Section 4

1. An issue that I always have had in the classroom is student behavior.  It is always a concern in classes, amongst the school, and in all learning type settings.  I think it is a very touchy subject for some teachers as even with the strongest and most accurate classroom management and discipline; it is still difficult for behavior to always be at its finest. It becomes a struggle sometimes when a student may or may not understand their expectations and what an educator would want to see out of them.

2. I like how the book describes performance support systems as a “training Band-Aid.”  Most support systems can be helpful in schools and would indeed assist like a Band-Aid.  When I had some behavior issues in the classrooms (when I taught Kindergarten) I used a colored stick plan that I put into place at the beginning of the year. Students were well aware of the procedures, knew the color scheme, (green was good, yellow meant to slow down and think about your choices and actions, and was red was bad) and could totally give credit to themselves, since they were the only ones responsible for their results at the end of the day.

3.I feel that you need Tacit knowledge in order to be successful with the behavioral system I was referring to in my first 2 paragraphs.  I think it is important to look at the procedures you are going to use and apply to your students and ask yourself-“what will make this idea stand out more than others?”  This is a very Tacit way of thinking.  I would need to have my plan into place and over time, see how it evolves, what I would change, etc.  I think that is important in determining success. 

4. Having been in education for 11 years, I feel like the informal learning experience I have participated in is, FIND IT.  I certainly think this worthy of sharing with others as it can have such a strong impact on the learner.  A student may need to manage what they are doing by using wikis, blogs, or other forms of information.  To research ideas, find answers, and learn by exploring, is so important and an old fashioned way of growing (aka LEARNING!)  with an educational mind.

Section 3

     1. I enjoyed reading all of the Evaluation Model’s from Kirkpatrick’s work.  As an educator I would really focus on using the REACTION phase.  I feel this is an important phase because it can show the learner’s attitudes towards subjects and also help the teacher know what type of learning their students prefer.  This can be used to evaluate and adjust training/teaching.  The book states that if a person does not like the instruction, they will not learn from it.  I was this way as a child and am still this way!  When something is presented that does not capture your attention, it is human nature to begin to tune out, not listen, and therefore….NOT learn!

An aspect I would add to Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model is APPLY.  While I fully agree with the four levels of the program, I would like to see and learn about how the learner can apply the information given. By adding the APPLY phase I feel the learners would benefit even more from the training/presentation.

 2.  I would compose my team of classroom teachers with a passion for technology integration, the school technology facilitator, the school counselor, the art teacher and a campus administrator.  I feel that all of these members would bring a unique view that would help us reach our goal. I would like for all persons involved in the group to have a strong sense of communication.  In order to achieve this goal we would have scheduled meetings along with document/presentation sharing through programs like Google Docs. I would do my best as the leader, to provide this to them.  I would communicate to the group clear expectations for every individual so they know what is being asked of them. I feel that with good management, creativity, quality instructional design and clear expectations in place we would produce an exceptional project.

Section 2

1.  I feel that I generally employ a relativist stance when it comes to educating students.  The reason I take this stance is because I believe that students learn better when they are taking ownership of their learning.   There have been instances in my teaching past where I have presented the same lesson but in two different ways.  I have found that when I presented the lesson to the students in a way that they could relate to it was far more successful and had a greater impact on their learning.  Most of my students have always wanted to know why they are learning certain things.  When I can make that personal connection to their life it helps them to be invested more in whatever topic/subject we are learning about.

The first thing that popped into my mind about a conflict in my educational history was my experiences in professional development.  Being a specialized teacher, there has been times where I have had to sit through professional development that I felt were not related to my subject matter.  Since I struggled to relate with the topic, I found that often times I would lose interest in the presentation and not take proper notes.  One thing I did in this situation to effectively solve the issue was communicate with my administrators.  Through communication with administrators I have been able to attend more training for my area so that I can maximize my learning opportunities.  When I am in a training that doesn’t directly relate to my subject, I have tried to find connections so that I can acquire something beneficial from every learning experience.

