Section 5: Trends & Issues

Chapters in Section V identify trends and issues in IDT in various contexts: business & industry;
military; health care education; P-12 education; and post-secondary education. Select at least 3
of these 5 contexts and compare/contrast the IDT trends and issues. Then explain how they are
similar or different from the IDT trends and issues in the context in which you work.

Then explain how they are similar or different from the IDT trends and issues in the context in which you work. 

            Many of the issues faced by instructional designers are similar within business and industry, P-12 education, and post-secondary education.  The goal of instructional designers is to create lessons that will enable the learner to gain the knowledge needed for the job.  The presentation of the lessons and the circumstances may be different but the goals are similar. 

            Business and industry are rapidly expanding globally causing the need for employee training to increase which increases the demand of instructional designers.  However, time and resource constraints along with the need for things to be better, faster, and cheaper have caused many companies to no longer employ instructional designers in-house but rather through external consultants which require more relationship building skills.  The global expansion of companies has also caused the instructional designer to be more aware of differing cultures and societal differences.  When presenting information, the instructional designer must consider word choices and illustrations that may convey different meanings in different cultures.  To meet the needs of expanding companies with employees across multiple time zones, video conferencing and conference calling has become more popular.  This saves both time and money for the companies.  The growing popularity and ease of global communication is changing the way companies function today.

            One major influence in the changing roles of instructional designers in P-12 education today is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which “mandates active engagement by schools and districts,” concerning the integration of technology, professional developments, and determining where technology is effective (p. 211).  Within P-12 education, the goal of instructional designers is still to enable learners to gain knowledge, however the goal also involves the integration of technology as a primary means of conveying the information.  Instructional designers understand that good teaching must come first and through good teaching, technology can be integrated in the curriculum.  One challenge for P-12 instructional designers is that the students do not have a specific job they are currently training for in the business world.  A student’s job is to learn how to problem solve so he can transfer his skills to the real world.  The goal is to create technology competent students who can solve problems using technology, not just computer literate students who can use a computer to input information. 

            Post-secondary education is different from P-12 education in that the “faculty members are trained in content, no pedagogy,” (p. 221).  This creates a unique role for the instructional designer.  The professor has the role of expert in subject matter while the instructional designer’s goal is to create a student centered learning environment.  Reaching this goal can sometimes require changing the way some professors think about teaching.  The skills required for an instructional designer in post-secondary education include negotiation skills, presentation skills, how to deal with difficult participants, and how to integrate technology into the curriculum.  He must be able to interact with the faculty, build relationships, and understand their needs.  The need for distance learning has also increased the role of the instructional designer.  The designer not only helps with teaching techniques within a classroom setting, but also assists with the creation of online classes. 

            One major similarity of instructional designers in different industries is that they take on many roles.  They are not only instructional designers but also, managers, developers, evaluators, trainers, teachers, and researchers.  In every setting, the instructional designer not only designs instruction but also “analyzes human performance, identifies the root of those problems, considers a variety of solutions to address the root causes, and determines and implements the appropriate solutions,” (p. 178). 

            The role of instructional designer is also similar to my role as a teacher in many ways.  One could consider a veteran teacher an instructional designer.  The teacher may not have as much training but she does have experience designing student centered lessons with the goal of teaching her students how to problem solve.  Just as an instructional designer takes on many roles, a teacher shares those roles within her classroom.  I found it interesting that the text pointed out that it takes ten years of practice to become a world-class expert and achieve mastery in any profession.  After teaching for seven years I finally feel like I have a good understanding of the many expectations and requirements to be a well-rounded teacher that is able to create lessons with integrated technology to build problem solving skills.  I also feel that it is extremely important for teachers to collaborate with each other.  There is no reason to reinvent the wheel every time one creates a lesson.  Expanding on current lessons is the way knew ideas are formed.  Both the expert and novice instructional designer “learn about theories and trends through interaction and brainstorming with others,” (p. 182).  This can be accomplished both formally through meetings and informally at lunch or in the parking lot.   

Section 4: Human Performance Technology

Not all problems in learning and/or performance require an instructional solution. Many times a non-instructional approach is a more appropriate solution. This week's reading and reflection focuses on human performance, performance support systems, knowledge management systems, and the concept of informal learning.

