ETEC 561 Capstone Video

ETEC 561 CAPSTONE VIDEO

To expand on my Capstone Video please read the following.

What was the most challenging thing you learned this semester?

The most challenging thing I learned this semester was found in Section Two. This section was on epistemology, models, and theories of instruction and knowledge gain. I found wrapping my brain around the different epistemology camps was a true struggle.

To be successful in this we must understand what Epistemology means…

·         Epistemology the study of what and how we come to know.

A few of the different theories behind learning as they pertain to instructional design are:

•          Behavioral Learning Theory-focuses on feedback, behavioral objectives, and practice.
•          Cognitive Learning Theory- focuses on attributes of learners and the role of prior knowledge.
•         Situated Learning Theory- focuses on the learner’s situation (socioeconomic factors).
•          Constructivist- focuses on constructing learning environments that encouraged learning.

I think that this quote from Gange really sums up that more than one of these theories can all be employed together to facilitate learning.

“There are, after all, some useful human activities that are acquired without instruction, and others that result from self-instruction. But most practical and purposeful activities, such as the pursuits involved in vocational and technical training, are learned in settings that employ instruction.”

What was the most interesting thing you learned this semester?

Much of the information that I learned in this semester I found interesting so it was a challenge to come up with the most interesting. However, after thinking about it for a while, I think that I found Section Five the most interesting. Getting to look at how instructional design is used in fields different than the field of education was a real eye opener for me. I also found it interesting that many of the same trends and issues are universal across fields. To sum up some of the fields trends and issues:

Business and Industry

•         Design teams can vary from organization to organization based on size and need.
•          Others such as the client or a subject matter expert are involved heavily in the process.
•         Many designers are also project managers
•         Diversity of clients and audience, time, and funding concerns

Military

•          Focus on needs of the military and the individual
•          New and rapidly changing technologies
•          International or multinational military is the focus of the design and instruction (Joint Training)
•          Funding and delivery environment are concerns

Health Care

•          Varied settings or organizations of focus for the instruction.
•         Broad range of rapidly changing knowledge and research.
•         Costs of education for the professionals in this field can be high.
•          Instruction of consumer can cut cost of medical care.
•          The many Regulations, Standards, and Licenses that are needed.
•          Convergence of technologies and information received by the consumer and provider.

What was the most useful thing you learned this semester?

Section three, had some of the most useful information in it. I found thinking about evaluation challenging and useful. I learned there are many different models of evaluation, but what I really found useful was reflecting on different options for evaluating. An instructional designer should ask themselves a few questions before deciding on one or more evaluation models. The following are a few examples I came up with that might be useful to know:

a.     What is the “value” to the learner?

b.    What type of data is being gathered?

c.     How will the data gathered be used?

d.    What type of environment will the evaluation by done in?

e.    What type of organization will be evaluated?

f.      What is the focus of the evaluation?

g.    How long will the evaluation last?

h.    Who is being evaluated?

i.      What are the desired results of the evaluation?

As I stated in my reflection over this section, all of these questions have the commonality of a focus of determining how an evaluation will be given and used and what the “picture of success” looks like. I think that we must think about these things before we develop instruction. If we design with the end in mind then we should be more successful in the long term with our results and the performance of our learners.

List and explain three examples of how you have either already implemented or plan to implement things you have learned this semester?

1. I have already started to think about my instruction in a different light. I am trying to focus on making it more authentic and engaging for my audience (students). I have also thought about how all of my instruction should improve their performance not only in the short term, but for life.
2. I really like the idea of permanent learning objects. I have been doing this somewhat as I save everything that I design/produce. I have since becoming department head started to make sure that what I design/produce as well as what my fellow department members design/produce is saved and cataloged in our “teacher share” history folder. This will make it easier for all of us to stay together and come alongside teachers that are new to the department.
3. I also plan to start looking into professional organizations. I have already joined a couple of LinkedIn groups. By doing both of these I hope I will be able to stay on top of trends in the field.