Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Class Notes - Nov. 21, 2007

5 Star Instructional Design
id2.usu.edu/5Star



Restructuring Education Through Technology

Four Components of Education:
1. Teacher/Guide
2. Student
3. Content
4. Context

Technologies
* mime
* oral/storytelling
* writing


Teacher/Content Relationship:

- Traditionally, the relationship between teacher and content is very controlled. We have the State Core to follow, NCLB laws, CRTs, administration, etc.

Student/Context Relationship:
- What does a technology rich environment look like?

Teacher/Context Relationship:
- What would technology for the teacher look like?
Smartboards, Grading Programs, Microphone, LCD Projector, lights, T.V., DVD/VCR, Audio equipment

* What links does education have to the real world?
* Administrative process of teaching treats all students as warm bodies in a building.

How do technologies like telecommunications, distance learning and multiple instructors enhance learning?
* Technology helps reach more people, covers vast distances
* Convenience and flexibility for students

What are the negatives involved with these teaching strategies?
* The cost can be prohibitive
* In ways, additional technology can lead to laziness. Or a lack of knowledge. For example, my students weren't able to find research in a physical book. We had to review the whole research process.
* Information can be misinterpreted
* The burden is placed on the learner
* Lack of human contact
* In ways we could become tools within tools


**** "Information is not instruction" M. David Merrill

**** The term "technology" doesn't mean machines.


Prototyping

The purpose of the analysis documents is to give the client a sample of what the final product will be like.

* Decide on a deliver system.

Ask yourself:
Most effective learning environment possible
vs.
Just because it's available

* Don't get sucked into the idea that high-tech is always the answer. Delivery of instruction doesn't have to be computer based.

* Consider the following issues:
- Instructional Setting
- Media characteristics
- Instructional Material
- Time
- Instructors, knowing who will deliver the instruction shapes the direction you take as a designer


When choosing a delivery method:

* Examine different delivery methods. Would cooperative learning serve the objectives? Is a game more appropriate? Look for ways to reach different types of learners.

* Think outside the box, classrooms are NOT always the setting.

* Consider attention rates. This ties into knowing your audience and your materials. Find real world applications for instruction and ways to help students retain knowledge (visuals, audio, manipulatives, cooperative learning, and so on).

* The role of the designer is to decide when to use real life applications or other instructional materials. Once again, it leads back to knowing your audience and conducting a thorough task/learner analysis.

* There are so many different sides to instructional design. I guess it's similar to what I do as a teacher, but at work, I'm an expert. It's mind boggling to think of designing instruction and materials for subjects I know nothing about and students I'll never meet.

For next week: View points from two experts, Clark and Kozma...we're reading Clark, read 2 of the 3 articles. Debate held via WebCT. Mon - Thur

Final~

Come ready to present (up to 15 minutes) on project
1. Instructional Problem and Solution
What was project?
What issues did you have?
How did you solve them?
2. What did you learn along the way?

Bring to Class:
1. First two documents
2. Instructional materials
3. Report 3 on XVII
4. Materials...whatever's been produced
- Instructor/learner material
- Self-paced instructions*
- Paper and electronic copies

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Class Notes Oct 24th

Web 2.0 Presentation


Web 2.0 - A Definition


"Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users.... In alluding to the version-numbers that commonly designate software upgrades, the phrase "Web 2.0" hints at an improved form of the World Wide Web."

At the 2004 conference O'Reilly also introduced a "taxonomy" of what he considered varying levels of "Web 2.0-ness". Following is a brief explanation of his hierarchy:

* Level 3 - applications that are the most "Web 2.0"-oriented, which could only exist on the Internet, deriving their power from the human connections and network effects that Web 2.0 makes possible, and growing in effectiveness the more people use them
- Examples: eBay, craigslist, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, Skype, dodgeball and Adsense

* Level 2 - applications that can operate offline but which gain advantages from going online
o Examples: Flickr (which benefits from its shared photo-database and from its community-generated tag database)

* Level 1 - applications that are also available offline but which gain features online
- Examples: Writely (now part of Google Docs & Spreadsheets) and iTunes (because of its music-store portion)
- iTunes

*Level 0
- applications which would work as well offline as they do online
- Examples: MapQuest, Yahoo! Local and Google Maps (Note: Mapping-applications using contributions from users to advantage can rank as "level 2")
http://sassmaster.wikispaces.com/Web2.0


Article Presentation – Backward Design
What are the basic steps to the backward design planning process?
Answer: The steps to this process are listed below.

