Pre Design Post

I'm just sitting down to really attack my portion of the design assignment that's due in a few days. Sure I've started some things and thought much about others, but I don't really have anything to show for what I've done yet.

I'm thinking this will be a good test of my skills. Our audience is fourth graders students. I've never taught a class of any kind and fourth graders sound scary.

I'm optimistic that I can jump in and find ways of teaching and presenting that will be interesting and then having my good teammates fix what I do so it's usable - they're both teachers.

Here goes...

Instructional Strategies

I just read the Instructional Strategies chapter and feel a lot better about choosing a method to present instruction. I've silently worried about this topic over the last few weeks. I've thought, how do I know I'm picking the right medium? Once I've chosen a medium, how do I know I was right or wrong in selecting that medium?

I won't explain the specifics of what I read, (because my memory is short) but I got the feeling that the medium is important (don't give kindergarten kids a a thick manual with tiny print about the intricacies of color and hue) but not as important as the content and the strategies for engaging the students and helping them retain and apply the knowledge through participation and assessments

Web 2 point...What?

My team will be presenting Web 2.0 next class. Where was I for Web 1.0? Maybe I've been using it all along and didn't know it.

Am I still using Web 1.0 while everyone else has upgraded to 2.0?

How do I upgrade?

Does it cost extra?

Who owns 2.0?

I bet it's Google or Facebook.

They think they're so smart, with their billions of dollars.

Maybe I'll stick with 1.0 just to spite them.

Jerks!

Post Analysis Analysis

I thought the analysis was and will be the most important part of the entire project. And I love being part of a team where we share the load. Thanks, team!

I, of course, don't know yet how we did but I think it was effective for mapping out how the rest of the project is going to unfold. The rest of the project won't be easy, but it is nice to know what the plan is from the beginning.

As an instructional designer for a company that makes continuing education trainings, I've never done an analysis with this much depth. I don't think I will because my boss nor the clients would appreciate the value of spending that much time before "doing" anything. It does help me see that that asking in-depth questions can go a long way.

Analysis

I really like the idea of doing a very detailed analysis and think it will really help in planning the final project. I am still trying to see how I'm going to apply the knowledge and training I get with the analysis (typing a-n-a-l-y-s-i-s really slows down my super-fast typing) phase of instructional design. At my job, I have to assume a lot about the audience because there really isn't a way for me to research them except by asking my boss, who isn't a SME, or dong the research myself online. I'm always told how I'll do the design that I do. Sure, I get to be creative on many elements of it, but the way, or medium, by which it will be presented is already decided. Maybe the design I've been doing could be a lot better, even if I'm told how to do it?

Of course it can.

Thanks, Dick and Carey! Chapter 5 wasn't as horrific as the chapters before it.

The Reading

It's now week 4 (or is it 5?) of the first semester of the IDET program and this is my second blog post. I enjoy classes a lot (are you reading this, Dr. Monson?) and as you can see, I also enjoy using parentheses (but not as much as I enjoy this class).

I have a great team and we showed that we can work really well together, even when one of us (not me) had a baby the day after we completed the ADDIE assignment.

I do want to write about something that kind of bothers me with the Dick and Carey book. First of all, I want to mention that I'm in this program because I like instructional design and want to learn to do it better. Keeping that in mind, you would think the reading could hold my interest for more than 30 seconds at a time before my mind wanders off topic making it necessary to re-read large portions of the chapter.


I can't be the only one thinking this. Isn't it ironic that the book that is supposed to teach the reader to be better at instructional design is a disaster as far as holding the attention of the audience? It's not even so much the writing style (even though it is dull and extremely boring), it's the DESIGN. The DESIGN is what's killing me! There's little to no white-space, there are very few images besides box after box after box of endless ways to map out a design plan, and there's far too much talk and not enough show.

I just realized I'm ranting. Oh well; it's my blog.

I do have faith that I'm going to learn what I need and want to learn, I just wish the reading would help me on that journey.

I'm in School Again for the 1st Time in 5 Years

I looked up Instructional Design in Google Images and this is what I got.

Like most people, I've always done better in school in the subjects that interest me. I decided 3 or 4 years ago that I was going to be a Tech Writer for the rest of my life. I was happy with that prospect until I was laid off from my wonderful job in June of 2009. For months I looked for work in vain in my field of dreams, getting lots of interviews but no job offers. During this time, I was aware of Instructional Designers and had done quite a bit of work that would be considered instructional design, but it took me a full year to finally let myself leave the world of technical writing and focus on something different. During that year I tried to apply for business school (I still don't know why; I would have been miserable) and studied for months for the GMAT and did horrible on it twice (the second time was worse than the first).

I'm happy to have now started the Instructional Design and Educational Technology program at the University of Utah. I always thought I should go back to school to better myself and get a better job, but I've never really liked school, except when I'm interested in the subject matter. I do, however, love to design instructional material. I mostly love to design computer based training. I think I'm in the right place. And now, not only have I started school as a grad student, but I have a new blog with my first post.