ARCS Model

Here is a presentation from a Webquest on ARCS Model for my EdTech 503 course through Boise State University.

Webquest: Pedagogical Approach and Scaffolding Strategy

Here is a presentation from a Webquest on Pedagogical Approach and Scaffolding Strategy for my EdTech 503 course through Boise State University.

Webquest: Analysis of Content and Bloom's Taxonomy

Here is a presentation from a Webquest on Analysis of Content and Bloom's Taxonomy for my EdTech 503 course through Boise State University.

Webquest: ADDIE Model

Here is a presentation from a Webquest on the ADDIE Model for my EdTech 503 course through Boise State University.

Instructional Design Job Description

Summary of the Job

We are looking to fill a position for an Instructional Designer who will design, implement, and assess training programs to enhance our company’s development and success. The person who will fill this position should be innovative and on the forefront of trends in technology and instructional design. This is not a remote position and the lessons to be created should include both in person and e-learning formats.

The hired candidate for this position must:

• Have a Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in Education, Educational Technology, Learning Design and Technology, Instructional Design or equivalent
• Have an understanding of Adult Learning Theory
• Create highly interactive lessons
• Effectively deliver instruction
• Be able to assess and evaluate knowledge learned
• Be able to effectively assess the needs of the company and implement a strategy to help meet the needs
• Make the company's processes more effective
• Stay on top of trends in instructional design and implement such trends
• Be able to collaborate well with superiors, peers, and subordinates
• Be able to use technology effectively and when necessary
• Be proactive and work with a sense of urgency
• Be able to communicate through speech, visually, and writing

Preferred Knowledge and Skills

• Master’s Degree in Education, Educational Technology, Learning Design and Technology, Instructional Design or equivalent
• At least two years of experience in the instructional design field
• Accustomed to the tasks of our company

Reflection

1. How do the roles of teachers and instructional designers differ?
   A key difference between the role of a teacher and instructional designer seems to be in the core expectations. At the core of the expectation of a teacher is that they are masters of their content. At the core of the expectation of an instructional designer is that they are masters of the delivery of the content. It is imperative that the instructional designer is on the cutting edge of delivery methods of information and assessing such delivered information. Another difference I have found between instructional designers and teachers is their audience. Instructional designers seem to be found in the private sector and instructing adults. Teachers can teach adults within their field, but teachers tend to be referred to as teaching children. Assuming a teacher to be a K-12 teacher, a difference between a teacher and instructional designer is their audience's expectations. A K-12 teacher teaches children who are required to be in school while an instructional designer instructs adults who have been hired to do a job. The adults who have been hired to do the job would be more interested in gaining information than the students would are required to be in school.
2. In what ways do the responsibilities of teachers and instructional designers overlap? I would argue that the most effective teachers should be instructional designers. Teachers who want to be the most effective should be desiring to instruct their students with the most effective methods. This would include using technology effectively, collaborating well with peers, and lessons that are engaging and interactive. If these key elements are met the students should learn the curriculum.
   While the clientele of teachers and instructional designers are different, both clienteles should havethe motivation to understand the knowledge. Students are given grades and encouragement from their peers, teachers, and parents for obtaining knowledge. Adults in the private sector obtaining knowledge from an instructional designer could be given praise from a boss or even a bonus.
3. In a comprehensive paragraph, please connect the relationship between these two roles to your own personal experiences. If you do not have any personal experiences to draw on, create a hypothetical example that clearly illustrates the relationship between teachers and instructional designers.
   As discussed above, I believe that the most effective teachers should also strive to be instructional designers. I am a high school math teacher and believe that my administrator has encouraged myself and my peers to teach our students with the most effective methods. We meet every other week for professional development and through this are able to stay on top of the foremost and most effective instructional methods. This way we are able to critique and improve our process of teaching. This is often the goal of an instructional designer, to improve processes of a company.

Job Description Resources

https://tinyurl.com/yagx7uz2

I found this job description intriguing because it was quite extensive. It gave a very long list of what they would like the applicant to have knowledge of and be able to to. It also had a list of both required qualifications and preferred qualifications.

https://tinyurl.com/y9zvwu5m

Here is a URL for an instructional design position that included all of the necessary requirements, but was concise in doing so. I liked that it listed out what the requirements of being able to do the job would be.

https://tinyurl.com/y7o7hwsw

I was drawn to this job description because of its detail. Each bullet point for the job description and requirements was detailed in its expectation.

541 Final Blog Entry

Part One: Reflection of the Course

What you have learned?

