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.