* Step 1: Decide on the themes, enduring understandings and essential questions for the unit.

* Step 2: Design a summative for the end of the unit.

* Step 3: Align the unit with the New York State ELA Standards and choose outcomes, strategies and best practices to teach them.

* Step 4: Choose resources to create a rich and engaging multi-genre thematically-linked unit.

* Step 5: Weave back and forth across the curriculum map to make revisions and refinements.

http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/BackwardDesign/Overview.htm?CFID=492724&CFTOKEN=12369413&jsessionid=1a309a4822616b242963


DRSL – Desired Results for Student Learning



Cognitive Engineering


Cognitive Engineering is an interdisciplinary approach to designing computerized systems intended to support human performance (Roth, Patterson, & Mumaw, 2001). It encompasses the fields of human factors, human-computer interaction, cognitive psychology, computer science, artificial intelligence and other related fields. The methods of Cognitive Engineering consider workers and the tasks they perform as the central drivers for system design.

http://mentalmodels.mitre.org/cog_eng/ce_intro.htm

Endsley’s Model of Situated Awareness

Endsley's model

The most established and popular definition of SA is that provided by US human factors researcher Mica Endsley (1988, 1995a, 2000):
"Situation awareness is the perception of elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future."
Perception, comprehension and projection are, in Endsley's account, the three essential components of SA. They support the active maintenance of an integrated mental model at three hierarchic levels:
Perception involves monitoring, cue detection and simple recognition; it produces Level 1 SA, the most basic level of SA, which is an awareness of multiple situational elements (objects, events, people, systems, environmental factors) and their current states (locations, conditions, modes, actions).
Comprehension involves pattern recognition, interpretation and evaluation; it produces Level 2 SA, an understanding of the overall meaning of the perceived elements - how they fit together as a whole, what kind of situation it is, what it means in terms of one's mission goals.
Projection involves anticipation and mental simulation; it produces Level 3 SA, an awareness of the likely evolution of the situation, its possible/probable future states and events. This is the highest level
Recognition-primed decision (RPD) is a model of how people make quick, effective decisions when faced with complex situations. In this model, the decision maker is assumed to generate a possible course of action, compare it to the constraints imposed by the situation, and select the first course of action that is not rejected. This technique has benefits in that it is rapid, but is prone to serious failure in unusual or misidentified circumstances. It appears to be a valid model for how human decision-makers make decisions.

Class Notes Oct. 17th

3 Questions an ID asks:

1. Where are we going?
2. How are we going to get there?
3. How do we know when we’ve arrived?



* Unless you can test and measure the outcome, you’ll never know if you’ve been successful.
* Focus on outcome (even if it doesn’t mean success)
* After you’ve written objectives: ASSESS!!

I was a bit of a spaz throughout most of my undergraduate years. My primary concern was having fun, that I managed to become educated still sometimes surprises me - that I did it well is nothing short of miraculous. I never knew where I was going, figuratively speaking, I chose English as a degree because I like to read. Then I graduated and had no idea what I was going to do with myself and my fancy B.A. Had I used my brain and figured out where I was going and how to get there, I could've saved myself time and money. As this is my life, my time, my money, I'm free to waste it as I please. However, I very much doubt that future employers would appreciate my wasting their time and money.

So....Know where you're going! Figure out how you're getting there. And be sure to create a way to determine when you've arrived.


How do you determine mastery?


- Establish criterion
- Is the assessment congruent with learning objective?
- With every test, there will likely be some congruencies.
-What is the verb on your objective? That tells you how you’ll measure learning.

Learning objectives all over again.


The 3x5…not just a note card.
* Use it as an informal assessment.
- What’s unclear to you?
- One sentence summary
- Concept Map
- Inventive Dialog
- What’s the principle?
- Direct paraphrasing/Directed paraphrasing
- Student generated test questions
- Classroom opinion poll
- Chain notes
- RSQC2 (Recall, Summarize, Question, Comment, Connect)
- T/F – Why is it false?

*Note: I used 3x5 cards in several different ways this school year. First: as an informal vote when my students picked out their novel for next term. Second: as a formative assessment during our prefix/suffix unit. Third: as a mini-quiz about our new school rules.

I'm sold on the beauty of the 3x5!