Over the span of this course, I feel I have truly been able to refine ideas that I have of implementing technology into education as well as developed quite a collection of resources that I can implement into my teaching. As a high school math teacher, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology, my goal has been to be on the cutting edge of the implementation of technology within education. I feel that within my practice I see the push for having resources to implement technology into education and I felt that by pursuing this path I could learn ways I could meet this expectation. This course specifically has helped me to find many resources which I have developed into lesson plans that I could use immediately.   

How theory guided development of the projects and assignments you created?

As I discussed in my Mission and Vision, Robyler discusses the two main perspectives at play today on effective instruction which are direct instruction and inquiry-based learning. Direct instruction is based on the behaviorist learning theory. It says that instruction should be teacher-centered and students are fed predefined information. Inquiry-based learning has evolved from the cognitive learning theory and is primarily student-centered and students generate knowledge with their teachers serving as facilitators. (Robyler, 2016) According to findings referenced in an article from February 2013 on Edutopia, when technology implementation is blended with teacher instruction produces better outcomes than just face-to-face instruction or solely online student learning. (Vega, 2013) Blended learning, at the cross-section of direct instruction and inquiry-based learning, has been and will continue to be at the center of my technology-based lessons. Soley putting technology into the hands of students does not directly cause them to become more successful learners. When they are shown the capabilities and instructed on how to use the technology with the content through blended learning then they will be more prosperous. 

How the coursework demonstrates mastery of the AECT standards? 

The vast majority of the course projects for this course demonstrate a mastery of AECT Standard1 and the given indicators and AECT Standard 2 and the given indicators. The projects this includes are the Relative Advantage Chart, Instructional Software Lesson Plan, Software Support Tool List & Description, Interactive Presentation, Spreadsheet and Docs Lesson Plans, Video Integration Project, Internet Lesson, Social Networking Learning Activities, Game-Based Learning, Content Area Projects 1, 2, 3, and the Assistive Technology Project.

·         AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): Candidates demonstrate the knowledge necessary to create, use, assess, and manage theoretical and practical applications of educational technologies and processes.

o    Using - Candidates demonstrate the ability to select and use technological resources and processes to support student learning and to enhance their pedagogy. (p. 141)

o    Assessing/Evaluating - Candidates demonstrate the ability to assess and evaluate the effective integration of appropriate technologies and instructional materials.  

·         AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): Candidates develop as reflective practitioners able to demonstrate effective implementation of educational technologies and processes based on contemporary content and pedagogy.

o    Creating - Candidates apply content pedagogy to create appropriate applications of processes and technologies to improve learning and performance outcomes. (p. 1)

o    Using - Candidates implement appropriate educational technologies and processes based on appropriate content pedagogy. (p. 141)

By compiling a Resource Page, the AECT Standard 5 and given indicator were met. 

·         AECT Standard 5 (Research): Candidates explore, evaluate, synthesize, and apply methods of inquiry to enhance learning and improve performance (pp. 4, 6-7).

o    Assessing/Evaluating – Candidates apply formal inquiry strategies in assessing and evaluating processes and resources for learning and performance. (p. 203)

How you have grown professionally?

This course has required me to create many lesson plans, activities, and compile resources for technology that could be implemented within a classroom. It has forced me to find new resources that I can use that fall under a variety of contexts such as instructional software, the basic suite, video, web-tools, social networking, gaming, specific content-areas, and assistive/adaptive technology. By stretching my mind to look at a variety of contexts it has helped me to actually begin to build a repertoire of resources and lessons I can implement in my classroom.

How your own teaching practice or thoughts about teaching have been impacted by what you have learned or accomplished in this course?  What will you do differently as an educator as a result of this course?

I can honestly say that I have only been teaching for three years and throughout these three years it has been easier to teach more through direct instruction rather than to implement inquiry-based lessons or much technology. Therefore direct instruction lessons have been the majority of the way I have taught. Next year our school will be implementing 1:1 technology through the use of Chromebooks. I feel that this course has helped me to actually look at how a lesson can be constructed with the implementation of technology as well as it has helped me to compile a vast number of resources that I can use. These things will change me as an educator because next year I will be able to actually use the Chromebooks efficiently and frequently within my classroom instruction. 

Part Two: Performance Assessment

Over the span of this course, we were supposed to keep up with a blog and comment on our peers' blog posts. The given grading rubric is in a table below and I have outlined to what degree I believe I have met each of the criteria. 

