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/.
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI agree that our teachings need to have instructional strategies. As Brown and Green (2020) state, “Understanding the target audience of learners and determining in advance what they can and will do is an essential element of any instructional plan” (p. 83-84). I don’t know many people who like to just sit and listen to a lecture. I believe that it is important to think about our audience and plan meaningful activities for them to participate in. I like the instructional strategies graphic you shared. In the professional development that I planned, I included a turn and talk and also a graphic organizer for note taking. I also plan to incorporate the sharing of ideas and opinions. Ashfaq et al. agrees with our thinking. They state that an instructional design should have a variety of instructional strategies and also a logical order. Some examples they suggested were exploration, group tasks, and the use of multimedia. So, just like we all agree, “careful consideration of the target audience helps to ensure that the instructional design is effective and efficient for that audience” (Brown & Green, 2020, p. 96).
Thanks for sharing,
Dana
References
Ashfaq, M., Ajmal, M., Iqbal, M. J., & Mehmood Ch., T. (2017) A compact instructional design solves learning problems and creates learning opportunities. Bulletin of Education and Research, 39(3), 1-17.
Brown, A. H., & Green, T. D. (2020). The essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice (4th ed.). Routledge.
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI love that you want to assist your fellow teachers and created a spreadsheet with the list of services. I tend to be a super organized person and I know that something like that would be super helpful! I don't know if you have ever heard of a site called Airtable (https://www.airtable.com/product), but I think you would find it very useful! The quote, "Work smarter, not harder" automatically comes to mind and integrating technology definitely assists with this thought process! When we are creating things to help make things easier, we have to keep in mind that our ultimate goal is to produce a desired change (Brown & Green, 2019). According to new research, almost every field is evolving at a rapid pace to keep up with 21st century skills (West et al., 2018). This just goes to show how important it is to integrate technology in every aspect!
References
Brown, A. H., & Green, T. D. (2019). The essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice (4th ed.). Routledge.
West, R. E., Thomas, R. A., Bodily, R., Wright, C., & Borup, J. (2018). An analysis of instructional design and technology departments. Educational Media and Technology Yearbook, 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67301-1_1