What have I learned so far in my Technology-based Learning Environments course? How can I apply what I have learned? or What do I need to know more about when designing my own instructional design project in Canvas?

The teacher's role is to be an instructional designer that can
implement effective online technology that elicits the
desired student outcomes.

I found the article by Savery and Duffy (1995) to be beneficial and timely since our district is implementing a blending learning pilot program at our high school campus, and I will be designing an online class for my project. In a blended approach, instructional design is based on problem-based learning and a constructivist learning theory. In addition, my classmate Kelly Kelsoe also had an article posted about several factors that must be in place for students to grasp the benefits of a blended learning instructional design approach (Francis and Shannon, 2013). And I found an article that addresses the challenges and experiences of transforming a traditional classroom into a social constructivist approach (Dalsgaard and Godsk, 2007).

Some people might think that I am a little crazy, but I actually enjoy the opportunity to design instructional projects. And all of the articles above have certainly given me some new aspects in online instructional design to think about. First, let’s consider key factors that will transform an online course and engage students. Effective online tools need to be included in the design to take advantage of the affordances that technology can offer. This will mean creating activities in which students can interact and receive feedback from their peers. In addition, reflective activities will need to be included in order to give students time to think about their own thinking. We all know that reflection has a big effect size on student learning. So, discussion forums and blogging are activities to consider during the design and development phase of the ADDIE model.

Next, what have I learned about the constructivist learning theory and the social constructivist learning theories? How can I apply them to my design? I focused on the idea of “puzzlement is the stimulus for learning” when reading the Savery and Duffy (1995) article. I will need to consider how to organize the online course so that authentic learning is taking place and students are the center of the learning. In addition, I will need to create a stimulus puzzlement that stimulates the new learning opportunities.

The Savery and Duffy (1995) and the Dalsgaard and Godsk, (2007) articles both highlighted that knowledge evolves through social interactions which lead to individual understandings of knowledge. I will need to research which social media and Web 2.0 programs could be implemented to elicit the desired student outcomes in the project.

And the biggest challenge will be designing the course with a scenario or problem and also ensuring that the activities the students complete will cover the intended goals and objectives of the course. But first, I must draw a conclusion to what the subject of the instructional design might be. Digital Leadership? Implementing Blended Learning? iPads in the Classroom? So many interesting choices to select from.

References

Dalsgaard, C., & Godsk, M. (2007). Transforming traditional lectures into problem‐based blended learning: challenges and experiences. Open Learning, 22(1), 29-42.

Francis, R., & Shannon, S. J. (2013). Engaging with blended learning to improve students’ learning outcomes. European Journal of Engineering Education, 38(4), 359-369.

Savery, J. R., & Duffy, T. M. (1995). Problem based learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework. Educational technology, 35(5), 31-38.