·         Content: I completed 7 of the 13 blog posts required for the course. Within these blog posts, I put good thought into my work and made connections to my life experiences in detail. (40/70 points)

·         Readings and Resources: For the blog posts that I did complete, I made references to the course text as well as other references. These references were given in APA 6th Edition. (12/20 points)

·         Timeliness: For the blog posts that were completed, the majority of them were completed in a timely manner to give time to other students to comment. (10/20 points)

·         Responses to Other Students: When I wrote my blog posts I commented on two other students' posts and gave thorough and thoughtful commentary. (18/30 points)

Overall, I know that I did not complete all of the blog posts, and due to this, I would give myself 80/140 points.

Criteria	Outstanding	Proficient	Basic	Below Expectations
Content 70 points	Rich in content, full of thought, insight and synthesis with clear connections to previous or current content and/or to real life situations made with depth and detail.	Substantial information, thought, insight and analysis has taken place with some connection to previous or current content and/or to real life situations but lack of depth and detail.	Generally competent in summarizing learning, but information is thin and commonplace with limited connections and vague generalities.	Rudimentary and superficial regurgitation of content with no connections and/or completely off topic.
Readings and Resources 20 points	Readings (from course text) and other resource materials are used to support blog comments. APA style is used to cite references.	There is some reference to readings and other resource material. No or limited use of APA style references.	Little if any reference is made to readings and other course materials.	Readings and resources are not mentioned.
Timeliness 20 points	All required postings are made early in the module to give others time to comment.	All required postings are made but not in time for others to read and respond.	Some or all of the required postings are made, but most are at the last minute without allowing for response time.	Some or all of the required postings are missing.
Responses to Other Students 30 Points	Two or more substantial posts with at least one detailed response made to address another students' post.	One or more satisfactory posts with at least one satisfactory response made to address another students' post.	One satisfactory post with a brief response to another students' post.	One brief post or no post at all and no response to another students' post.

References

Roblyer, M. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (7th ed.). Massachusetts: Pearson.

Vega, V. (2013, February 5). Technology Integration Research Review. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-research-learning-outcomes

Benefits of Multimedia in the Classroom

Resources

Multimedia in the Classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2018, from https://fcit.usf.edu/multimedia/overview/overviewa.html

Patterson, J. (2016, September 6). The 7 Most Important Benefits of Blended Learning. Retrieved February 19, 2018, from http://www.knowledgewave.com/blog/benefits-of-blended-learning

Team ISTE. (2015, October 8). ISTE | This is your brain on the ISTE Standards. Retrieved February 19, 2018, from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=565

Video Strategies. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2018, from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/ntti/resources/video1.html

The Basic Suite

Roybler discusses that "three of the most widely used software support tools are word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation programs." In the technologically developing time that we live in these applications are available not only as Microsoft Office tools which come as installed on most computers, but also now available online. One of the ways the Basic Suite is used in education is G Suite for Education through Google. The Google Suite allows for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations to be created and accessed by educators and students anywhere that Internet is available. Versions of created materials can also be downloaded and edited for offline use. 

Word Processing

Word processing is a common, and essential tool to be used in education. Word processing software allows for students to not only type text paragraphs, but also they can embed pictures and charts in their text-based information. Through the use of Google Applications a Google Document can be shared with multiple students. This would allow them to edit and comment on each other's work as well as collaborate on assignments from any location. Google documents can also be used by teachers to create hyperdocs. Hyperdocs are documents that are essentially like a scavenger hunt online. They scaffold information that they would like the students to complete and have videos or links embedded in them for students to access and use. These allow for a much deeper learning from the students as they can actually interact and discover the lesson at their own pace. 

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets in education can be used to store data and to calculate information using formulas. As a math teacher, spreadsheets can be very valuable. They can allow for students to input data, and complete complex calculations without having to do much mental math. It would also allow to give context to algebraic problems. Students could collect data and use it in a spreadsheet to create algebraic equations and best fit lines. 

Presentations

Presentations are at the core of direct instruction of many teacher's lessons. Even many lessons that engage the students still have an aspect of presentations which are used. When a teacher uses a presentation in their lesson, it allows for them to show pictures of their material, examples, and allows for the material to be pre-created as opposed to being written up on the board on the spot. In my math classes I use some form of presentation on a a daily basis. My lessons typically follow a pattern where students are given a theorem or steps to follow, then shown an example, and last given an example to try themselves. All of these problems are pre-created and arranged in a presentation software which allows for more time for questions, practice, and engagement. 

