Why do we need to use Instructional Design?
We have all been to many professional developments (PDs) in our careers. Most of the time we sit there listening to someone lecture for hours and leave feeling like we learned nothing. This is why we need Instructional Design. This helps the teacher/presenter to know what materials will be the best to make the learners achieve their goals. Brown and Green (2020) say, " it includes development of instructional materials and activities, and tryout and evaluation of all instruction and learner activities." (p. 7).
So, what can we do to make sure our own teaching follows a good design? Here are some tips to making your instruction successful.
In this process, I have learned more about the need to plan your instruction. In writing an outline and thinking about what the needs are it has helped me to understand how to implement instruction that will be meaningful now and in the future. Brown and Green (2020) say, " it is good practice for an instructional designer to observe the environment personally rather than solely relying on the client's description." (p. 60). I will use this strategy in all my future professional development planning.
For the purposes of this class, I thought about needs in my own school. I work as a Special Education teacher and try to make the workload easier by using technology. For my own caseload of students, I had established a spreadsheet of services that streamlined all the information into one document. I decided that I would use that to present to the department as a whole so that everyone can streamline their data. This will be utilized through the use of Excel online and can be shared across the school with General Education teachers as well. The process will reduce the amount of paper wasted on copying and printing. It will make our job more efficient so that we have time for other things. Here is a picture of my sample Excel Spreadsheet to use for yourself.
As you can see this will be able to hold all the information for all Special Education students in one place, with separate sheets for each grade level. I hope that this accepted into our department as a great tool to continue to use in the future. The document can also be printed for teachers that wish to have a hard copy. It will also be a live document that can be edited as IEP accommodations change.
I am always looking for ways to make my job more efficient and easier in the long run. I do not like writing things out when I can type them. I do not like printing and making copies if I can share it electronically.
Brown, A., & Green, T. D. (2020). The essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice. Routledge.
Purdue online. (n.d.). What is instructional design? https://online.purdue.edu/blog/education/what-is-instructional-design.
Teachers' instructional strategies infographic - e-learning infographics. e. (2013, December 22). https://elearninginfographics.com/teachers-instructional-strategies-infographic/.
