EDLD_5368+-+Instructional+Design

There are many benefits in educators knowing how to design and implement online learning. Whether in K-12 or higher education institutions, educators need to accept that the world is changing… or more to the point, has already changed. Technological advancements such as the Internet and affordable e-learning platforms have allowed businesses and schools to provide anytime, anywhere access to content. This is a becoming more prevalent in colleges and universities every day. Now, students are able to participate in online learning communities where their technology skills can be enhanced in preparation for their future education or employment. This type of environment promotes collaboration while eliminating or reducing many geographic and diversity barriers, travel costs, and scheduling issues. Educators who are able to create these online learning opportunities are providing long-awaited benefits to their students as well as improving their own teaching and technology skills. Educators who contribute to this type of learning encourage team teaching, team learning, and student-centered education. Additional advantages will be a connection with the “digital natives” in their classes, acquainting “digital immigrants” with necessary 21st Century skills, increased student engagement, and staying at the forefront of the digital teaching realm. If designed properly with Universal Design and Backward Design principles, all students can learn to be more responsible for their own learning, content can be updated with ease, and educators will be utilizing relevant subject matter as opposed to the “twin sins of traditional design: activity-based and coverage-based approaches” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 16-17). Whether teachers are using a full-blown online course or a hybrid model, online content and Web 2.0 skills can supplement and augment conventional classroom styles of teaching.  Professionally, I will use the course that I designed in the Schoology platform as a Summer 2010 professional development session entitled //Enhancing Family and Community Involvement Through Communication Methods.// I think that my course still requires some tweaking to accommodate a true online experience. I have to say that it was difficult to shift my focus from a traditional face-to-face staff development model to an approach that was meant to be completely online. In reality, this particular course may be presented as a hybrid or blended solution due to the required hands-on training for some of the content. Either way, this course will provide an example to campus administrators of the types of online courses their teachers could be constructing for their students. If principals and other administrators understand the possible need for this type of offering, hopefully teachers would be next to appreciate the potential this type of platform can provide.  As a technology director for my school district, I am attempting to integrate online learning with our teachers and students. My instructional technology team has been looking at this type of delivery system for a couple of years. Whether a school district uses Schoology, BlackBoard, eFront, Moodle, or the new TEA Epsilen Project Share platform, online learning represents a wonderful technique for content distribution. Of course, the key to a successful implementation will be three-fold: good advertising, successfully expressing the benefits to the teachers, and solid professional development opportunities. I believe that the Moodle platform at our middle school was short-lived due to failed attempts in all three of these factors. As a technology leader, I hope to remedy this by bringing back online teaching and learning prospects that are clearly reflected in our long-range plan for technology. An online content delivery system could not only benefit our traditional classroom students, but many other populations of students as well. These might include students who are homebound, in alternative education programs, in disciplinary settings such as DAEP, and those students who need flexible class schedules due to work-study programs.  With regards to online learning, there are few questions that I still have not fully answered. My first concern is how does an educator ensure that the registered student is the one turning in the assigned work? Academic honesty can be agreed upon and trust should be given and earned, but there is always some level of doubt. Does a course that is completely online reduce social interaction and increase isolation? I think that a proper design can allow for collaboration and team learning, but face-to-face contact, nonverbal communication, and tone are features that can be scarce. What if all students do not have internet connectivity; especially access with broadband speed? Obviously, this will pose a problem in some communities or populations of students. Educators will have to remain flexible and creative. Can authentic experiences and adequate assessments be achieved in a digital environment? I believe these can be achieved, although course designers need to incorporate various types of media (e.g. video, virtual environments, interactivity, etc.). Regarding assessments, true understanding must be measured. Personally, I feel that online assessments may not adequately quantify a student’s comprehension. As Wiggins and McTighe stated, “//understanding// is about transfer. To be truly able requires the ability to transfer what we have learned to new and sometimes confusing settings” (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005, p. 40). Given these concerns, I truly believe a blended model would probably work best for K-8.  Based on the new content and learning that I have been exposed to in this course, I plan to create a couple of online courses to serve as examples to administrators and teachers in my school district. Hopefully, these can be utilized in conjunction with a staff development session to promote online learning. In addition, I would like to model and then assist some of our department heads with online course plans utilizing backward design principles. Performing classroom walk-throughs this week, I was reminded of our Week #1 reading: //How People Learn – Chapter 6//. The authors stated that “a key aspect in task analysis is the idea of aligning goals for learning with what is taught, how it is taught, and how it is assessed (both formatively and summatively). Without this alignment, it is difficult to know what is being learned” (Bransford, et al., 2000). Learner, knowledge, assessment, and community-centered environments must be aligned to achieve the definitive learning environment. Accomplishing this within an online learning environment is extremely difficult, as any designer well knows. Doing it successfully with adequate and meaningful feedback is even more so.  Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). //Understanding by design// (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. Retrieved on April 19, 2010, at []   Bransford, J.,Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Ed.). (2000). //How people learn.// pp. 129-154 (Chapter 6). Washington DC: National Academy Press. Retrieved on April 12, 2010, at [] <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">