R/D6 Chapter 14 Adoption, Diffusion, Implementation, and Institutionalziation of Instructional Design and Technology

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?

In the district I work for they seem to do a lot of piloting of software and/or equipment. The (LoTi) Levels of Technological Implementation seems to fit with this work. There are the "researchers" checking out the different technology available at this point they are the nonusers and are becoming aware. They then move into exploration and infusion the product to find out if it suits their needs or the needs of the students. If it is meeting their needs or they find the product needs further testing they can integrate with other fitting areas, where then they may want to expand and finally refine and tweak to make a successful product implemented. Piloting programs and software seems to be the solution to providing further opportunities for teachers and students to use technology.
I enjoyed reading the eight facilitative conditions that contribute to implementation. With the school I currently work at closing I am shaking my head and relating to what I am reading. We as a facility have been dealing with the eight conditions and problem solving to resolve many unsettling matters. For us, these issues need to be dealt with before we can move on to implementing the new plan with merging our schools.

R/D5 Chapter 3 History of Instructional Design and Technology

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 K-12.
I feel K-12 education has many restrictions when it comes to technology. There is access to numerous things on the Internet, but teachers have to be cautious of what is out there and plan very carefully of student activity on the Internet. I believe this plays a key role in the resistance or hesitation to fully climb on board and really fuel our K-12 students with many interactive Internet experiences. I like what Reiser and Dempsey wrote about technology in the schools "...an increased presence of technology in the schools does not necessarily mean an increased use of that technology for instructional purposes" (pg. 35). Once teachers have a strong grasp as to what is appropriate, enhances the curriculum and makes learning more meaningful will we see a major impact on those students. The high school students have more leeway than the elementary and even secondary, but there still are many restrictions as to what teachers and students are able to accomplish. Eventually, over time we will see the Internet playing a larger part in the education of K-12 students.

b. Higher Education (Community Colleges, Colleges, and Universities)
The internet is a lifesavor for college. I couldn't imagine not having readily available access to the internet during the course of my studies. There are many courses now available online as well as Online Universities, it makes life easier. People are put under so many demands when you can complete the same course online as driving to a university, it is a no brainer that the online course is going to win. Students save on gas, commuting time, they have access to work on their assignments when it fits in their schedule, there are countless advantages. The Internet has already made a huge impact on higher education and I can only see things soaring from here. Reiser and Dempsey share successful statistics, "In the past few years, interest in using the Internet for instructional purposes has also been rapidly growing in higher education and the military. For example, between 1994-95 and the 1997-98 academic year enrollment in distance learning courses in institutions that offered distance learning..nearly doubled" (pg. 35). I would be curious what 2007-08 academic school would compare to 1997-98. In my personal experience, I have had great success thus far utilizing distance learning. I can't imagine what will come in 10 years or even 5 years!

c. Adult Education (in business, government, and military)
Training seems to be one of the reoccuring pieces in addressing the impact on adult education. Training for the military and businesses. The Internet has dramatically changed business' over the past decade. There are numerous online business that are very successful. As I was reading through the chapter I was thinking about gamers. 15 years ago gaming is not what it has evolved into today. I was watching something on t.v. where gamers compete against other gamers all around the world for quite a bit of money. Who would have thought gaming would be able to pay the bills. Wasn't it our parents that told us to stop playing all of those games they'll rot your brain. This industry wouldn't exsist if it wasn't for the Internet. All the time there are advertisements on television for online businesses promoting working from home and showing testimonials of people living on the beach of California in a beautiful house making $10,000 a month. Again, this something that 10 years ago we wouldn't have seen. The internet has become a fundamental tool in adult education. When I need to find out information, I surf the Web as do many others.

Educational Podcasting

This site allows you to search many different educational podcasts to view. I viewed School Improvement Industy On Teachers Accountability...very interesting view on how things have changed since "No Child Left Behind" and how this has affected looking at teacher accountability. There are many other podcasts. Take a moment and explore.http://www.epnweb.org/index.php

Mom tips Podcasting

Sometimes every mom can use a few tips in handling the unexpected things kids throw at you! You can choose from several podcasts discussing all kinds of things dealing with your child/ren. Click to the right to view the podcasts.
href="http://www.mediafly.com/Podcasts/Feeds/The_Mighty_Mommys_Quick_and_Dirty_Tips_for_Practical_Parenting">

Google Maps

View Larger Map
Here is a view of Battle Creek, Post Elementary...this is the last school year for this school (where I currently work). It will be closed due to finanical reasons after this year.

