Synthesis Paper
The instructional design process is like playing the, “Hokey Pokey”: you examine every part of the project, “shake” out the bugs, and the turnaround time arrives sooner than you planned. When I began this class, I was forced to revisit some “not so friendly feelings” that accompanied my past position as a web designer and project manager. I loved being a website designer/graphic artist. Due to the infancy of this role, it was the utopia of design and new technology. From a project management perspective (with the twist of website design), the position was absolutely, positively frustrating; there was an utter and complete lack of project management process and projects were created and recreated until the client had the “ah ha” moment and loved the design. Groundhog Day ensued time, and time, and time again. However, The Frankenmodel assignment allowed me to revisit the ghosts of project management past objectively creating a method derived from the text which I would be comfortable using in a new, exciting Instructional Design career.
I have been designing Health curriculum as a personal quest to have a decent readily usable portfolio for the students in my school as well as something to show future employers when I venture toward a position in Instructional Design. The final project was not just a test of applying content knowledge this semester, it was a test of patience. The home stretch was within reach and suddenly, Moodle would not permit edits. I used the online knowledge base for a considerable amount of time and read through the discussion threads locating similar if not identical problems. I attempted to remove all of the content from my course. It was one of those situations where my loss of time was more valuable than my loss of Moodle.
Immediately, my lesson was moving toward completion. There is no sense losing time when reality has been magnified and time continued to tick away. I decided to copy my content from the course (which thankfully was still available) and created a Weebly site to house my course content (learn2talk.weebly.com/). While “disappointed” is my least favorite word and it is seldom used in my verbal vocabulary, I was disappointed that I could not complete my Moodle course: “Building Strong Communication Skills”. There were parts of the interface I was struggling with that I wanted to conquer: hiding my course content so it was neat and tidy, adding some additional links, adding news or other features to name a few. As a designer, it was the time to move onto the goal of the project instead of back-pedaling for my own edification: the project needs to be completed in a timely manner. Period.
As I continue to fulfill my duties as a “traditional” technology classroom teacher (and I used quotations because the idea of technology being traditional seems pretty ironic given it’s birth in the 1980’s), I will certainly use my skills to enhance my instruction by placing the content on my newly minted class blog (cattoschool.weebly.com) as well as teaching my students how to access lessons in an online learning environment. While online learning is not currently avaialbe in the district where I teach, my students should be prepared for this inevitable learning environment with confidence.
The design process has helped me to become a better teacher and technologist. While my free-spirited nature is “part of my charm”, it is also my Achilles heel. The design process has helped me learn to think in sequential order to start a project from the beginning and complete it within the required time parameters and project scope. The process has also allowed me to be creative and free thinking which balances necessary organization which not one of my innate character traits. Finally the process has allowed me to dismiss the ghosts from web design (and project management) past. I have learned much and enjoyed this class more than I truly expected.
Robert Frost writes,
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.” (Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken)
Moving forward as a budding instructional designer, I am excited to see which paths I will be presented with and ultimately which one I will chose. With sincere confidence and excitement, I may just create my own path to which I will be utterly and completely content.
Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-road-not-taken/
I have been designing Health curriculum as a personal quest to have a decent readily usable portfolio for the students in my school as well as something to show future employers when I venture toward a position in Instructional Design. The final project was not just a test of applying content knowledge this semester, it was a test of patience. The home stretch was within reach and suddenly, Moodle would not permit edits. I used the online knowledge base for a considerable amount of time and read through the discussion threads locating similar if not identical problems. I attempted to remove all of the content from my course. It was one of those situations where my loss of time was more valuable than my loss of Moodle.
Immediately, my lesson was moving toward completion. There is no sense losing time when reality has been magnified and time continued to tick away. I decided to copy my content from the course (which thankfully was still available) and created a Weebly site to house my course content (learn2talk.weebly.com/). While “disappointed” is my least favorite word and it is seldom used in my verbal vocabulary, I was disappointed that I could not complete my Moodle course: “Building Strong Communication Skills”. There were parts of the interface I was struggling with that I wanted to conquer: hiding my course content so it was neat and tidy, adding some additional links, adding news or other features to name a few. As a designer, it was the time to move onto the goal of the project instead of back-pedaling for my own edification: the project needs to be completed in a timely manner. Period.
As I continue to fulfill my duties as a “traditional” technology classroom teacher (and I used quotations because the idea of technology being traditional seems pretty ironic given it’s birth in the 1980’s), I will certainly use my skills to enhance my instruction by placing the content on my newly minted class blog (cattoschool.weebly.com) as well as teaching my students how to access lessons in an online learning environment. While online learning is not currently avaialbe in the district where I teach, my students should be prepared for this inevitable learning environment with confidence.
The design process has helped me to become a better teacher and technologist. While my free-spirited nature is “part of my charm”, it is also my Achilles heel. The design process has helped me learn to think in sequential order to start a project from the beginning and complete it within the required time parameters and project scope. The process has also allowed me to be creative and free thinking which balances necessary organization which not one of my innate character traits. Finally the process has allowed me to dismiss the ghosts from web design (and project management) past. I have learned much and enjoyed this class more than I truly expected.
Robert Frost writes,
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.” (Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken)
Moving forward as a budding instructional designer, I am excited to see which paths I will be presented with and ultimately which one I will chose. With sincere confidence and excitement, I may just create my own path to which I will be utterly and completely content.
Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-road-not-taken/