2.      I felt the learning theory that I most frequently use is Robert Gagne’s Theory of Instruction.  I like his nine events of instruction and feel that each event is something we have been trained to do as a teacher.  The framework helps to keep me organized and present the learning in an order that should help students be successful.  We also were taught about how important the feedback part of the lesson is.  I like how this is a critical part of Gagne’s instructional theory.

When I was a kindergarten teacher, we would work on teaching the spacing of words during Writer’s Workshop.  I would always start the lesson by showing two objects crashing into each other.  After gaining the students interest (step one in Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction)I would then state the goal of how we have to have spaces in between our words or else it be like they were crashing into each other.  This format of presenting the lesson was very effective and helped my students to learn the basics of writing.  I feel that every lesson or presentation of learning should try and hook their audience in.  By gaining the interest of the learner, the learner will be more inclined to have the proper focus required to facilitate learning.

                                                Robert Gagne

Section 1: Defining the IDT Field

1.     I think it is interesting to see the evolution of the educational technology field through out the years.  I feel this compares to my own thoughts of what instructional technology and design is because as I have progressed further in this program the more fluid my thoughts become.  I feel it is a very difficult field to define because it encompasses so many different things.  However, the definitions consistently seem to be the focus of using technology to improve education. 

It is very interesting to see how the dates several years ago define educational and instructional technology so differently.  I know that the changes being made from 1977-1990 were made by several new developments that have molded my opinion on how I think technology is being used today. I used to believe that technology was only being “taught” but now I feel that it is all around us.  It is essential for students to use technology, understand it, and apply it in their every day lives. It is incredible to think how reliant on technology we have become.  When I first began teaching we were taking up students who brought cell phones to class.  Now, we have Bring Your Own Device programs where students are encouraged to complete work using their cell phones.

Instructional design and technology is a very proper term for the first chapter of the book.  The most recent AECT definition really puts a focus on the process of this field.  That really resonated with me because I know that the use of technology has been a process in my educational career.  It seems like every year I am integrating more technology into my lessons to help assist student learning.  Technology is now something that educators are expected to incorporate into their 21^st century classrooms.

2.     A lesson that I taught a few years ago was designed for young students to help them learn about mathematical sequencing.  I do not feel that the lesson utilized all six characteristics of instructional technology and design. There was not a goal-oriented form for students and there would not have been a very good self-correction format allowed for students. If I had the opportunity to re-do the lesson I would allow for a better student driven form of goals.  The reasoning for this would be to help a student to understand what they are trying to learn and how they can apply their learning in real world situations.  Students taking ownership of their learning also holds them responsible for their success.  It makes the process more of a team process instead of a teacher driven process.  In addition, I also would want a student to not be afraid of making a mistake.  Being able to learn from mistakes and taking risks is a lifelong skill I would want of all of my students to have. 

3.     I feel that instructional design and instructional media should generally be grouped together.  In order to deliver quality instructional media there is a need for proper instructional design that is usually created by a teacher.

I would consider teachers as instructional media because they are pivotal in presenting the instruction to the students.  The students’ learning is greatly affected by the teacher.  I feel that textbooks, chalkboards, and whiteboards should also be considered instructional media because they are tools that present instruction.  However, I do feel that these tools are being replaced through technology.  We will often use different apps on an iPad to simulate what used to be done on a whiteboard. 

         I feel it is imperative for instructional design to incorporate media into instruction.  Technology is prevalent in so many facets of our life that it would be doing our students a disservice if we did not reflect this in our teaching.  The goal of teaching is to help students achieve success and teachers should be willing to use any method possible to reach this goal. With today’s generation of students, this often means using technology to help facilitate learning.  Having said that, I do feel that textbooks and some older instructional tools have a place in today’s instructional design.  The more flexibility we have in our tools the greater possibility we have of reaching learners in a learning style that is most beneficial to them.