Chapter 14 discusses the concept and evolution of human performance improvement. Several sections of chapter 14 present a variety of non-instructional solutions to performance problems. Identify a performance problem in your area of work and identify non-instructional solutions that may help solve the problem. 

                        For the past four years, I have worked with the same teaching partner while the third teacher on our team changed every year.  I consider the revolving door of our co-workers to be a performance problem.  The third teacher always came down from middle school to take the 6^th grade science and social studies position on an elementary campus.  The expectations for elementary students differ from the expectations for middle school students.  Our co-workers seemed to have trouble making the transition and moved on to a different grade level or subject the following year.

                        I believe the expectations provided by the administration for the new teacher were not clear, there was not timely and specific feedback when the teacher had concerns or made improvements, and there was a lack of knowledge sharing among science and social studies teachers. 

                        One reason I loved teaching 6^th grade math was the collaboration among sixth grade math teachers.  The 6^th grade math teachers from each campus met monthly to discuss ideas and concerns.  This was not required but the rewards outweighed the cost.  We gained open communication, knowledge sharing, feedback, and support from the administration. 

                        The goal of Human Performance Improvement is to “achieve, through people, increasingly successful accomplishments that are valued by the organization,” Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (p. 135).  To improve the performance of the third teacher on our team the administration can partner her with a specialized experienced teacher.  In this case, the mentor teacher could be the social studies or science facilitator.  The facilitator is already familiar with the students, curriculum, and other teachers of the same subjects and grades.  The mentor will work closely with the struggling teacher, set clear expectations for her performance and ensure that the necessary supplies for teaching are readily available.  By bringing together other sixth grade science and social studies teachers, a sense of community will be formed.  Within this community, the struggling teacher will sense a culture change and will become a member of a team.  Positive feedback from the administration is also required to keep the teacher motivated. 

Chapter 15 presents performance support systems. Define performance support systems and explain how a performance support system might (or might not) help solve the problem you identified above.

                        Performance support systems are relatively new, emerging in the early 90’s.  The earliest purpose of performance support was to provide users support during computer based tasks.  Throughout the years, the definition and capabilities of performance support has evolved.  The possible tasks to be supported can be found in a wide array of jobs including, education, government, industry, and medical.  The goal of performance support today is to provide tools that support the user at the moment of need and to provide support before and after the moment of need.  The support can be supplied electronically or by a mentor but the end desire is for the user to gain support through the available performance support and use other resources as secondary support. 

                        A more specific explanation of the above mentioned problem could be a lack of collaboration among sixth grade science and social studies teachers.  The struggling teacher was trained in the subject areas during college but she was not provided a team of teachers to collaborate with when issues and concerns arose.  The lack of collaboration and the lack of community can make a teacher feel alone and unsupported. 

                        A performance support system can be created to solve this problem.  After building a community among the teachers, the instructional facilitator mentioned above will create a blog to continue the teacher support electronically.  One major concern of teachers is the lack of time to meet during the work day with fellow teachers.  Creating an online community after the teachers have met and established relationships face to face will allow the community to continue.  The facilitator’s blog will include a discussion forum similar to the virtual office in our online classes.  This will allow the teachers to share ideas while the facilitator is able to answer questions.  The blog will also contain curriculum information, class discipline ideas, organizational tools, and links to online teaching tools.  The blog will allow the struggling teacher to ask for help throughout the day with almost instant feedback from the facilitator and her peers.   

Chapter 16 explains knowledge management: the way we manage information, share that information, and use it to solve organization problems. Organizations, such as schools, accumulate a great deal information/data, which must be organized in a way that we can make sense of it in order to use for making decisions. What knowledge would help solve the problem you identified above and how would that knowledge need to be collected and managed to help facilitate problem solving? 

                        The collection and management of knowledge can be done using a blog as mentioned above.  This knowledge management tool encourages collaboration and a sense of community.  The subject area facilitator will maintain the blog to ensure the information is accurate and up to date.  Explicit knowledge such as curriculum guides, district data on student performance, and training information will be stored on the blog for teacher reference.  The explicit data provided is actually common knowledge that everyone needs to know about.  This information will keep the group informed without needing to send out multiple emails. 

                       

                        The blog will also include threaded discussions.  The discussions will need to be maintained and organized by the facilitator to ensure information does not get lost.  When a topic changes, the discussion will need to be on a new titled thread.  This will allow teachers to quickly search the discussion titles to access information discussed in the past.  A chat room will allow real time conversations among teachers and the facilitator during conference, before, and after school.  The discussion thread and chat room will encourage the exchange of tacit knowledge.  As a teacher, I always admired certain teachers and wondered, “What is the trick?  What do they know that I don’t know?”  The exchange of tacit knowledge through an encouraging and unthreatening medium can give struggling teachers encouragement and add to their tool box of tricks for teaching. 

                        The facilitator has a major role in maintaining the blog and encouraging teachers to actually use it.  She must monitor discussions to ensure the mood is positive.  This is not a place to voice complaints.  She will also need to carefully correct misinformation without discouraging users from sharing.   

Chapter 17 describes types of informal learning. What informal learning experiences have you participated in at your organization?  Could those informal learning experiences be shared with others?  Could the knowledge gained in those settings be codified and managed?  And should it be managed or should the informal experiences be replicated or broadened for others?

            After graduating from undergrad, the majority of my meaningful learning has been informal.  As teachers, we all must participate in staff developments but how much do we actually learn and apply after attending?  How much of the knowledge we apply actually comes from the formal instruction compared to the knowledge we gained during the lunch break with colleagues discussing the staff development?  I have informally gained classroom management techniques, lesson plan ideas, and a deeper understanding of curriculum during lunch, conference time, and after school while informally meeting with teachers of the same grade and subject area. 

I think my informal learning experiences can be shared with others but as a classroom teacher, it is difficult to find the time to share, codify, and manage the knowledge.  This is where the instructional facilitator comes in.  She must provide the opportunity through knowledge management to share the information.  It is her role to codify and manage the information so it can be accessed by others.  This can be accomplished through a blog set up and managed by the facilitator.  The teachers would need encouragement and reinforcement to use the blog but if maintained well, the blog could become a place to broaden other’s experiences. 

Section 3: Evaluating, Implementing and Managing Instructional Programs and Projects

Section 3: Evaluating, Implementing and Managing Instructional Programs and Projects 

All too often instruction is developed with little thought as to how evaluation of learning or the effectiveness of the instruction will take place. When evaluation is considered on the front end of the instructional design process, it is often limited to evaluating whether the instructional design is more effective than traditional methods.

For this week's reflection activities, I would like for you to concentrate on the following:

Chapter 10 discusses evaluation in instructional design and provides you with two evaluation models, the CIPP and Kirkpatrick models for evaluation. Search for at least two other models used for evaluation and summarize these models. Describe how you would use them to evaluate your instruction.

Reflect on what other questions that instructional design evaluation should address besides whether the instructional design leads to comparable amounts of learning and learner satisfaction as traditional methods. What else would be useful to know?

Rossi’s Five Domain Evaluation Model allows the user to tailor the “evaluation to fit local needs, resources, and type of program,” Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (p. 98).  This model focusses “on one or more of the following domains: needs, theory, process/implementation, impact, and efficiency,” Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (p. 103).  From a teacher’s perspective, this method will allow the teacher to modify the evaluation to fit the needs of the class and the objectives.  Binkerhoff’s Success Case Method instructs the evaluator to compare the success/failure of similar programs to your program “so that success can become more widespread in the organization,” (103).  By combining Rossi’s and Binkerhoff’s models, an evaluator can focus the evaluation on particular needs while comparing programs to ensure success. 

I am currently working on my masters to become a certified school librarian.  One goal of librarians is to help with the implementation of technology in the school.  Rossi’s Five Domain Evaluation Model can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of iPads in the library while Binkerhoff’s Success Case Method can be used to compare similar programs.  As the librarian and evaluator, I will need to determine if there is a need for iPads in the library and what will be the purpose of the iPads.  Both models address these issues in step one.  I will work with teachers and administration to determine how the iPads will be used in the library and in the classrooms. 

According to Rossi’s model, I will need to conduct a program theory assessment to determine if “the program is conceptualized in a way that it should work,” (p. 98).  I can do this using Binkerhoff’s method of comparing programs.  I plan to locate and contact other libraries currently implementing an iPad program.  I will also research peer review journal articles for documented procedures and outcomes.  Once a plan is devised, a visual impact model can be created using Binkerhoff’s Success Case Method.  The model will be constructed using the comparison of other iPad programs.  The model will include learning objectives for students and teachers in column one, including: using the iPads for research, e-books, and apps.  The middle column will explain how the students and teachers are expected to access the iPads.  The iPads will be used in the library and can be checked out for classroom use.  The initial iPad instruction will be by the librarian either in the library or in the classroom.   The last column will illustrate the goals of the iPad program: students can independently access the iPads to contribute to learning in all subject areas.  The visual impact model is a plan that all participants can see and follow.  