R/D4 Reflections of Chapter 2

Towards the end of reading chapter 2 I was already thinking about how similar this was in creating lessons. The chart on page 20 is layed out very nicely. It follows how quality lessons are developed. Assessing the needs of the students, analyzing the learners and contexts, writing objectives, developing your assessment (rubrics), instructional strategies, and then going back and revising (what can I do differently to make this work even better), and evaluating student achievement and finally reflecting on what went well and what needs work (Reiser, Dempsey, 2002, p. 20). All of this holds true for most anything being taught The figure on page 18 also does a nice job of displaying the elements that go into instructional design. I like how revision is labeled on all connecting parts. I find I am constantly revising the work I am doing to improve on my own teaching.
The difference I found was that in actuality I don't go through all of the steps for every lesson. Much of this work has already been done for me. I have science and social studies kits, as well as a developing math curriculum, so the bulk of it has been done for me anything extra that I find is supplementary. Assessments are also already created leaving me with implementing the lessons and revising to meet the students' needs.

R/D3 Reflection on Trends and Issues Chapter one

Honestly, I have never really thought about the definitions of the field. I found it interesting the view taken on instructional technology. It started being view as media, then a process, then in the 1970's they developed a definition that was more than 120 pages long! (Reiser, Dempsey, 2002, p. 7-9).
I am exploring where this degree might take me. I am constantly looking for ways to add more technology into my everyday teaching. As of right now, I am a new elementary teacher and would like to stick with this for awhile and use what I am learning to enhance the curriculum. In the future, who knows what lies ahead. I believe technology will be growing substantially as it has been since the 1990's.
The most surprising part of this chapter is the fact that defining a field can be this difficult. Reiser and Dempsey have developed a definition that will be used for the purpose of this book. This book was written in 2002, I would bet that the definition is already in the process of being changed once again. The definition needs to keep up with all of the changes taking place in the technology world, just as it has done in the past. As of right now with the current knowledge I have I do not see anything missing. Once I have acquired further knowledge in the field of study my view may alter, but for now the definition is clear and concise.

Reflections on delicious and photo sharing

As far as I can tell from what I have read and the little bit I have experienced with the two online tools is they could be useful. I do have a concern about the flicker. When I posted I guess I had it open to the public and had posted it to delicious. Within four minutes 43 people had already had access to it. First wow that was fast and second why would they be interested? It makes me a little nervous why someone would just be searching for pictures like the ones I posted. I put pictures of my family for that was all I had. I thought I might have to make them public for others in the class to see, but I am going to change the setting to private unless otherwise told different. As of right now using this in the school, I can't see myself doing this especially if it can be viewed by anyone and everyone. Parents and the school would not approve of their child's picture being posted on the web. My guess also is that this site would be blocked from our server. I will be interested to hear others uses and play around with this for the next couple of days.
Social bookmarking could be a valuable resource for research projects or finding information on specific topics. I look at this being used more so in the upper elementary rather than the lower due to lack of computer skills. At our school district I am learning that the elementary schools like to be on the same page and having similar discussions. During our professional development meetings we have been working with other elementary schools. I could see using social bookmarking as a way to help communicate information we have all gathered on a specific topic we are discussing. It seems as this would save time and allow for more quality information being found. Again one of my concerns would be the security issue of students stumbling onto inappropriate tags, I would need to further research on the security part of social bookmarking and finding out if it is blocked from our server.

Week 3 del.ici.ous

Social Bookmarking and Photo sharing:

http://del.icio.us/DarcyKline
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26695771@N06/

Week 2 Reflections

Week 2 Wiki
This is my first time creating a wiki. I have read about and explored other wiki's. To finally put it into action was nice. It was very helpful to work with other knowledgable classmates. I found it to be a great way to share information which was rather easy to put together. I teach 2nd grade and we are studying the life cycle of a butterfly. It would be fun for the students to create a wiki on the life cycle where they could each add a piece of information they have learned and put in links and so forth. I believe I might actually have time to squeeze this in place of creating a paper pencil report!

RSS Readers:
Again my experience with RSS readers was the same as with creating a wiki, just the reading part. According to the cone experience I didn't have a direct personal experience with using either of these two tools, which lead me to reading about the tools, but not actually moving past that and using them. After having to incorporate them into my blog, I have found them to be quite interesting. It is helpful to pull up your blog and have the things I enjoy right at my fingertips, instead of searching for it. I do find that I could spend too much time reading through and keeping up with all of it, but summer is 17 days away!

