As a kind of check in, I would like to hear a somewhat summative reflection on your experience in the course so far, particularly related to the technology-related tasks you have tackled. How challenging have you found them? What support you did not get that you would have appreciated (or what support did you get that you did appreciate)? Are you excited, frustrated, or both? Do you think you will find ways to incorporate some of what we have done in your professional work? For those of fairly (or brand) new to this masters program, how do you feel about this as a first or early course?
My experience through out this course has been time consuming and very informational. I have not had a real hard time overall with the different technology assignments. However, I also did not know that some existed or what they were used for. I have listed the different technology assignments and my thoughts below:
Blogging: I have never made or even used a blog before this class. I don't know that I would use this for my current job that I have. I could see myself using it though if I ever become a director of IT at a school district as a way to communicate with the different levels of staff. I personally did not find the blog as a challenge. I looked at it more as an experience:) I actually got support from my current work study student which was very nice.
WIKI: I once again have never made or used a WIKI. I found it very useful for group projects. I think I could incorporate it here at my current job when I am working on group projects. Currently, we just email each other and sometimes we forget to send it to some people so a WIKI may be the best alternative. It would just be a matter of training the different individuals on how to use a WIKI and then their willingness to participate. At first I thought this was quite the challenge but once we got going on it, it was a breeze. I received support from the discussion boards and through emails to both students and the teacher and it was great.
Social Bookmarking: Never made a page or used the page with social bookmarks. It was not challenging at all it was actually quite easy. I really like the idea of social bookmarks. In fact, I am trying to get the co-workers here to use it. They travel between two computers and they are always complaining about bookmarks and how wonderful would it be for them to be able to set up something like this. So, far I have gotten nowhere! They are not willing to learn something new but I am going to keep pushing the idea.
Photo Sharing: I had already done this not on any of the sites listed but on other sites and it truly is a wonderful tool. I put pictures of my little man out there and the entire family can go out and see him and order whatever pics they want.
Google Maps: I never really paid much attention to google maps other than to get directions. I could see us using this for different FA conferences and directions and what not but it would not be a huge help to my current position. It was a very easy tool to use and I really enjoyed playing around with it. I think at a school setting it would work great for different projects for the students.
I feel that this is a great introductory course. You get a little information on a lot of different aspects when it comes to Instructional Design and Technology and you get to play with all the different gadgets on the web!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
EDT 5410: Week Five Reflections (R/D8)
Pick out two trends or issues that particularly surprised you and/or hit home and explain why?
Piecemeal vs. Systemic Change -
Both of these approaches hit home for me because when we were changing from out old mainframe system to the new student system I had to take a Systematic approach to the whole idea. We were starting back at ground zero and rebuilding everything that we had already accomplished and working in the old system but we wanted to change our current processes to be more streamline. Now, 3 years later I am taking more of the piecemeal approach and just touching up certain areas that need to be tweaked.
Step-Up-To-Excellence -
The step up to excellence methodology seems to be a great idea. I had no idea that they had something like this in place for educational environments. There are so many schools in the area in which I live that need to jump on this bandwagon. One thing that amazed me is that there has been something like this out there for 40 years and it has never really been used by a school district. Maybe it doesn't work that well but from reading this book it seems like it would work perfectly.
Piecemeal vs. Systemic Change -
Both of these approaches hit home for me because when we were changing from out old mainframe system to the new student system I had to take a Systematic approach to the whole idea. We were starting back at ground zero and rebuilding everything that we had already accomplished and working in the old system but we wanted to change our current processes to be more streamline. Now, 3 years later I am taking more of the piecemeal approach and just touching up certain areas that need to be tweaked.
Step-Up-To-Excellence -
The step up to excellence methodology seems to be a great idea. I had no idea that they had something like this in place for educational environments. There are so many schools in the area in which I live that need to jump on this bandwagon. One thing that amazed me is that there has been something like this out there for 40 years and it has never really been used by a school district. Maybe it doesn't work that well but from reading this book it seems like it would work perfectly.
EDT 5410: Week Five Reflection (R/D7)
What are, in your mind, two unique or interesting or different or noteworthy ways, Instructional Design/Technology has been used in business & industry that you believe could be usefully applied to your own professional work? Explain.
Technology-based Trainings -
The leaps that are being made when it comes to training is just amazing to me. The cost savings along are incredible when you look at training over the web. The different tools that are available now to companies such as using either synchronous or asynchronous communication. Both would work great sure synchronous is the better of the two but asynchronous would be just fine. Also, the web based training that is self learned is key to training.
Legal Issues and Training -
It is true the average person probably would never think of any legal issues with training. But like it stated in the text:
"Airline companies are required to train their agents in the proper handling of hazardous goods. Failure to develop and offer training and to certify employees can result in legal action by the federal government"
And the real kicker legal cases resulting from injury while participating in training.....who would of thought you would get hurt in training.
Well, neither of these two legal issues would be a problem for me here in my current work environment however the third would be.
