MSIDT 545: Emerging Technologies and Issues in Teaching

Hello!

The other course in my fourth semester of my CSUF MSIDT program (Fall 2015) was MSIDT 545, Emerging Technologies and Issues in Teaching. According to the university website, this course “Focuses on the theoretical basis, issues, and strategies for improving teaching and learning through the use of emerging technologies.” To support this, the course instructional objectives are:

- The ability to develop a curriculum-based instructional project that incorporates one (or more) emerging technology.

- Describing and evaluating ways in which emerging technologies are likely to change the teaching and learning process.

- Locating, analyzing, and synthesizing resources that identify and describe the development and use of emerging technologies in teaching and learning.

These are not exactly the same objectives that were outlined in the course syllabus, but they are pretty close. According to the syllabus the instructional objectives were to:

- Examine and explicate the theoretical basis and issues regarding a variety of emerging technologies

- Assess a learning activity that incorporates one (or more) emerging technologies;

- Evaluate and compare a variety of emerging technologies as they relate to theories of learning and curriculum development;

- Create, investigate, analyze, and discuss ways in which emerging technologies are likely to change the teaching and learning process; and

- Locate, analyze, compare, and select resources that use emerging technologies for effective teaching and learning.

This is a lot of stuff, but this course was able to address all of these objectives in one form or another. Many of the activities for this course were designed to introduce the learners to various social media formats that could be used for instructional purposes. These included:

Discussion threads. This is a common instructional method that was used for every class in the first four semesters of the IDT program, so the learners were already familiar with posting and responding to these threads.

Voicethread. This technology is interactive, and required learners to use microphones to record responses through the Voicethread website. This was used for discussion on copyrights, fair use, and the Teach Act.

Podcasts. Many of the learners were already familiar with podcasts, but few of them had actually recorded a podcast before (I had never listened to one before, to be honest). We used the Podomatic website for this, and I really enjoyed this activity, and am considering supplementing my blogs with this technology.

Wiki Entries. The learners were expected to produce a website for this course using Dreamweaver, and the instructor set up a wiki so that each student could contribute tips on using this program. This seemed like a clunky way to present learning, but if the whole course was based around the wiki it would probably seem a lot more relevant.

Blog. Each student was expected to start their own blog and make a few entries related to instructional design. This was kind of a slam-dunk for me as I had already started this blog, which was pretty fortuitous.

Live Chats. The instructor set up two live chats for the learners, and these were some of the very few examples of synchronous learning that took place during the entire program. These were technically challenging for some of the students, as there were cases where some learners were not able to figure out how to log in or make their microphones work. These were learning moments, to be sure.

Twitter. Each learner was expected to have a Twitter account and Tweet relevant ID links using the hash tag for the cohort. Not all students were familiar with the technology, but this was a great opportunity for some students to embrace this social media.

Facebook. Students were also expected to maintain a Facebook account, and some of the students were reluctant to participate due to privacy issues. This was a great reminder that there is a fairly large portion of society that does not use or trust Facebook, so it might not be the greatest instructional tool.

Supplementing this was the aforementioned Dreamweaver website project, which was quite involved for me. I had difficulty translating the text to the real world when I put together my website. Lynda.com tutorials were a godsend for this course, and I was able to make a pretty respectable site on analyzing performance problems. The biggest thing to keep in mind when working on the site is to follow the rubric and make sure everything is included. Seriously.

For this course, the learners were assigned two main texts (reviews of these will be provided soon):

- Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2013). Lessons from the virtual classroom: The realities of online teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

- McFarland, D., & Grover, C. (2014). Dreamweaver CC: the missing manual. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media.

IDT 545 was a valuable course, particularly for learners who were not already savvy with the use of social media. One does not have to use social media on a personal basis to be an effective instructional designer, but it is important to know how it works and to acknowledge its importance to many learners. Also, I was a bit skeptical about the Dreamweaver website assignment, but when it was all done I felt that I had a lot better understanding of how websites are constructed. It was definitely time that was well spent.

Thanks for checking out my IDT blog, and next we will take a look at the texts we used for the IDT 545 course.

MSIDT 540: Systematic Approach to Web and Multimedia Design and Development

Hello!

The fourth semester of my CSUF MSIDT program (Fall 2015) included MSIDT 540, Systematic Approach to Web and Multimedia Design and Development. The course objectives were (from syllabus):

- Examine, explain and plan effective web design to facilitate instruction online;

- Utilize the internet to locate resources for research and teaching;

- Critique, assess and evaluate the design of internet pages and sites used for instructional purposes;

- Plan a website or multimedia project for instructional purposes;

- Appraise and synthesize the theoretical basis and issues involved in using the internet in teaching and learning; and

- Research and complete a literature review using APA guidelines, based on a topic related to the teaching and learning process.

These are solid and achievable objectives and I feel that they were met through the course activities and assignments. Students in Cohort 13 were expected to participate in the group discussions and critiques, complete a web search/evaluation project, design a proposal for an instructional multimedia/website project, and write a literature review.

The group discussions were standard fare, and the web evaluations were very straightforward to complete. The real meat of the course was in the project plan and literature review. As I already knew what my final project was going to be I spent a lot of time writing and revising these documents, as much of the material could be carried forward to the final semester to be used for the thesis and instructional project. I was very fortunate to have two excellent editing partners who helped make sure that everything I was writing was heading in the right direction. For anybody else who goes through this program, I cannot recommend highly enough that they make good connections and have friends from their cohort who will be available and committed to the peer review process.

Supporting the course were two main texts:

-- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Edition)

-- Web development and design foundations with HTML5 (7th edition) by Terry Felke-Morris

I really struggled with the HTML5 book, as it was really huge and I had trouble sifting it down to a level where it helped me with the Dreamweaver project that I was completing in the concurrent 545 course. Thank god for Lynda tutorials!

Thanks for checking out the blog today, and next we will take a more in-depth look at the Felke-Morris text that we used for this course.

Mahalo!

MSIDT 535: Instructional Strategies and Universal Design Issues in Learning Environments

Hello!

The other course in my third semester of my CSUF MSIDT program (Summer 2015) was MSIDT 535, Instructional Strategies and Universal Design Issues in Learning Environments. The university website says that this course will: “Provide students with training in instructional strategies for Pre-K through adulthood” and that there will be “Emphasis on current research on instructional strategies and assistive technologies in a variety of instructional contexts.”

The course objective are listed as:

- The ability to effectively select the instructional strategy that meets the instructional needs of the learner.

- The understanding and effective use of the concepts of learning styles in a variety of instructional contexts.

and

- The assessment and utilization of appropriate technology with a variety of instructional strategies to meet the needs of the learner.

These seem reasonable for a student who wants to learn about instructional design, and the course met these objectives! Students in cohort 13 accomplished these by developing a comparative instructional strategies chart, writing an annotated bibliography, constructing a lesson plan (which was then evaluated by other students), and writing an essay on the learning theory book of our choice. There were also a weekly forum discussion, but there were no tests or quizzes for this course.

Supporting the course were two main texts - the APA manual has already reviewed, and the other will be reviewed here soon:

-- American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the american psychological association (6th ed.). Washington, DC.

-- Joyce, B., Weil, M., & Calhoun, E. (2014). Models of Teaching (9th Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

There was a nice variety of coursework for IDT 535, as the projects were different than what we had experienced in previous courses. I approached the learning theory book essay, annotated bibliography, and the instructional strategies chart from the viewpoint that I was building them so that I could use portions of them for the final project for the program. In the end, I think that I came away with a much better handle on learning theories and their applications, so this was a very worthwhile course.

Thanks for checking out my IDT blog, and next we will take a look at one of the texts we used for this course.

Mahalo!

MSIDT 530: Planning, Designing, Developing, and Evaluating Technology-based Instruction

Hello!

The third semester of my CSUF MSIDT program (Summer 2015) included MSIDT 530, Planning, Designing, Developing, and Evaluating Technology-based Instruction. The course description and objectives were (from the university website): “1) The ability to determine appropriate design strategies for an assigned instructional program. 2) The development of storyboards and flowcharts for an interactive lesson with appropriate tools. 3) The recognition and assessment of factors impacting cost and scope of multimedia projects. 4) The assessment of the capabilities of authoring tools, programming languages, and HTML.”

The course met these objectives for me. Students in Cohort 13 were expected to work in small groups to produce a multimedia learning object using Captivate 8, prepare small group peer reviews of other groups’ projects, lead a discussion thread (again in a small group), complete weekly assignments on the web forum, and write a summary paper. There was also a final exam thrown in for good measure.

Supporting the course were three main texts (reviews of two these will be provided in subsequent blog posts, and one has already been reviewed):

-- Multimedia for Learning: Methods and Development, by Alessi and Trollip (already reviewed)

-- Management Challenges for the 21st Century by Peter F. Drucker

-- A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

There was nothing in the coursework that was really hard to do, but the small group dynamic did give me some problems. The instructor assigned the small groups (3 students in each), and this was the same group that worked with on each of the projects (except for the final exam and the summary paper). I had difficulties understanding my team mates and communications were poor at times, so there was a lot of stress involved with the projects as my grades were dependent on what I thought they were supposed to be doing. I would have preferred to pick who I worked with, which was the case in the rest of the courses in the IDT program. Everything worked out well in the end, and overall this course was very beneficial.

Thanks for checking out the blog, and next we will take a look at the texts we used for this course.

Mahalo!

MSIDT 525: Instructional Approaches in Learning and Cognition

Hello!

The other course in the second semester of my CSUF MSIDT program (Spring 2015) was MSIDT 525: Instructional Approaches in Learning and Cognition. The university website says that this course “Focuses on behavioral, cognitive, constructivist learning theories, related concepts, and their implications for designing instruction. Develops students’ critical thinking about desirable cognitive outcomes when designing educational experiences.”

The course objectives were (again from the university website):

- The ability to examine learners’ learning preferences and their capacities to organize and coordinate information

- Comparing and contrasting emerging theories of adult learning (andragogy) with theories of how children learn (pedagogy)

- Recognizing the impact of learning theories on the design of learning environments including environments where technology supports learning

The highlight of this class for me was fulfilling the second objective, and to this end I wrote a research paper on Knowles’ andragogy and its application to multimedia learning. This helped me to bridge the gap between theory and application, and components from this paper will be essential in the preparation of my final program thesis and project.

On the fun side of things, I got to work in a small group to author a PowerPoint presentation on learning theory as it applies to online learning. This was probably the most enjoyable group project that I worked on in the program, as the other members were cool people and everybody pulled their weight and respected each other.

And lastly, there were ten discussion forums that the members of Cohort 13 were expected to participate in. These provided a lot of different viewpoints on learning theories and helped to continue building the learning community that was established in the first semester.

Supporting the course was only one main text:

-- Merriam, S., Caffarella, R. and Baumgartner, L. (2007). Learning in adulthood (3rd Edition). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

The readings were difficult ( a review is on its way) and in this course it took a surprising amount of time to do everything right. There were no quizzes or exams, and from the course description it may look like there was not a lot going on, but the paper and discussion boards were very involved and we kept busy throughout the 16 weeks of the course.

Thanks for checking out the blog, and next we will take a look at the text we used for this course.

MSIDT 520: Instructional Design Level 1: Issues in E-learning and the Design Process

Hello!
The second semester of my CSUF MSIDT program (Spring 2015) included MSIDT 520, Instructional Design Level 1: Issues in E-learning and the Design Process. The course objectives were (from the university website):
- The ability to recognize and evaluate applications appropriate for designated learners
- The identification of appropriate applications for interactive courseware
- The specification and evaluation of appropriate use of media in interactive courseware
- The development of storyboards and flowcharts for an interactive lesson
- The design and development of a prototype
We did all of these things in this class! Students in Cohort 13 were expected to participate in group discussions, complete software evaluations, complete a prototype project, and write a final research paper. There was also a midterm examination.
Most of these activities were fairly straightforward, but the production f the prototype project had a cool twist. We were asked to prepare all of the documentation for the prototype project, so I prepared objectives, a content outline, a flowchart and complete storyboards for the project. Then all of this documentation was anonymously given to another student to build in Captivate 8, and I reccived another student’s work to program. All of this was anonymous, so there was not chance to ask the developer questions about what their intentions were for the project, so the documentation was crucial. I thought this was a great activity, and I think everybody learned a lot about how important proper preparation is before the actual production of a learning object starts.
Supporting the course were three main texts:
-- Alessi, S.M., & Trollip, S.R. (2001). Multimedia for Learning: Methods and Development (3rd Ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
-- Reiser, R. and Dempsey, J. (2011). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd edition). New Jersey: AB Longman.
-- Williams, R.. 4th Edition. (2014). The Non-Designer's Design Book. San Francisco, CA.: Peachpit Press.
I have already reviewed the Reiser & Dempsey book as it was used in a previous course, and you can find a review of it on this blog. A review the Alessi & Trollip and the Williams books will be provided at a later date.
The coursework was not difficult, but it required a lot of time to do everything right. The instructor was actively involved, and the syllabus provided an accurate roadmap for how the course actually progressed. Also, it was good to get more experience with creating a learning object in Captivate. This was probably the most “fun” class of the program, at least so far…
Thanks for checking out the blog, and next we will take a look at the texts we used for this course.