THINK OUTSIDE THE ASSESSMENT BOX

Class Notes Sept. 26th

Task Analysis~

Analyzing “WHAT”

John Wood – UCLA Basketball Coach (national champions 9 out of 10 years)
- “Details Create Success”

I think John Wood was an Instructional Designer subconsciously. When first hearing about how Wood had a specific method for his players putting on their shoes and socks, I thought he was a bit dictatorial. But, lo and behold, there was a reason! If the players took care that their socks laid flat and were put on just so, the odds of blistering were lowered. If they cut their hair, there was less interference from wind. Talk about detail oriented. I can only imagine what the players first thought when their coach walked them through putting on a sock - that's something people do on a very regular basis.

Applying this example to Instructional Design, I keep thinking that I prepare lessons and teach on a daily basis. How will that affect my ability to design instruction? Initially I thought it would be a piece of cake, but I don't break my lessons down to the point of silliness. If I did, I'd probably be locked up by now. You always hear how an expert is the worse person to teach a skill and I hope that doesn't hold true and mean a teacher is the worse person for instructional design.


When planning instruction ask yourself, "What are the key things we need to know about the learners relative to instruction?" What learning styles are present? How can all needs be met?

Analyze Context

- Where are we going to have instruction?
- What are positive/negative learning aspects?
- What needs to happen? What elements have to be there?

Think these things through in the Analysis portion of design. You have to know where you're going, why you're going there, and how you're going to get there.


Analyze Learners

- Motive for being there
- Prior knowledge/experiences , narrow audience down
- Best way to conduct learner analysis: ask learners! Observe learners
- Most learning theories are descriptive, not prescriptive
- Learn about your learners…do they have a preferred learning style?
- Don’t narrow down instruction too much. Specifics change.
- Take the obvious and turn into not so obvious

It's like teaching in a traditional classroom setting. My third period is completely different from my sixth. In third we do a lot of reading and discussion. By the time sixth period rolls around, I have to use instruction that allows students to move about. The rules are also much more strict in sixth. If I back down, that class becomes a zoo.

In a classroom it's easy to know your audience - you're with them everyday. As an Instructional Designer, that won't be the case. In order to know my audience, I've got to ask questions. And then more questions. And then a few more. Probably to the point of silliness.

Class Notes Sept. 19

Media Presentation - Video
YouTube – “How to Hit a Baseball”

I love YouTube. There's so much on there that can be used for examples of this and that. There are also about a million different way to infringe upon copyright issues and to access totally inappropriate material.

When using video as part of instruction:

- Video: for every minute you watch, at least 1 hour of prep.
- Use video to dramatize and event, learn a process or task skills, observe an event (risk free)

Classroom Video Tips

- Market the video: prep the audience
- Know your audience: video length, topic, appeal
- Sights and lights: make sure everybody can see
- Get involved and follow up with good discussion
- Use video in task analysis phase

I remember a history teacher I had in high school who was always showing us videos. That's all we ever seemed to do (or that I remember at any rate). The videos were accompanied by worksheets, but we rarely had discussions afterward. It would have been so much more meaningful if we had talked about what we watched and how that related to our text.


Sub Analysis

Ask yourself questions:
- What must students already know so that, with minimal instruction, this task can be learned?
- What is it that a student must already know how to do, the absence of which would make it impossible to learn this subordinate skill?
- What mistake might students make if they were learning this particular skill?

Entry Behaviors – what do they need to know to be successful at this task….know your learners….break it down to the point of silliness!

  • It's amazing how difficult it was to break a task down into a thousand minute, ridiculous details. My group skimmed over that portion of the project with our tire changing video, we focused on the Big Rocks (use jack, turn lugnut, etc.). When we began our task analysis for our tiling project it was tough. It felt unnatural to break the task down as much as we did. Conversely, after we'd gotten used to thinking about the tiniest of details (move two inches and three quarters to the left) it was hard to then turn around and think in terms of the Big Rocks again. I'm amazed at how much I've learned this semester. When I first wrote this blog entry, I had no idea what was in store. Dr. Monson was dead serious when he told us to "break it down to the point of silliness." It's my new creed!
    • Dec. 6, 2007

- Knowing your entry behavior helps you to focus your instruction (task analysis)
- Gen. Characteristic: oftentimes relate to attributes generally found amongst population…focus on entry behaviors, they relate directly to the task/procedure you’re trying to achieve.

- Rule of thumb:
o Is it worth the time to take to test it?



Sub-skill analysis: Ex. Tire changing, 4 or 5 main steps, broken down into several sub-skill groups


1. Obtain good tire and tools
2. Lift Car
3. Remove Tire
4. Replace Tire
5. Lower Car


Analysis Portion of Project

1. Define goal – well crafted sentence
2. Goal analysis w/5-15 steps – basic path
3. Break it down (sub-skill/task analysis)
4. Analyze learners and context