EDLD5368+-+Instructional+Design

Assume a school leadership role as an educational technology campus facilitator, as the district educational technology director, or from the principal’s view. From that vantage point, compose a 150-word response to each of the guiding questions. The arguments for educators knowing how to design and implement online learning are not limited to those teach at the college or university level. Online learning has its place in the middle/high school. Online learning enables teachers to develop courses with a broad spectrum of content and student-centered teaching (Coleman, 2010). As the 21st Century student progresses through high school and into college and university learning, they must possess skills that will transfer from an educational setting to that of the business world. Online education allows for this to happen, the benefits are many. Accessibility, increased student interaction, exposure to knowledge, increased camaraderie and boding between students and teacher, facilitation of team learning, an increase in student participation, as well as exposure to knowledge that can’t be learned in a book. As teachers continue to design and incorporate online learning, they meet the needs of students who would otherwise not have access to the diversity of content that online learning provides.  Based on the results of the Professional Development Needs Survey given to teachers at the end of the school year, many are quite confident in the areas of Instructional Strategies and Classroom Management, Classroom Climate, and Assessment. The majority of the teachers felt that focusing on Curriculum Design and 21st Century Education would be more beneficial as a focus for Staff Development. Their rational was that their curriculum, while based upon a particular TEK needed to be revised to incorporate the use of technology within the classroom. The need for a better understanding of how to incorporate technology was voiced as a “critical” need in current and future Staff Development activities. Teachers will be introduced to the online course as a way to address the critical needs in their content. Departments, while meeting in their PLCs, will be given opportunities to work on group activities, reflections and quizzes while creating technology rich lessons.  Integration on online learning will be conducted in both roles, as a teacher and a staff developer. Wiggins states in __Understanding by Design__ that lessons, units, and courses should be logically inferred from the results sought, not derived from the methods, books, and activities with which we are most comfortable (2005, p. 14). Utilization of the book study will give teachers in their respective departments the opportunity to work collectively as they create and organize activities that will focus on learning rather than teaching. In the role of staff developer, the utilization of the book study opens up opportunities for teachers across the district to work on the implementation of technology into classroom instruction. Assisting teachers in the process of working backward, helps to reduce the error of lessons that are activity-oriented. Incorporation of technology into the classroom helps to create a dynamic learning environment, one focused on understand and learning rather than teaching.  Questions concerning online learning can be answered by looking at the advantages and disadvantages of online learning. Within the world of education and business, online education has distinct advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages of online learning allow employees to proceed through training at their own pace, provides a quicker turnaround of finished products; training can take place worldwide, and instantaneous updating of content and curriculum. Some of the disadvantages of online learning have to do with the bandwidth and the time it takes to download the programs. Additionally, student assessment and feedback is limited based upon the program being utilized (James, 2002). As part of the evaluation process, it must be determined if online learning is really right for the type of training to be done. I do not see that online learning will replace teachers; it will only enhance the learning opportunities available to students. Some would say that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, but if we are to prepare our students to be technology savvy, online education opportunities must be part of that process.  As we have worked through this course, I made a list of classes I would like to create utilizing an online platform such as Schoology or Moodle. In my position as Middle School Technology Specialist, I have the opportunity to share new learning with the teachers at the campuses I am responsible for. Working with teachers as they create their lessons based on Wiggins’ principles of backward design is exciting. Helping teachers to expand their horizons from a “teach and get” environment to one that is student centered, technology rich and a place where true understanding occurs may be a challenge, but a challenge that be of great benefit for students. This is an exciting age for education, new information to share, new theories to explore and new understanding and learning for our students (and teachers), and being a part of these discoveries is exciting despite the challenges that may be experienced.  Coleman, S. (2005) Why Do Students Line Online Learning? Retrieved May 3, 2010 from []   James, G. (2002). Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Learning. //The Communication Initiative Network//. Retrieved May 3, 2010 from <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J., (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexndria, VA, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, Retrieved April 11, 2010 from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/docDetail.action?docID=10081770. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">What benefits do you see in educators knowing how to design and implement online learning?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">How will you professionally use your course that you designed?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Will you integrate online learning in your role as a teacher/staff developer?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">What questions do you still have about online learning?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">What will you do with this new learning?