Section 7: New Directions for Instructional Design and Technology

1)   Examples of Distributed Learning           

 Hybrid delivery

The Biology Project: Biochemistry, Bill Grimes and Rick Hallick, University of Arizona
Offers tutorials and interactive quizzes covering basic chemistry, metabolism, enzymes, and molecular structure.  The Biology Project, is an interactive online resource for learning biology developed at The University of Arizona. http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/biochemistry.html

Virtual Foliage, Professor Clayton, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Created within the context of an introductory botany course, this site includes a compendium of thousands of pictures of plants and plant structures. These materials were developed for use in the courses taught through the botany department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They may be freely used by educators in the context of their classrooms.
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/

Virtual Classrooms
Sheep's Brain Dissection, Jim Spadaccini, The Exploratorium, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
This animation presents the dissection of a sheep's brain as an interactive process, with a focus on learning about memory. Includes audio clips, video clips, and textual descriptions. 
http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory/braindissection/index.html

Big Ears: The Original Online Ear Trainer, Michael Ossmann, Computer Consultant, Colorado
The tutorial is designed to help students improve their ability to recognize musical elements, such as melodic intervals or chords, by ear.
http://www.ossmann.com/bigears/

Knowledge based learning
The Victorian Web, Professor Landow, Brown University
Provides extensive information about the Victorian era and serves as a resource for Victorian literature courses.
http://www.victorianweb.org/
   
   2)   Concept of Reusability

As I try to recall which course in my educational career had poor reusability characteristics, English class in college comes into my mind.  I would define reusability as a resource that can be effectively reused.  The learning content should be simple to understand and have clear learning outcomes.  The English course during my freshman year of college, was anything but simple and clear.  The instructor had been using the same agenda and lessons for years per other students who had taken the course.  The material was not easy to relate to as a young adult, and it didn’t seem aligned with the current curriculum trends that were taking place. 
I imagined analyzing literature in English class would challenge me to understand characters' motivations, cultural contexts, and the causes and effects of various actions in stories' plot lines.  Our instructor simply gave multiple chapters to read, lectured over the chapters, and told us to study for the upcoming quiz.  This course could be redesigned by incorporating literature from the past and present.  Students need to read topics they can relate to and compare those stories to classic material from the past.  I would also include various multi-cultural literature, music, and film.  The instructor should also use more technology in the course, provide visuals on a Smartboard or create a blog for student groups.  By incorporating these things learning to analyze literature would teach students how to enjoy books and multimedia.

3)    Using Rich Media

The use of rich media can enhance a learner-centered approach of to teaching and motivate students to learn.  Rich Media can encourage students to stretch their minds from remembering and understanding to evaluating and creating.  While completing this assignment, I came across Scott Gardner’s video on You Tube.  It is a good example of how rich media can provide higher order thinking.

   4)    Future of Instructional Technologies

Nanotechnology is very diverse it has the ability to create extensions of conventional devices or  creating completely new approaches to devices.  For example, nanotechnology has been used in the fashion industry to improve the current khaki material that is being used by the Eddie Bauer company.  Eddie Bauer is currently using embedded nanoparticles to create stain-repellent khakis. This innovation will impact not only khaki-wearers, but also many businesses.  For instance, dry cleaners will find their business declining. Detergent makers will find less of their product moving off the shelf, and stain-removal makers will experience a sharp decrease in customers as well. 

5)    Point of view

I would agree with the broad and inclusive road point of view to instructional technology.  It allows the use of technology resources to improve learning and performance, but this point of view is open to change and new ideas.  This point of view leads in the direction for a good chance at finding innovations to adapt and move forward in instructional technology.  This point of view would also produce a more diverse array of research accomplishments, and a similarly diverse set of tools and models useful in the field of technology.

Section 6: Getting an IDT Position and Succeeding at It

Getting an IDT Position and Succeeding

1.  Obtaining a position in instructional design

Job #1

Praxair
Instructional Designer/Trainer - The Woodlands, TX-1101165

Responsibilities include:
Identification of global training needs and requirements based on business and project needs;
Prioritization of training;
Identification and communication with training vendors, including internal trainers;
Tracking and evaluation of delivered training programs;
Development and implementation of new training programs based on new or changing technical requirements, modification of existing programs and delivery strategy as required;
Coordination of the technical training delivery at global plants and engineering offices;
Maintenance and organization of training program-related processes, procedures, and supporting documentation for Global Hydrogen;
Locate, engage, and coordinate third party professional translators as required to ensure global accessibility of training;
May perform training program administrative tasks including LMS setup, scheduling, enrollment, reporting, entering and maintaining training records, communication with training participants;
Other duties as assigned.