A third legal problem result of infringement on intellectual property rights of others. I could find all sorts of information on the Internet to train my co-workers with in regards to say for example Microsoft Office but would I be using that information legally in a training.
Roles of Instructional Designers -
The write up of the different roles struck my interest. So, many companies always use a consultant to do the work for them. Did they ever stop to think that maybe someone that is already paid by them could do the same work. Companies could save so much money if they looked at their own inventory of employees first before hiring a consultant to do the work. I understand the whole concept of fresh ideas from an outsider but I would always say check out what you have first and save money! We have no extra money here so we are always trying to get stuff done with whatever means we currently have but sure if we had the money it would be so much easier just to hire it out. Here in FA we go by the team member/leader approach. There are 10 of us that meet weekly to work on new ideas and better processes for the office to get information out to students.
Technology-based Trainings -
The leaps that are being made when it comes to training is just amazing to me. The cost savings along are incredible when you look at training over the web. The different tools that are available now to companies such as using either synchronous or asynchronous communication. Both would work great sure synchronous is the better of the two but asynchronous would be just fine. Also, the web based training that is self learned is key to training.
Legal Issues and Training -
It is true the average person probably would never think of any legal issues with training. But like it stated in the text:
"Airline companies are required to train their agents in the proper handling of hazardous goods. Failure to develop and offer training and to certify employees can result in legal action by the federal government"
And the real kicker legal cases resulting from injury while participating in training.....who would of thought you would get hurt in training.
Well, neither of these two legal issues would be a problem for me here in my current work environment however the third would be.
A third legal problem result of infringement on intellectual property rights of others. I could find all sorts of information on the Internet to train my co-workers with in regards to say for example Microsoft Office but would I be using that information legally in a training.
Roles of Instructional Designers -
The write up of the different roles struck my interest. So, many companies always use a consultant to do the work for them. Did they ever stop to think that maybe someone that is already paid by them could do the same work. Companies could save so much money if they looked at their own inventory of employees first before hiring a consultant to do the work. I understand the whole concept of fresh ideas from an outsider but I would always say check out what you have first and save money! We have no extra money here so we are always trying to get stuff done with whatever means we currently have but sure if we had the money it would be so much easier just to hire it out. Here in FA we go by the team member/leader approach. There are 10 of us that meet weekly to work on new ideas and better processes for the office to get information out to students.
Monday, June 2, 2008
EDT 5410: Week Five - Google Map Activity
I decided to come up with a lesson in which the students created the map.
Class: American History or Government
Idea: Create a map that shows the capitals of the states with brief history and pictures.
Assignment: To choose at least 10 different states and mark out their state capital. Then insert a brief description about each capital.
Extra Credit: Do more than 10 capitals and include pictures and whatever other extra's you can add to your map.
Example of a map is below.
View Larger Map
Class: American History or Government
Idea: Create a map that shows the capitals of the states with brief history and pictures.
Assignment: To choose at least 10 different states and mark out their state capital. Then insert a brief description about each capital.
Extra Credit: Do more than 10 capitals and include pictures and whatever other extra's you can add to your map.
Example of a map is below.
View Larger Map
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
EDT 5410: Week Four Reflections (R/D6)
Related to Chapter 14 (R/D6), what are some ways the ideas/concepts/principles discussed in this chapter could be applied in your professional work? Do you see opportunities where these ideas could help you or your students?
I feel that HPI could be used in my current professional work environment by a simple performance management review concept. Currently, you are neither punished nor rewarded here as far as your review goes so where is the motivation for individuals to excel at their job and do better. If you could put a review system in place similar to the HPT model of the International Society for Performance Improvement on page 141 I think a lot of progress could be done. There needs to be consequences in place for those who are not meeting the job expectations. Those people need to be reviewed and told what they are doing wrong and then if they can not overcome the the aspect of not meeting the job then something needs to be done. On the other hand, those that are going above and beyond at their job need to be recognized and rewarded for their hard work.
Perhaps, there are different steps to complete and once you are through a certain amount of steps then you get a raise. Which is totally uncommon in the university setting currently due to the state budget but if not a raise maybe a different incentive on a smaller scale such as free lunch at the cafeteria or a designated parking spot, I don't know. But if the University could follow the HPT model, I think great things could come about.
These ideas could help both myself and the students here at WMU. If you have happy professors, staff, etc. then it is a better place to work and attend school. So, many of the professors that I have had here at WMU do not care. They are there to do their job and then some don't even want to do that! If there were some incentive programs to follow and the professors knew what steps needed to be taken to achieve that then I think they would care a great deal more about the students. I am not sure I am correct on this but teachers on the K-12 level have different steps...and with a certain amount of college classes they receive a raise??? Not sure on how exactly that works but I think something like that needs to be implemented at the college level also.
EDT 5410: Week Four Reflections - Podcasting
The podcast that I chose to listen to and profile was
Podcast: 123listen2me.com
PodCast Profile: This podcast is given by two young girls, Sara age 10 and Nina age 7. They podcast about twice a month. In the podcast they translate different languages, review books, movies, and music, tell stories and jokes. The podcast is focused on kids ages 4-15. They call it the podcast by kids for kids.
