What I have Learned

"What I have Learned"

Well, it has been quite a ride this instructional design field has been. There have been ups, there have been downs, there have been late nights and early mornings. But all and all I have survived and I have enjoyed. I have learned so much about instructional design and about myself this year. Here are a few things I have learned about instructional design:

• It is never done because there is always more to do.
• Evaluation and assessments are so crucial to the effectiveness of the design and they should be done early to save a lot of backtracking.
• It is nice to work with people you trust :)
• Designing instruction requires seeing the instruction from multiple points of view, and
• An instructional designer is constantly asking themselves 1) "Where are am going?"2) "How will we get there?" and 3) "How will we know when we have arrived?"
• There is so much more to learn. This is only the beginning.
  

Can Technology Hurt

Shawn Atwood

Can Technology Hurt?

Lately I have been thinking a lot about technology in the classroom as a part of the instructional designing process. As I studied the Frick article as well as this week’s reading it is apparent to me that technology is becoming more and more fluent in the classroom. My question, however; is this: “How can I incorporate technology into the classroom without it being a distraction to my students?” I understand that if I have control over what is done with the technology then I have the power to illuminate distractions, but if the students have control over it, they might have the tendency to use the technology as a form of entertainment instead of as a learning tool. In addition to this, I wonder if technology ever hinders the learning process. For example, I have some students that are very fluent with i-pods, cell phones, and computers but they really struggle with reading, writing, spelling, and basic communication skills. They lack basic social skills and manners.