Impressions of using a blog:
I first actually heard of blogging from the soap that I watch Days of Our Lives. I had no clue at the time what it was, but it caught my attention and I was curious. Nonetheless, I still wouldn't know unless my last class didn't have us read an article about it. Again this class is having us actually put this into place and play around with it. I am now enjoying blogging. I could see myself creating a personal page to keep up with family and friends whom I don't get to keep in touch with as often as I would like. Education wise, currently there is nobody at the school I work with that is very computer friendly and I was asked to start a blog for our school. Unfortunatly our school is closing. I will hopefully be able to do this for the new school I will be teaching at in the fall. I rather like the thought of blogging and getting other teachers on board and incorporating the RSS Readers into it will be a plus for everyone administration, parents, and teachers.

How will Blogs and RSS Readers fit under Dale's Cone of Experience?
They both fit under many of the experiences listed in the cone. I don't really see them fitting under the Direct Purposeful Experience so much because that is dealing with life's actual experiences. Pretty much everythingelse seems to be able to have a correlation with the blog and RSS readers.

Reflection on Falling Asleep at your Keyboard; Martin Siegel:
I felt this article held good insights on e-learning. So far into my e-learning career I've enjoyed my experience. Although, I have often wondered am I getting as much valuable information as I would if I were in a class? I have experienced time where things could have been cleared up faster if I had someone sitting with me and physically showing me how to do something. I have enjoyed the extra challenge of figuring things out and working collaboratively with others in the classes. I like having the freedom of communicating through blogs, e-mail, and the discussion board. I do agree with Siegel that the lessons need to be imaginative to keep from falling asleep at the keyboard. There have been just a few articles I've been required to read that are beyond my level of computer knowledge they literally put me to sleep! All in all an interesting take on looking at e-learning.

EDT 5410 Week 1 R/D1

Technology has become a necessity in our everyday life especially in the last three decades. We now have cars equipped with navigation systems, coffee makers with programmable brewing times, and the ability to take digital photos and print them immediately. I believe it is time to delve into transforming education through the use of technology. Reigeluth and Joseph have comprised information pertaining to attaining this new way of thinking.
Although I agree with the idea of transforming education I can’t envision how it will be implemented. Having the capability to manage meeting every student’s academic needs through customization with having 30 students in a classroom sounds like a miracle. “We should hold achievement constant at a master level, by allowing children as much time as they need to reach those standards. This would mean allowing children to progress at different rates and therefore to pursue different goals at the same time…a learning-focused educational system” (Reigeluth & Joseph, 2002). In theory this sounds pretty good. In reality how can this be possible? Teachers would be looking at a classroom full of technology that Reigeluth and Joseph refer to as soft technology such as “simulations, virtual reality, expert systems, artificial intelligence, electronic performance support systems, voice and optical character recognition, among others.” Developers are working to make this a reality. There are schools piloting these technological tools Coles elementary school in south side Chicago took on this adventure.
On the other hand, Postman reminds me of a saying if it’s not broken why fix it. I see much technological advancement as an enhancement to what we already have; whether discussing the medical, business, or education field. Education is constantly being scrutinized, it seems as though we keep trying to do new things in old ways. For example, the school I work at the language arts teachers have the equipment to use computers to create blogs for student writing or use ePal for access to pen pals across the world, but they are still using just pencil paper or putting them on the computer and using Microsoft Word. The students could benefit from receiving comments on their blogs or sending their writings to their ePal and getting feedback from a whole different perspective. This is just a small example of what is out there to enhance teaching. Postman’s view seems to be that the students will be lacking the socialization, being able to work in a group. I view technology as a tool to enhance the students’ educational experience. It is not to replace social interactions and learning to work collaboratively. Using tools like Web 2.0, which is a collaboration tool will give the students a different look at collaboration not just within classroom, but also on the internet.
Postman also points out that “If a nuclear holocaust should occur some place in the world, it will not happen because of insufficient information; if children are starving in Somalia, it’s not because of insufficient information: if crime terrorizes our cities, marriages are breaking up, mental disorders are increasing, and children are being abused, none of this because of lack of information” (Postman, 1993). All of these things are happening, did happen, or could happen, but if we are prepared with knowledge and information we will be better equipped to handle the future. I think our children are worth taking technology on and embracing what is to come. We must move forward and learn how to solve the upcoming problems that are here and not going away. We always can ask the question like Postman “What is the problem to which ‘cruise control’ is the answer” (Postman, 1993).
Postman, N. (1993). Of Luddites, learning, and life. Technos Quarterly, 2(4).Reigeluth, C.M. & Joseph, R. (2002). Beyond technology integration: The case for technology transformation.Educational Technology, 42(4), 9-13.