What have I learned about instructional design?

  

     Instructional design is one of those things that I always knew was important, but never really considered as a process. Most PD sessions I have led have been participant driven. I knew where I wanted to start and I knew where I wanted them to be at the end, but most of my presentation was dictated by their suggestions. I have never considered myself a good planner and this course has really made me step back and look at that aspect. "Instructional Design strategy begins with setting up clear goals, determining the actions that must be taken to meet these goals, and making use of a variety of resources, techniques, and devices to achieve these goals," (Omer, 2016). I would always have clear goals, but I didn't always determine what actions should take place to meet these goals. 

     What is instructional design? Dempsey and Reiser defined it this way:

Instructional design is defined as the teacher/instructor or instructional developer planning how to structure learning situations to maximize student acquisition of information and skills and inculcation of the attitudes and values needed to be a member of a community of practice and society as a whole, (2017, p. 269).

     I do not find that definition to be very helpful to someone trying to improve their instructional design. I much prefer the breakdown I found in the graphic below.

    It helps me to think of instructional design as a process to optimize learning. I also like knowing that the end product is a blueprint for good instruction, not the end.

    I do agree with Dempsey and Reiser's requirements for a well-designed lesson. "Well-designed lessons require students to be active (not passive), induce student engagement (not disengagement), and have criteria-based assessment," (2017, p. 269). I tried to use these three requirements as well as the information presented in the text about motivation and learning styles to guide my introduction to G Suite training for our teachers.

     Bibb County has had a G Suite account for almost two years, but we just recently moved our email over to G Suite. Many teachers are familiar with the Google Apps and using Gmail, but we still have some who have never had a private email address with any provider. My training is directed like everyone is a new user. I have found that even those familiar with Gmail and Drive do not know many of their features. I have been using Google products for years and still learn things daily.

     You can view the items for my training including an outline here. I am going to start at the beginning with getting logged into your account. I will then go over Gmail items such as composing, using group directories, searching, sorting, creating folders, and personal contacts. I will then go over the basics of Google Drive including opening a shared document, editing a document, uploading a file and folder, sharing a document, and making a copy of a document. This will be hands on and faculty will log into their accounts and follow along with me. I will have each one use these items in their own account. They will also make a copy of my handout through Google Drive so that they will have a digital copy of this item.

     I tried to use enough rich media to keep their interest and their motivation should be promoted because it is very related to their work goals. (Dempsey & Reiser, 2017, p. 80).

References

Dempsey, J. and Reiser, R. (2017) Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology. Pearson, New York, NY.

Omer, A. (2016) Instructional Design Strategy: What is Its Role in eLearning Design? Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/instructional-design-strategy-role-elearning