Reflections+on+EDLD+5368+Instructional+Design



In the assignment for week 5 of this course, we were required to create an online course and upload some assignments to an open source learning management system, Schoology. I feel like I could use a lot more practice with this program, but the assignment did require me to become familiar with the basic concepts and features of the learning management system. Since the system used was open source, I believe it will be something that I can experiment with in the future to make some of the knowledge I have acquired throughout this program more available to my colleagues and to actually implement some of the strategies and tools in my classroom. As a result of Wiggins and McTighe's "backward design" model, referenced when designing the lessons in my online course, the assignments uploaded inherently address what Wiggins and McTighe refer to as the "twin sins of design." Specifically, according to Wiggins and McTighe, teachers are often guilty of the "twin sins of design," which are "activity-focused teaching and coverage-focused teaching," with little consideration of "the big ideas" (p. 3). In order to avoid this, their model calls for specific needs assessments based on hard data, such as TAKS scores, benchmarks, and student surveys. This data is used to determine the big ideas and set goals for what students need to learn so that educators can "teach for understanding." According to these authors, this is an important concept, as there are different levels of understanding, and, as effective teachers, we must determine the big ideas that students truly need to comprehend in order to be able to transfer knowledge, or internalize new knowledge.

I feel that this model of lesson design and its implementation in creating lessons for an online course will be very useful to me in the future. The premises of the learning by design model are closely aligned with the latest trend in education, since the lessons are designed around data based decisions. In our increasing age of accountability, it is important that teachers use specific data, set accurate goals based on needs assessments, and determine acceptable evidence of true student understanding. Once these concepts are used to create effective lessons in all areas of need, I believe the format of online learning will be important in sharing these lessons with students all over the world in order to create a more level playing field for students in even the most remote areas of the world. This will be an important tool in facilitating effective education and preparing students for 21st century success.

According to TF/TL Standard II-A, we should design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners. This assignment clearly supports this standard since the online format of learning in Schoology would account for "technology enhanced instructional strategies." Furthermore, the online assessment feature of this LMS would meet Standard IV in applying technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessments.

As for issues that puzzle me in regard to this assignment and things I would like to learn more about, there are a number of questions I have about online assessments. This is one feature of the LMS that I read other's commentaries on the discussion post, but I did not have the time to explore this feature to the degree I would like. I am also curious as to why the district in which I am employed does not make the benefits of online learning more obvious to teachers and prepare them to use this tool. I suppose much of this has to do with time constraints and the need for additional professional development in a variety of formats to reach all educators. I believe and hope that the trend will be further development in this area.

References

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2000). //Understanding by Design. //  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall., Ch. 1.

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE’s technology facilitation and leadership // //standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do // . Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, pp. 77-99.