Trends in Education: 2017 K-12 Edition

The NMC/CoSN 2017 K-12 Horizon reports six key trends in K-12 Education. These trends are organized into short-term trends which drive technology adoption for the next one to two years, mid-term trends which drive technology adoption for the next three to five years, and long-term trends which drive technology adoption for the next five or more years. These trends are shifting the way that students are learning through the years.

Deeper Learning Approaches
One key trend from the Horizon Report that peaked my interest was that of deeper learning approaches. As a high school math teacher in a time where about twenty-five percent of high school seniors are graduating proficient in mathematics, I am intrigued by any way that I can help my students to truly learn the material on a deeper level. This key trend falls under the long-term trend, driving technology adoption for the next five or more years. This trend stresses the shift from students as passive learners to active learners through the use of technology. Technology used to be frequently seen as a distractor in the classroom and is now opening doors for students to constantly learn in the palm of their hands. I believe that because of this teachers can assign more rigorous tasks that allow students to truly explore and create, but also teachers need to be good facilitators to make sure students are engaged in the learning and not distracted by games or other applications on their devices.

Redesigning Learning Spaces
A mid-term trend that I found to be interesting was redesigning learning spaces. I found this one to be particularly interesting because I feel when people think of an elementary school classroom they are more likely to think of one that is colorful with tables and separate areas for different types of learners and collaboration. I teach in a high school classroom where many times still the desks are in rows like a cemetery and students are expected to sit quietly, listen, and complete their work. In the Horizon Report, it states that the "design should be maximized to support more collaboration, self-directed learning, active learning, and inquiry and creation." I am intrigued to at least organize my desks into groups, this way encouraging students to work together and be active in their learning. These are skills that are desired in the workplace when students graduate and should be fostered while they are in high school.

Conclusion
Both deeper learning approaches and redesigning learning spaces have at the heart of them fostering collaboration, inquiry, and active learning. These are all key ideas that are throughout the NMC/CoSN 2017 K-12 Horizon Report. It is extremely important to push towards these trends as they will help to foster life-long learners in our students and better prepare them for the workforce that they are headed towards.

Resources

Freeman, A., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Davis, A., and Hall Giesinger, C. (2017). 

MC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2017 K–12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

Mission and Vision

Technology is rapidly evolving, both inside of the classroom and outside. Inside the classroom, teachers used to use chalkboards, dry erase boards, and projected transparencies. In these times students were expected to sit in rows of seats and soak in knowledge from their teacher who was expected to know all and be the main disseminator of knowledge. Now, students are surrounded by a wealth of technology, not only at home but also in the classroom. These technologies span from cell phones to chrome books to laptops to tablets to virtual reality simulators and much more. With this wealth of technology at their fingertips, it is important that this technology is utilized appropriately and allows for students to be creators and discoverers rather than idle learners.

Robyler discusses the two main perspectives at play today on effective instruction which are direct instruction and inquiry-based learning. Direct instruction is based on the behaviorist learning theory. It says that instruction should be teacher-centered and students are fed predefined information. Inquiry-based learning has evolved from the cognitive learning theory and is primarily student-centered and students generate knowledge with their teachers serving as facilitators. (Robyler, 2016)

It has been shown that solely putting technology into the hands of children does not necessarily improve learning. According to findings referenced in an article from February 2013 on Edutopia, when technology implementation is blended with teacher instruction produces better outcomes than just face-to-face instruction or solely online student learning. (Vega, 2013) For technology integration to be truly successful schools need to set aside time for intentional professional development and teacher training. Also, with the constantly evolving technology funds need to be dedicated to meet this technology as it advances or it will not be the most effective.

In looking up the most recent National Assessment of Education progress report from 2015, only twenty-five percent of high school seniors tested as proficient or better in math. This is a startling statistic showing how broken math education is. An article by Smith from Edutopia states that student achievement is higher in mathematics classrooms who implement technology. (2008) Technology implementation in a math classroom can allow for students to explore different theorems and algebraic rules causing them to have a much deeper understanding of the material. There are also a vast number of programs that can test the level a student is at and help to build them up by meeting them where their skill level is. Technology is exactly what the mathematics classroom needs to help “freshen up a tired curriculum.” (Smith, 2008)

References

NAEP - 2015 Mathematics & Reading at Grade 12 - Mathematics - National Results Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_g12_2015/#mathematics

Roblyer, M. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (7th ed.). Massachusetts: Pearson.

Smith, L. (2008, May 22). Winning Equation: How Technology Can Help Save Math Education. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-math-education

Vega, V. (2013, February 5). Technology Integration Research Review. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-research-learning-outcomes