"What vs. How"

Shawn Atwood

“What vs. How”

Well, the question remains, what is an instructional designer? I have learned this week that an instructional designer works at incorporating four things. They include: Integration, activation, application, and demonstration. It is a simplified version of Gagne’s nine steps. As an instructional designer incorporates these four things, naturally they will reach objectives. To make this easier I have also discovered that there are two questions to keep in mind. They are “what should I teach?” and “how should I teach it?”

Keeping this thought in mind, it is crucial to remember to not let the “how” overshadow the “what.” Often times as a teacher I focus so much on how I am going to teach that what I am going to teach becomes weak. But to figure out how to teach, an instructional designer should use integration, activation, application, and demonstration of the content. That is how something becomes real and relevant to a student and you would have been successful in what you have taught.

I love technology . . . . Always and Forever.

Shawn Atwood
Foundations of Instructional Design

“I love technology . . . Always and Forever”

I hope you are all having a blast over fall break! The question: “What is an instructional designer and what is technology is on my mind during this break. So, allow me to venture to answer these questions by way of personal experience and additional thoughts.
First, I do not believe that there is one single tool that transforms a teacher into a master teacher. I have learned as a teacher that all of the teachers that are on my faculty have strengths and weaknesses, but they are still great teachers. Sometimes I have tried to take a teaching idea that I have seen work great, and it has flopped for me, even though I have done the exact same thing. Therefore, the same tools, methods of teaching, and teaching styles do not and should not work for everybody. A teacher just needs to be themselves and use their own style. Every class is different though so an instructional designer is one who is flexible in their teaching.
Secondly, an instructional designer needs to be creative in his/her approaches. Often times, teachers are under the assumption that they have to have great technology in order to be an effective teacher. That simply is not the case. Technology perhaps just may be a form of variety for the students and for their enjoyment as well. Instruction can still go on. A teacher needs to always remember to not let the "how" of teaching overshadow the "what." This challenge may just open the window of creativity for the teachers in that situation.
Last of all, there has to be a reason behind why you are choosing that method of technology. Is it just so it can be used in class, or does it really serve a purpose and what is that purpose? Also, an instructional designer has to make the lesson/technology being used “there own” so that it fits their teaching style.

October 1-7

Shawn Atwood
Foundations of instructional design
EDPS 6430

“Good Analysis Leads to Good Objectives.”

Well, I submit that my mother-in-law is finally starting to understand to a small degree what an instructional designer is and what they do. I however, am still learning and it seems to me that each week I pick up something new to add to the “illuminated cave” as Rich would call it. This last little while as we have been studying task analysis, it has become clear to me that analyzing the learner is such a key element in designing instruction. It perhaps might be the most important thing of all because it is the first step of instruction. It is where it all begins. If analysis is not done right then the instructional design could fail miserably.
This week’s reading backs up the importance of analysis, because as a designer analyzes the learner and directs their instruction towards them, the learner is then more capable of learning and is even more ready to learn. According to Dick and Carey (2005) “few students are likely to be lost for long periods of time, and more are likely to master the instruction when they know what they are supposed to be learning” (p. 124).
In addition to the above ideas, one of the key things that an instructional designer does is come up with, and write performance objectives. These objectives are essentially what the learner will be able to do by the time the instruction is complete. They describe what kinds of skills, knowledge, and attitudes that the student will be learning. In order for an objective to be clearly stated, a clearly identified behavior must be identified first as a result of instructional analysis. So, to sum of this week's thoughts on what is an instructional designer? An instructional designer is one who analyzes the learner, identifies a behavior through that analysis and then comes up with an objective of what they want the learner to be able to do. That is the whole purpose of instruction. When the students leave the classroom each day, they will know how to do something.