Position will be filled at a level commensurate with experience
Qualifications: Bachelor's degree required, Master's in Education and/or Training preferred
Minimum 5+ years experience delivering technical training including experience with instructional design for an engineering or technical organization
Experience with technical writing preferred
Demonstrated initiative and ability to work independently.
Must be detail oriented with excellent organization, project management and time management skills
Global experience is a plus
Proficiency with MSOffice Suite (MS Word, MS Excel, and MS PowerPoint) is required, experience with Lotus Notes, SharePoint, Groove, Captivate, and Learning Management systems strongly preferred.

I would not qualify for this position because it requires years of experience working in an engineering organization.

Job #2

United Surgical Partners International, Inc.
Position: Instructional Designer

Location: Addison, TEXAS

Qualifications:

We are seeking a self-motivated, innovative, outside-the-box thinker as an Instructional Designer at our corporate headquarters in Plano, Texas. This newly-created position reports to the Director of Business Office Operations Training and will work closely with subject matter experts (SMEs) to create and develop engaging, effective learning solutions and implement new technologies in support of our end users.

Description: Apply adult learning theory and instructional methodologies (e.g., storyboarding, content mapping, information mapping) to design learning solutions that emphasize active, task-centered learning. Engage in active dialogue with SMEs to determine requirements and create training to meet their needs; assist with analysis to determine appropriate instructional technologies and implementation strategy to achieve optimal learning. Produce learning resources in a variety of formats including print, graphics, audio, video, and other technologies. Conduct webinars/online training to support team/company initiatives. Create courses to load into the company's Learning Management System (LMS). Use the LMS to train and track student progress. Develop and maintain content on the team's internal Sharepoint websites; provide basic document control on these sites. Support end users of the LMS and on the team's internal Sharepoint websites. Deliver regular status updates. Assist the Director of Business Office Operations Training with other projects as required.

I would not qualify for this position because it requires years of technology experience with systems I haven’t used before.
　

Job #3

UnitedHealth Group

Instructional Designer

Description:
Design Training for a Leader in the Healthcare arena! Your primary responsibility will be the effective delivery and design of training programs and materials across the organization from an individual who will keep abreast of various training delivery techniques, business processes, products and systems in several functional areas. This will be done in accordance with management and functional leaders to gather information on business needs to design instructor led, Web-based and e-learning training. You will also conduct train the trainer sessions using Web-based techniques and interactive learning strategies. As a key resource to others you must maintain a high degree of accuracy along with attention to detail, excellent oral and written communication skills, strong interpersonal skills and the ability always to meet deadlines.

On any given day you may need to conduct training needs analysis to determine the appropriate solutions to address a business problem. If training or communication is required to solve the business problem, you will design the training and/or communication solutions or coordinate a small group of designers to ensure the solutions are created following industry and internal design principles and standards. This role works fairly independently. They should be able to prepare and deliver presentations. Also create both instructor-led and web-based training materials and should be able to assess the effectiveness of the programs they create and recommend/implement modifications, as needed. Interact with SME (subject matter expert) and business partners. It will also be necessary to deliver training to class participants.


Requirements:High school diploma or GED required. 2+ years of Instructional design and/or training delivery experience required (preferably instructional design) 1+ years' experience with coordinating and/or managing projects required. Working knowledge and proficiency with MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint required.

Asset:BA/BS degree in Instructional Design, Training, Teaching, or related field strongly preferred. 1+ years of experience conducting classroom training and/or seminar/workshop topics preferred. Experience in the Healthcare Industry preferred. Experience using HTML preferred. Experience with Articulate Studio preferred. Experience with Info Mapping, Dreamweaver, SnagIT, Captivate, Flash, PhotoShop or similar tools. Knowledge of Adult Learning Theory, (i.e. ADDIE)

I would not qualify for this position because it requires years of technology experience with systems I haven’t used before.


2. Self assessment

I completed the self assessment at www.careeronestop.org. I chose to do the My Skills My Future Profiler it helps to create a list of your skills and match them to job types that use those skills and to see how your skills from a current or past job can lead you into a new career. This assessment was very informative because it showed different job postings that match your skills. It also gave the salary, skills and similar knowledge, and typical training needed. I learned that I matched closest to Instructional Coordinator positions. The second job type I matched with was Trainer.