What added value might podcasting have in your professional setting (company, school, etc)?
In my current professional setting podcasting could be useful as far as computer training goes. I could set up podcasts that would help each of the individuals that I give technical support too. That would be very time consuming but I think that it would have its benefits for those individuals that would like to learn more on their own than in group settings.
Podcast: 123listen2me.com
PodCast Profile: This podcast is given by two young girls, Sara age 10 and Nina age 7. They podcast about twice a month. In the podcast they translate different languages, review books, movies, and music, tell stories and jokes. The podcast is focused on kids ages 4-15. They call it the podcast by kids for kids.
What added value might podcasting have in your professional setting (company, school, etc)?
In my current professional setting podcasting could be useful as far as computer training goes. I could set up podcasts that would help each of the individuals that I give technical support too. That would be very time consuming but I think that it would have its benefits for those individuals that would like to learn more on their own than in group settings.
EDT 5410: Week 4 Reflections (R/D5)
Indicate whether you think the Internet and Web will have a major impact in one or more of the following areas:
a. Educational programs at grades K-12
I feel that the Internet and the web will become more of a major impact on this age group but not right away. I do not feel that schools have the money to stay up to date with technology in both the hardware aspects and the teaching aspects. Teachers need to be willing to teach with the means of technology to accomplish this. I think that as the different generations come up through the education system and become teachers and key administrators, that is when technology as far as the Internet and the Web will have a major impact on K-12.
I realize that the text states that only 20% of teachers indicated that they frequently used technology to have students solve problems or analyze data and only 10% for research but I think that is where the generation gap comes into play. Those teachers did not grow up with technology the next generation of teachers did!
b. Higher Education (community colleges, colleges, and universities)
Yes, it will and does have a major impact of education. I feel that the Web and Internet already plays a major role in education at the higher level. Thinking back to my undergrad degree I had professors that did not allow us to use the web as sources. Now, just ten years later, all my professors push us to use the web for information...WOW its been ten years! I am getting old! Anyhow, back to the question at hand, I can not imagine what the Internet and Webs impact will be in say another 10 years.
c. Adult education (in businesses, government, and/or the military)
Tremendous impact, that is what the web and the Internet will have on businesses, government and the military. It already plays a huge roll in all three of these. For example, all of the online businesses, you can order just about anything but a gun online. I feel that eventually 90% of shopping will be online especially with gas prices, people won't be able to afford to drive to the store. Which brings me to my next point, I think the majority of the workforce will end up working from home. With all the new technology working from home is easy, thanks to the Internet. As far as the government goes, look at all the things you can do over the Internet now, drivers, licenses, unemployment, FAFSA, etc. The government is revolutionizing right along side the Internet and Web bandwagon.
I know the history of instructional media says otherwise about just how much of an impact the Internet and Web will have but, we are already using them both by leaps and bounds. Back in the day, technology did not take off as fast and then came to a screeching halt...the Internet and Web just continue to improve.
a. Educational programs at grades K-12
I feel that the Internet and the web will become more of a major impact on this age group but not right away. I do not feel that schools have the money to stay up to date with technology in both the hardware aspects and the teaching aspects. Teachers need to be willing to teach with the means of technology to accomplish this. I think that as the different generations come up through the education system and become teachers and key administrators, that is when technology as far as the Internet and the Web will have a major impact on K-12.
I realize that the text states that only 20% of teachers indicated that they frequently used technology to have students solve problems or analyze data and only 10% for research but I think that is where the generation gap comes into play. Those teachers did not grow up with technology the next generation of teachers did!
b. Higher Education (community colleges, colleges, and universities)
Yes, it will and does have a major impact of education. I feel that the Web and Internet already plays a major role in education at the higher level. Thinking back to my undergrad degree I had professors that did not allow us to use the web as sources. Now, just ten years later, all my professors push us to use the web for information...WOW its been ten years! I am getting old! Anyhow, back to the question at hand, I can not imagine what the Internet and Webs impact will be in say another 10 years.
c. Adult education (in businesses, government, and/or the military)
Tremendous impact, that is what the web and the Internet will have on businesses, government and the military. It already plays a huge roll in all three of these. For example, all of the online businesses, you can order just about anything but a gun online. I feel that eventually 90% of shopping will be online especially with gas prices, people won't be able to afford to drive to the store. Which brings me to my next point, I think the majority of the workforce will end up working from home. With all the new technology working from home is easy, thanks to the Internet. As far as the government goes, look at all the things you can do over the Internet now, drivers, licenses, unemployment, FAFSA, etc. The government is revolutionizing right along side the Internet and Web bandwagon.
I know the history of instructional media says otherwise about just how much of an impact the Internet and Web will have but, we are already using them both by leaps and bounds. Back in the day, technology did not take off as fast and then came to a screeching halt...the Internet and Web just continue to improve.
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