MSIDT 510: Research Practices in Instructional Design and Technology

Hello!
The other course in my first semester of my CSUF MSIDT program (Fall 2014) was MSIDT 510, Research Practices in Instructional Design and Technology. The university website describes this course as: “Survey course on terms and accepted procedures in qualitative and quantitative inquiry as they apply to instructional design and technology. Students conduct controlled portions of IDT research and prepare preliminary proposals for larger projects.”
Perhaps it would be better to go to the syllabus to see what the real course objectives were:
Upon completion of IDT510, students will be able to:
- Develop an understanding of the foundations of research in Instructional Design and Technology.
- Familiarize themselves with sources of research literature in Instructional Design and Technology.
- Acquire skills in research as it applies to the development and implementation of an instructional product or system.
- Utilize statistical and qualitative analytical methods to Instructional Design Technology applications.
- Develop skill in using current writing and editorial style accepted in Instructional Design and Technology.
That is more like it! Pretty much, I feel that the course met these objectives. Students in our cohort were expected to produce a research project proposal, complete with a literature review and many of the actual parameters to complete the study (without actually completing the study). There were also a number of weekly homework assignments, graded discussion forums, six quizzes and four “problem sets” (also quizzes, really) from the statistics text.
It was a bit of a stretch to relate some of this material to the instructional design process, but the Reiser and Dempsey readings were on topic and were pretty valuable. Also, this course provided a good refresher on what proper research methods are supposed to be.
Supporting the course were three (or four) main texts (reviews of these will be provided soon, I promise):
-- American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the american psychological association (6th ed.). Washington, DC.
-- Smith, S., and Davis, S. (2013). The psychologist as detective:(6th Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.
-- Reiser, R. and Dempsey, J. (2011). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd edition). New Jersey: AB Longman.
And a surprise text that the instructor forgot to tell us about until he gave us an assignment from it:
-- Pyrczak, F. (2010 or 2014). Making sense of statistics: A conceptual overview (6th edition). Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing
The coursework was a bit harder than IDT 505, as there were many more assignments to keep track of, but it still went ok. I already had a firm foundation in statistics (three semesters of undergraduate work), but the most important things I took away from this class were the overview of the research process, and the ability to present a paper in APA format, which would be essential for the rest of the IDT program.
As with IDT 505, if I had this course to do over again, I would have only changed one thing in the way that I approached it. I already had my final project for the program picked out at the time, and now I wish that I had tailored my research topic and literature review to be work that I could integrate into that project, so there will be a little less research and work to be done at the end.
Thanks for checking out my IDT blog, and next we will take a look at the texts we used for this course. Mahalo!

MSIDT 505: Foundations of Instructional Design and Web Authoring Environments

Hello!
The first semester of my CSUF MSIDT program (Fall 2014) included MSIDT 505, Foundations of Instructional Design and Web Authoring Environments. The course objectives were (from the university website): “The ability to describe and manipulate the basic levels of an authoring environment. The use hardware and software to apply basic animation, sound, and other multimedia properties to an authoring environment. The analysis and assessment of basic media and authoring programming elements as they apply to hardware/networking environments.”
I feel that the course met these objectives. Students in Cohort 13 were expected to produce two original multimedia learning objects using Captivate 8, complete weekly assignments on the web forum (including peer reviews of others’ learning objects), and write a final research paper. There were also a few quizzes thrown in for good measure.
There is no mention of instructional design theory in the main course objectives, but there were readings and assignments on the subject, and there was enough information provided to give an overview of the instructional design process. There was also good information provided on the design process as it relates to human behavioral characteristics. The instructor for the course was a working instructional design professional, and he gave good insight and feedback throughout the course.
Supporting the course were three main texts (reviews of these will be provided at a later date):
-- Instructional Design: A Primer, by Bruce Ledford and Phillip Sleeman
-- Designing Interfaces, by Jennifer Tidwell
-- Adobe Captivate 8 The Essentials “Skills and Drills" Learning, by Kevin Siegel
The coursework was not terribly onerous, but it was hard to readjust to the world of academia, which I probably did not do right the first time around. Learning Moodle, the learning management system, took a few weeks but soon became second nature. And publishing Captivate projects was exceedingly exasperating at times, and the Cohort could have benefitted from some instruction and guidance in this area.
If I had this course to do over again, I would have only changed one thing in the way that I approached it. I already had my final project for the program picked out at the time, and now I wish that I had tailored my learning objects and final paper to be work that I could integrate into that project, so there will be a little les research and work to be done at the end.
Thanks for checking out the blog, and next we will take a look at the texts we used for this course.
Mahalo!