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!