Let's Blab

Elementary schools across the nation are full of creative students who want an exciting education. They may not know how to share if they are bored in class but their actions often share. With the availability of devices in schools, boring classes should be non-existent. Now, I do understand every single lesson will not be as fun as some, but resources should be available to allow for creativity and excitement. Using these tools will help eliminate boredom. Reiser and Dempsey (2018) mention “perhaps the most important consideration when deciding whether and how a particular technology might be employed in a particular classroom situation is to first think about whether the use of that technology will enhance teaching and learning” (p. 182). Technology should never be just a babysitter but should enhance learning.

There are literally hundreds of different online tools that can enhance student learning. I recently discovered Blabberize and have become amazed (and amused) by this tool. Blabberize is an online creativity tool that allows an image to have a voice. Setting up an account is free and easy to create. You can choose any image, choose the location of the “mouth” and record a voice (by mic or phone) and you have a finished product. Students have used this tool to make reports come to life! Check out this video by MMS History on Twitter.


My students will use Blabberize with their author study unit. They will create locate an image of their author and record the information they gather during research.  To practice Blabberize, the students will take a picture of themselves and share their favorite book with a table partner. Oh, how my mind is spinning with the activities this tool can provide. Online tools such as these allow students to be creative while learning at the same time.

The text also mentions that the learning benefit with meaningful visuals increases by 1.39 standard deviation (p. 262). While not all learners benefit from visuals, “lessons with words and visuals offer the brain two opportunities to build meaning- one from the words and the second from corresponding images- and encourage learners to make connections between them” (p. 262). In addition to students learning about key concepts in the classroom, learning can be fun!

To get started with Blabberize, check out this video.

References: 
Reiser, R.A. & Dempsey, J.V. (2018). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology. New York: Pearson.

Professional Learning Design

Let’s face it, many of the professional development sessions we attend as teachers are not the most engaging.  I have left some professional development training and thought that was a waste of my time.  I am sure there have been days where my students left my class thinking they just wasted their time also.  We all have been in these situations.  In my opinion, it is more difficult to keep the attention of adults than students.  Adults often attend the training because they are required to or they thought the topic could help with their professional growth.

One series of professional development I have had the privilege (yes, I said privilege) to participate in is eMINTS (enhancing Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies). This program has been in operation for 15 years and provided training to thousands of educators to enhance their classroom instruction with the use of technology.  It is a partnership between Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Missouri Department of Higher Education and the University of Missouri.  I am in the second year of a two year process to become a certified eMINTS instructor. The eMINTS core standards include instruction in high-quality lesson design, a community of learners, authentic learning all powered by technology.  While the requirements are rather demanding, the reward will be well worth it.  Each session I attend motivates me to become a better instructor for students and educators.  

Reiser and Dempsey (2018) mention a major component of a successful instructional design is motivation (p. 79).  Motivation can be defined as “a person’s desire to pursue a goal or perform a task, which is manifested by choice of goals and effort in pursuing the goal” (Reiser and Dempsey, 2018, p. 79).  Instructional design needs to include limited distractions, promote curiosity, be related to goals set, allow for control over the learning situation and create a satisfying experience. Individuals who experience a learning environment where the instructional design creates motivation will benefit greater than those learning environments that do not.

Learning strategies can make or break a lesson even for adults. Through the eMINTS program, I have participated in many different types of strategies.  Some appeal to me more than others.  I received the most from using the fishbowl learning strategy and Think-Pair-Share learning strategy.  

The fishbowl strategy was introduced to me this past spring and a little confusing at first. When implemented, this strategy allows the class to observe how a specific task should look.  For our lesson, we had a group of learners who were conducting research on a new concept.  They were to divide the jobs among the group of four and work on a shared Google Doc.  The rest of the group was to watch their interaction and make suggestions on how they could have spoken or worked together.  The onlookers did not have a rubric or guide but were asked to take notes. The strategy would have been more useful if we had a guide to what the instructor was actually looking for from the group.  This can be a very powerful strategy if implemented correctly.

The following videos offer more insight into the fishbowl learning strategy.

TeachLikeThis video provides more details about how this strategy needs to be organized.

TeachingRocks video is an excellent example of how this learning strategy should look in the classroom.  It is a little long but a great resource.

The think-pair-share strategy is one that has been around for a while now.  This strategy allows the instructor to pose a question or idea, have learners to pair up and then share their ideas and thoughts about the posed question or idea.  I always enjoy this strategy because I am able to glean different viewpoints from others.  eMINTS offers different pairing strategies as well such as find someone with the same birth month as you, wearing the same style/color of shoes, how you like your salsa (mild to hot), etc.  These strategies always add fun to class lessons.  

Learning strategies and motivation are just two components to consider for the instructional design. As an instructor to fellow adults, I want the outcome to be meaningful.  Upon completion of a strategy, I try to brainstorm with the teachers how they can turn around the same strategy to use in their classroom.  When teachers own a strategy they are more likely to it.  Students then are engaged and motivated to learn.  

References:

eMINTS. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://emints.org/

Reiser, R., & Dempsey, J. (2018). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology.

Instructional Technology and Design

When I decided to go back to school to pursue my Educational Specialist degree in Instructional Technology, people looked at me with a confused look on their face.  I heard from a lot of people, “what kind of degree is that?”  I started to explain to them my version of what the degree entailed.  In the text, Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2002) there are several definitions that better explain what instructional technology includes.  “Early definitions of the field focused on instructional media - the physical means via which instruction is presented to learners” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2018, p.1).  Technology in education has changed quite a bit over the past 100 years. This video briefly describes the changes of technology in education.

Instructional Technology has developed into

“the analysis of learning and performance problems, and the design, development, implementation, evaluation, and management of instructional and non-instructional processes and resources intended to improve learning and performance in a variety of settings, particularly education institutions and the workplace.  Professional in the field instructional design and technology often use systematic instructional design procedures and employ instructional media to accomplish their goals” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2018, p.  5).   

As I began learning more about this field, I needed more information regarding one component of the definition, using instructional design procedures.  Instructional design can be described as “a system of procedures for developing education and training materials in a consistent and reliable fashion” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2018, p. 23).  One might think designing training materials is a relatively simple task.  To start, a trainer could simply poll their audience to see what training they needed.  Next, the trainer would create content around the needs and then present the material.  Sounds simple, right.  As I have progressed through the program of Instructional Technology, I have learned there is much more in planning effective online learning.  

Instructional design is a process that needs to be followed carefully.  Many models have been created to offer guidance in the planning.  Two of the most popular processes include ADDIE and SAM.  ADDIE was created by the military to accelerate production of training materials (Reiser & Dempsey, 2018, p. 31).  Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation are the components of the ADDIE process.  Each phase must be complete before moving to the next.  Much documentation needs to be kept in order for the process to be effective.  As you can imagine, this process tends to be slow and loses the learner in the meantime.  

On the other hand, SAM (successive approximation model) was designed to review, evaluate, and correct planning.  The ultimate goal using SAM is to produce the best instruction while keeping time and money at the front of the planning.  To do this, SAM thinks about the outcome before planning occurs.  This tends to make the planning process easier.  With using the SAM model, planning can flow among all components and be adjusted as needed.  The flow is easier to follow and overall provides better outcomes than ADDIE.

Instructional design is more complicated that I originally thought.  As I continue with the second half of the program, I am looking forward to learning more about how to create learning opportunities that will benefit adult learners while using different Instructional Design models.

Reference:

History of Instructional Technology [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5_v9Aqb9XA

Reiser, R., & Dempsey, J. (2018). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology.