seemed that we lowered the standards of mastery as I remember instead of raising them!
I thought the product vs. process approaches to change hit the nail on the head because I think that was what happened to our block scheduling/mastery learning project. I think more time should be spent on the process rather then the product because of the high rate of failure as mentioned by the authors. Most educators will agree that education needs to change but how to go about it is another story. I often avoid talking about it because I do not have any current solutions.
The GSTE and SUTE models seem encouraging to adopt in the transformation of education. Although both seemed to be pretty lengthy and expensive. I think the district would need to hire a consultant who can oversee the whole process. They also seemed pretty complicated. Although one of the needs for school-based improvement is for the educators to understand that it is a doable process. I think 2 of the most important needs for school transformation is proper planning and money budgeted from the start to the unending improvement once the process is completed. I know when most schools were built there was no budgetary means for upkeep and building improvements which should have been in place even before the school was built! So literally, some schools are falling down!
I would like the ecological systemic transformation for education to continue but also a process for starting it and maintaining it. Are most schools looking toward these models of improvement?

R/D7 Chapter 18

I think the technology-based training is the most useful to my professional work. Presently every year we have 22 modules to work through with an assessment after each one. These modules are about things like patient privacy and corporate policies. We have to be at work to get on the system so if they were are on the Internet we could access them at home. These modules are from an external source so most are generic. If we had an internal designer the modules could be more applicable to our hospital (corporation). Also most of us just hurry through them because they are mandatory and so boring! So the other noteworthy way is for our hospital to have their own instructional designer.
As I have mentioned in previous reflections, the pharmaceutical companies use the technology based training. I know they are saving tons of money by having the reps. train at home versus traveling to the "big cities".
One of our process improvement areas is customer service. My corp. has been working on this area for 2 years. Last year there was a customer service seminar which everyone attended. I think the advanced evaluation techniques could be used to see how we are progressing since last year. I think right now we survey our customers quarterly to see if there is improvement. I think perhaps a more focused process should have been implemented using a IDT professional because I don't think one seminar on customer service is enough to get the appropriate response the CFO and Board would like to see.

R/D6

I think most of the ideas, concepts, and principles from Chapter 14 can be applied to teaching in general, to student learning and to my present position. If you look at how schools developed it was in response to the need for more educated people to become better employees. If you read "Early Precursors to Performance Improvement (p.138-139) " it clearly shows the connection between what is taught in schools and what is needed of the "work force". I think educators in general use many of these ideas and principles and as I mentioned before the ADDIE concept is a great tool for designing student learning. A school by itself should be viewed as an organization with the end product being student learning. This learning should be relevant to becoming productive members of a larger society. So perhaps schools need to adopt the HPT model for performance improvement (fig. 14.2) and use these ideas to improve student learning/outcomes.

I am very interested in HPI/HPT and can see myself pursuing this area in my professional development. Also I can see where some of these ideas can help the organization I work for become more profitable in the current economic circumstances. My HR department needs to adopt some of the principles and ideas as well especially when it comes to the training of new employees.

1. The Teachers Podcast is about technology news, views, research and resources you can use personally or in the classroom. The two presenters are Mark Gura and Dr. Kathy King who are teachers, ed tech experts, authors and professors. I only had time to listen to one but I learned about some cool new technology sites I plan to utilize in the future. I highly recommend these podcasts.
2. I am not sure I would use podcasting in my present position although I do give a presentation on becoming members of the facility I help manage and if some employees cannot come to the presentation it could be made available via podcast. I think I would use podcasting if I was teaching. Maybe podcasting a lecture so students could listen to it over and over if needed. Or if I was developing a unit in Science-I could use a famous scientist podcast if available.

R/D5: Application 1a

I think the Internet/Web will have a major impact mostly in the areas of Higher education and Adult education (businesses). For example, I am taking this online course right now. I have to admit it's because I work full time and am unable to take a class on campus. I can fit the requirements for this course around my schedule vs. around the universities schedule. Taking online courses is very attractive to many non-traditional students because of the convenience and colleges have access to the entire world not just students in their area. I think higher ed. sees this as a very viable option to future sustainability. Higher ed. institutions have more money at their disposal to invest and create this type of learning(online courses). After all the college students are "footing the bill" for their education unlike K-12 education. I think with all the new innovations to instructional technology it is easier than ever for instructors to design a very interactive online course (such as this one).