After implementing the program, evaluation is still necessary.  We will need to conduct an impact assessment using Rossi’s model.  Was the iPad program instructionally effective?  Has the student’s intrinsic motivation improved?  To assess the impact, the librarian can compare learning outcomes from the previous year to this year on similar projects with and without the iPads. 

In a school district with a limited budget, Rossi’s last domain, efficiency assessment, is crucial.  If a goal of the iPad program is to spread to all the schools, efficiency must be proved.  This task is difficult when the ROI is not in dollar amounts but is determined by student achievement.  A few possible cost benefits could be: the use of electronic databases instead of paper encyclopedias, sharing a set of iPads instead of buying iPads for all classrooms, and the mobility of the iPads compared to students computers. 

Binkerhoff’s Success Case Method includes a write-up to communicate the evaluation outcomes with the teachers and administration.  This will explain the details of the program, how it was successful, and how the success can be continued long term. 

            The instructional design evaluation models discussed in this chapter include both formative and summative evaluations to assess planning decisions, processes, and results.  Binkerhoff’s and Rossi’s evaluations did not address behavior like Kilpatrick’s Training Evaluation Model.  It is important to determine if the learner will be able to transfer the knowledge learned to an on the job application.  For my iPad program, it will be important to determine if the students will be able to use the iPads in subject areas other than what was specifically taught.  As the students move on to future grades, will iPad use continue in future classes?   

Chapter's 12 & 13 focus on project management and how to manage projects when resources are scarce. You have been assigned to develop a series of professional development sessions focusing on technology use in the classroom for teachers during a time of economic decline. How will you use Situational Leadership to facilitate this project and manage scarce resources? 

            The school district I most recently worked for experienced all stages of the economic cycle.  I was hired during economic growth and then experienced the peak, decline, and trough.  The cycles were due to an extreme increase in population that leveled off over the years.  During the time of growth, two elementary schools and a high school were opened which caused an increase in staff.  An influx of technology also occurred to support the expectations of the growing community.  When the district was entering the trough, resources were becoming limited in all aspects including, people, time, and money however, learning and innovation must continue.

            One positive element of the situation was that an enormous amount of technology was purchased during the growth and peak so every classroom has a Promethean Board, Elmo, students in 5^th grade and up have personal laptops, and every school is equipped with a computer lab.  Since technology is already in place, money will only be an issue concerning salaries. 

            The team will consist of one teacher from each grade level, curriculum facilitators, and a technology facilitator.  Since people and time are limited the team will meet in person initially to discuss the details and expectations of the staff development but further communication will be through email.  Communication is a major component of situational leadership.  The communication during the first meeting will be very direct and the leader will take a supervisory role to ensure the team understands the plan to reach the desired goal and what each person’s role is in the planning process.   

            Conducting discussions through email will save everyone time but the leader must be very clear when conversing through email without any hints of sarcasm.  It is impossible for a group of teachers to meet during the day and the district cannot pay the teachers for their time spent after school working on the project so individuals will be expected to work on their own time.  Phase two of situational leadership becomes very important now.  The leader must ensure the team “buys in” to the project.  To boost morale, the leader will meet with each team member individually when it is best for the member.  During this time, the leader will listen openly to questions, concerns, and ideas while providing clear feedback and encouragement.  After meeting with team members, the leader will compile the information and email the entire team to keep everyone updated.  This process will continue until completion of the project. 

            Phase three requires the leader to focus on results and ensure the team is rewarded for effort.  A reward for effort can be difficult when money is limited.  A reward for a teacher could be extra planning time during the day while an aid covers her class or recognition in front of her peers for her effort in creating the project.  Since the facilitators are not responsible for a class of students during the day, they can be rewarded with an extended lunch break. 

            The team will meet face to face at the end of the project to clarify any concerns and tie up loose ends.  During this meeting, the leader will not have a supervisory role but will monitor the discussion instead.  The leader will step back and allow the team to work.