Defining the IDT

Upon reading the first few chapters of the book, I find that my definition is very similar to what the book offers.  I know that my view of IDT is more narrow because my exposure has been minimal.  When looking at the past definitions, they too are similar, but seem to change with time. For the most part I know technology as IT, but the D for design does make sense. The definition that I am most familiar with is the designing of educational content, which allows for student to showcase their talents/efforts. Theses changes allow for development, growth and innovation.  It makes you wonder what term will be used in the next decade.  I plan to take the knowledge I learn in this classroom to help empower my students so they can gain new skills to increase their potential. In doing so, we will all benefit by becoming an important asset for any school or future endeavor that values growth and productivity.

I have developed a lesson where students received a rubric detailing criteria and the final assignment had to be creative and typed on a computer, laptop or iPod.  The students had an opportunity to express themselves creatively, and in a group environment.  In order to engage students they could use multimedia and be innovative and authentic. For the most part the lesson adheres to the six characteristics of instructional design.  The six characteristics are: instructional design is student centered, instructional design is goal oriented, instructional design focuses on meaningful performance, instructional design assumes outcomes can be measured in a reliable and valid way, instructional design is empirical, iterative, and self-self-correcting and instructional design typically is a team effort. If the lesson were redesigned, I would place more emphasis on the instructional design focuses on meaningful performance characteristic.  By stating learner objectives to perform higher-level performances will help students show their authentic side will apply the acquired skill or outcome. Students seem to absorb larger chunks of information by experiencing real world applications. While reading chapter 2, I encountered a term that I had not heard before, the task-centered learning strategy. I am familiar with the outdated way of delivering lessons by using a teacher-centered approach and more recently the trend has been moving to student/learner centered learning strategy.  The task-centered instructional strategy is a structured approach and represents a form of direct instruction in the context of real world problems. The emphasis is on demonstration rather than on discovery or exploration. Students can undertake a task-centered approach as an individual learner as well as in a group. The readings mentioned an 8-step process that seems easy to follow so that students have a memorable experience.  An important part of the experience is whether or not the learner will exhibit those behaviors. The data that is gathered from assessments is used to improve the overall excellence of the teaching.

In chapter 3, Reiser mentions instructional media as the way instruction is delivered to the learner.  He also defines instructional design as the improvement of instruction through experiences and analysis. I don’t consider teachers, chalkboards, and textbooks as part of instructional media. In today’s technological times those medium are outdated because a student does not have to rely upon the classroom teacher to impart her knowledge in order for the student to learn about the events of history or inventions. I believe that different experiences are more or less effective for achieving different types of instructional outcomes. Students who enter our classrooms have been a part of a multimedia world since birth. Students today are able to insert videos or DVDs of children’s programs into the appropriate devices for viewing from the time that they were three years old. If they want to know something, they search the Internet. It should not be surprising to us that these same students have difficulty sitting all day in classrooms that rely on low technology, such as overheads, whiteboards, lectures, and note taking, as the major sources of information gathering. For the majority of students, who are visual, just hearing the information is not enough; they need to see it and to experience it. These instructional media are the collection of materials and equipment that can be used effectively for communication. I feel that it is important for instructional design to incorporate media into instruction. The media aspect is interactive, engaging and in real time. Media can be a component of active learning strategies such as group discussions or case studies. Media could be a film clip, a song you hear on the radio, a YouTube video, podcast of a lecture or newspaper article. Students can also create their own media. The use of media enhances the overall learning experience and extends traditional learning environment.

Reiser, R. A., & Dempsey, J. V. (2002). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill/Prentice Hall, c2002.