 

Professional Organizations

                                             

 



　

Name	Mission	Cost	Publications	Conference/Meetings	Professional Development
American Educational Research Association (AERA)	To advance knowledge about education, encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good.	Regular members: $150 per year Graduate Students: $40 per year	American Educational Research Journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis Educational Researcher Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics Review of Educational Research Review of Research in Education	Annual Meetings- 6 day conference	AERA-AIR Fellows Program AERA-ETS Fellowship Program in Measurement and Education Research Minority Dissertation Fellowship Program in Education Research AERA Undergraduate Student Education Research Training Workshop
Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)	The Educational Communications and Technology (ect) Foundation is a non-profit organization that has made a substantial commitment in support of AECT. These purposes reflect the belief that instruction can be improved with new systems for learning and with assessment of techniques for the communication of information. The Foundation funds leadership-training programs for AECT.	Corporate membership $400, New regular membership $125, New student membership $75	ETR&D (Educational Technology Research and Development), TechTrends, The International Journal of Designs for Learning, and Journal of Applied Instructional Design	2012 Research Symposia will the held in Louisville, Kentucky, July 18-20 in conjunction with the AECT Leadership Meetings.	AECT holds webinars for its members. A conversation with the Eminent Scholar about the Secrets of Designing Games for Learning is available Thursday December 8, 2011.

Professional Publications

　

Name	Focus/Goal	Guidelines	Peer Review	Online
Educational Technology and Society	Educational Technology & Society seeks academic articles on the issues affecting the developers of educational systems and educators who implement and manage such systems. The articles should discuss the perspectives of both communities and their relation to each other:	Authors, submitting articles for a particular special issue, should send their submissions directly to the appropriate Guest Editor. Guest Editors will advise the authors regarding submission procedure for the final version. All submissions should be in electronic form. The editors will acknowledge the receipt of submission as soon as possible. Submission must be in editable format. Preferred formats are Word document and RTF, but editors will try their best for other formats too. Submissions in PDF and other non-editable formats are not acceptable.	Yes	Yes
Learning and Leading with Technology	Learning and leading with technology, features practical ideas for using today’s digital tools to improve learning and teaching for appropriately integrating technology into classrooms, curricula, and administration.	The articles must range from 200-1000 words and focus on how to implement technology in the classroom.	No	Yes

4. If you were responsible for identifying the domains, competencies, and performance statements for a performance technologist, what would they include and why?



The domains for the performance technologist would include design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation.

The competencies for this position would be focal point would be analyzing the learner characteristics and environment, and be performance driven.

The performance statement for the position would focus on the candidate’s ability to develop instructional materials and products, and assist in the technology-based redesign of courses. Assist faculty in learning about, becoming proficient in, and applying instructional technology. Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization. Aid the client in solving performance problems. Establish, support, and demonstrate effective organizational outcomes.

Section 5: Trends and Issues in Various Settings

1. Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping can be used in education to allow students to transform a computer-based model into a three-dimensional physical object. The rapid prototyping process begins with a 3D, virtual object in a computer. The next step is to slice the virtual object into layers using a computer program. The computer send the information about each layer, starting with the bottom layer to a rapid prototyping machine. The machine then builds a plastic, wax, or paper prototype from the bottom layer up. Higher layers are then added on top of the lower layers until the prototype is complete. Rapid prototyping can afford students the opportunity to bring their ideas to reality. This system has a unique potential to empower technology for students.

2. Limited access to technology

I would suggest providing an online and interactive classroom for military staff who have full access to technology. I would suggest providing paper or hardcopy lessons as a backup for military staff with limited access to technology.




3. Staff development for step-up-to-excellence methodology and GSTE.

I would create a staff development training introducing the step-up-to-excellence and GSTE by focusing on the three areas of opportunity, achievement, and excellence. Staff would view powerpoint presentation and review articles and videos on the program and how it is implemented. Group discussion would take place. Groups would discuss what they’ve learned from the information provided and how changes can take place from implementing the programs. Finally, the general group reports back on what was discuss.








4.  Research 3 different universities for faculty development

　

University Name	Names used for faculty development	Division it is under	Services offered	Programs given
Univ. of TX Arlington	Faculty Development and Enrichment	Office of Academic Affairs	Workshops, conferences, campus resources	Teaching circle, to share concerns with each other, and Mentor Program for new staff
Stephen F. Austin	Sponsorship Program	Office of research	Workshop, training, and seminars	Information available via email request; coffee Wednesday on 1st of month
Univ. of North Texas	Training and Development Toolkit	Human Resource Training and Development	Training, classes, seminars	Classes monthly focusing on time and record management