I also think Adult education specifically business will continue to use this type of medium for training/learning purposes. For example, in the pharmaceutical industry I have seen this already occurring. Many of our national meeting have been replaced with podcasts and learning modules within our districts. What this means for the company is less money spent on travel, less time out of the territory and more money for the company (share-holders). I have completed many required learning modules on-line with the timed test following! Many business industries see this type of medium as a way to improve their bottom lines so again this is a way to stay viable.

I think one reason K-12 education has been so slow to use any technology related tools for instruction is because of the cost. Schools are mostly state/federally funded. Every student is entitled or required to attend school. Schools in general have not invested in the tools needed for this transition as well as the time needed to train their staff. All of the technology and time costs schools lots of money! In contrast, higher ed. and business industries have more money to invest in technology. When I was a teacher I barely had enough money for the regular teaching supplies I needed just to teach my science classes let alone additional monies for technology tools I wanted. When I was hired as a pharmaceutical rep. within 1 week of hire, I had all the tools I needed to be successful in my field, which included a laptop, a car, and samples!
I think K-12 education has to become more involved in instructional technology and certainly I have seen some hugh gains with webpages and such! Teaching ed. programs probably have changed to require taking classes like this to make them better prepared to teach students of the 21st century!

This is an awesome podcast! Its the new generation of educational technology for educators. Two educators talk about the new technology and new resources for teachers. The podcasts update teachers on resources they can use to increase technology in the classroom. The topic I listened to was about digital books. http://teacherspodcast.org/

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R/D4

I can think of a few ways I would incorporate photo sharing into an educational activity. The first way would be in my Anatomy& Physiology (A&P) class. Every year my A&P students helped 2nd graders dissect a sheep eye. It was really an awesome experience for both the "big kids" and the "little kids". In the past the A&P students would put together a lab notebook for the 2nd graders to use while dissecting the eye. Instead of putting it on paper my students could put together a pre- lab using real photos of what we would be doing and post it on our blog. The 2nd grade class could then view it and know what to expect when they came up to the High School. During the lab we could take pictures and post them on our blog for students and parents to see. Another lab we do in Biology is the "pond ecosystem" lab. This lab is ongoing as the ecosystem grows so students could take pictures and notes weekly (?) and post to their blogs instead of sketches in lab books.
I am a little leery about having students post on some of these sites. I would probably just allow posting pictures on a blog where it could be controlled at least on my end. However, it is public so anyone could view it if they had the address. Services like FaceBook can be risky because of all the "kooks" out there, after all anyone can view your photos!
I still feel there is some benefits especially for family and friends whom you might not see or live in another country.

I think both processes are very similar between lesson plan development and instructional design. It has been a little while since I have developed lesson plans so if teachers aren't using the ADDIE method they should be! I think most of the time classroom teachers do not do an Analysis or needs assessment especially if the curriculum is already spelled out for them. Also most teachers do not identify a performance problem either although this could be helpful in certain educational settings. I would write measurable objectives or outcomes and decide the best way to deliver the lesson (design&development). After the lesson or lessons I would give a test or some type of evaluation. Depending on how students fared on the evaluation I would tweak the lesson to try and improve it. I really liked the Characteristics of ID and think these should be applied to any instructional setting whether classroom or business.

R/D3

Social bookmarking is totally new for me but one thing I really like about it is the ability to access my bookmarks from any computer. It is also organized by tags (key words) so I can access information under a certain topic so it might be easier to find. I think the value of social bookmarking for teachers is all the additional sites one gets exposed to. For example if I use a key word like teaching anyone who is part of my network and a teacher can link to it and decide whether or not to bookmark it. Social bookmarking can help speed up the time it takes to find information so could be useful for students as well. Usually when I find a useful site and want to share it I have to email the person the site taking an extra step-if the person is part of my network they will already have access to it! Students could benefit also from social bookmarking when doing a project or research paper because they are not limited to just what they find rather a whole community of people using the same keywords. I could have approved sites published on my blog for parents and students to access as well.
For the past year I have been looking for a way to expand my knowledge both in technology and teaching in the classroom as well as the work setting. I wanted to pursue a field that combined my experiences as a classroom teacher and pharmaceutical trainer. Instructional design and technology seemed the perfect fit. In Chapter 1 you could see the definition of this field expanded over time with the growth of new technology. I think the complete definition (p. 7) which includes improving performance in the workplace as well as educational institutions applied to what I was looking for. I agree with the authors that "the use of media for instructional purposes and the use of systematic instructional design procedures" are key in defining the field of instructional design and technology. I think this makes the field more comprehensive. I think following a systematic instructional design procedure will help keep everyone in the field creditable especially if the procedure has strong evidence based data supporting it. I didn't feel anything was really surprising or missing in this definition-it just reinforced what I am interested in doing!

D/B2

I have had some experience using Blogs as far as posting and reading other user's posts. Occasionally I would post a comment if I felt strong enough about what was being discussed. I really thought it would be much harder to set up a Blog than it was. You can do so much more with a Blog as well. I was just goofing around with it but I was able to add video, pictures, and RSS feeds which makes it so much more interesting and interactive! I have subscribed to many RSS feeds without really knowing what they were until I took this class. I have a Twitter account as well and get instant updates on my cell phone to whatever site I am following much like the RSS feed on my PC.
I think Blogs would be located in the verbal symbols area of the Cone. I say that because the medium is mostly written words which are abstractions. I can use this Blog for instance as an example. As a student I am engaged by responding to posed questions in a thoughtful way. The only physical element of this Blog is using the keyboard to formulate my ideas. I am primarily thinking vs. doing anything concrete or physical. Here's a question though -what if I used a Blog to post just a picture or a recording or a demonstration would it still be at the verbal symbols level or lower on the Cone? Perhaps it would depend on the response I was looking for? RSS feeds would probably be in the same area of the Cone too. Most of the RSS feeds I subscribe to are written words although some are video-there is very little physical action involved. The E! RSS feed also wants subscribers to comment on the stories they post so there can be quite the discussions-case in point is the death of Michael Jackson!
I can see awesome applications in my classroom for both Blogs and RSS feeds! Certainly I could use both tools in class discussions where students do exactly what we are doing in this class. Not all students will participate in a verbal class discussion because they're shy or whatever but if they could post their ideas and responses you might get better class participation! I think it would also lend itself to more in-depth or critical thinking responses if students are not constrained in the dynamics of the classroom setting. I taught Science and could see myself using a Blog instead of a Lab Experiment Notebook even a class Wiki for results of an experiment could be really fun! Perhaps I would use a Wiki also for student projects where group members would have to contribute. In the past I had my students do a monthly current science/health article that they found from newspapers or magazines-instead they could subscribe to different RSS feeds to get the latest news and then write on them. A Blog would be an excellent way to keep my parents informed about what is happening in my class. I used to send out letters and emails but it would be so much easier to have my student's parents subscribe to the class Blog! I think Postman would agree Blogs/RSS could be the solution to the lack of class participation in discussions or student engagement and in poor communication between teachers and student's parents. These are just 2 problems which I think could be improved if teachers used these types of tools and I plan to use them in my classroom!

D/B1 Pros & Cons of Technology

I think both articles have valid points to consider. Reigeluth/Joseph focuses on how technology can help education "switch its focus from sorting (industrial age) to learning-and to prepare ALL learners to be problem-solvers, self-directed, and work well in groups". He proposes that by utilizing technology appropriately we can transform the way we teach to focus on the individual learners needs. Postman, on the other hand, focuses on the bigger picture of education and its role in "how to learn and how to behave as part of a community". His idea is that we are information overloaded and more technology is not going to fix the bigger social problems of today.
First I must say I love to use technology and was probably one of the first teachers to embrace its use in my classroom! I liked the idea of bringing new, innovative ways to enhance the students learning beyond what was in the classroom. I taught science so animation and real life examples were easily found on the Web. The high school I taught at also embraced Mastery Learning and block scheduling. The thought was that a longer class time would allow teaching, testing reteaching, and retesting until all the students reached Mastery. Unfortunately, Mastery Learning in its pure sense could not be successful in the way school is taught presently. I don't think technology can address individual learning until the whole structure of the school day changes. For instance, every student strives to graduate with their class and they must complete x amount of credits per semester per year. I found the adaptive form of Mastery Learning we used to be ineffective and very difficult to orchestrate with 25 plus students per period. So I would agree with Reigeluth/Joseph with the concept of transformation but I am not sure it is presently feasible.
I think Postman's view broadened my idea of the role of schools in general. It's not just about learning but rather how to help students critically filter the barrage of information coming in and then apply it to make society a better place. And he's right when he says that more information isn't necessarily making our world a better place to live in!
I think both viewpoints helped me to better understand the roles of education and technology. I think technology is a helpful tool in the educational setting both for students and teacher but cannot replace the "human" interactions of the dynamics which occur at school.