shiny new toys, shiny new skills
Fall 2008: I bought an iPhone this summer (I just couldn't manage the patience to wait for the Android). I was excited at the time to have such a fashionable new toy. I was well aware of the capabilities this tiny toy packed, but it wasn't until the fall semester started that I knew how important that seemingly unnecessary purchase was. My EDIT 730 class has teamed up with the David Rogers at the University of Central Florida in Orlando to collaborate on some m-learning projects. We split off into groups within the class, chose projects of interest and of compliment to our skills and dove deep into the world of m-learning.
The m-learning project aims to bring iphone technology into an introductory level spanish class in a Massachusets public high school. It's been a very research intensive process for the team. We don't have direct access to the end-users, so our Performance and Needs Analysis Report research has been pulled from every other source we could possibly think of, local teacher interviews, local students who have taken introductory level spanish classes and LOTS of academic journal research to support our design process. In my opinion, these two steps are probably the most important in the process for creating any type of instructional design, espcially when it's going to be used for developing iPhone applications, which is not only labor intensive, but very expensive. I couldn't imagine putting months of work into a project, to have it fail because the analysis done in the begining was insufficient... I'm sure it happens, but hopefully I won't ever know the feeling!
At the end of the semester, David Rogers will chose one of the projects to put forth for development and hopefully implementation. Our invovlement doesn't stop there though. It's a back-to-back class, two semesters long, and the m-learning project will spill into next semester where we drive deep into evaluation and assessment for the instructional design. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we're the lucky group!
looking back on a year of school
Summer 2009: Although this was the least busy semester thus far, it was no less important. I would have happily taken on more classes, but the fact is, they weren't available. I have to patiently wait for the coming semesters to finish up my Master's.
I decided to take Project Management and Instructional Design Portfolio for my summer courses. Project Management was an interesting class as I would be developing a skill I had never really touched on before. Everything was fairly new. Although I have been a part of a working project in the workplace, I've never really sat in the driver's seat or knew exactly how far encompassing this type of job really is. As the class wraps up, I am very happy that I had the opportunity to take this class. The first project, a paper, was very helpful in helping me understand how PM relates to IDD practice. I had the opporunity to reach out to the professional community via discussion boards and email to talk with people in the field who were using these skills daily. This was an important step in the learning process as I developed my own understanding of the profession and the duties involved. The second part of the class was a team project to throroughly plan out a project that can be implemented in a real world setting. The process was thorough from top to bottom and forced everyone in the group to collaborate. I was grateful for the collaborative effort because there were times when we needed a few heads to piece together all of the details! It was also my first time using Microsoft Project, which was fairly intuitive I suppose. Hopefully I get to use my new PM skills at work soon!
what a spring!
This has been a fairly busy semester. I've passed the middle mark of my master's degree program and I've really had the opportunity to dive into some great material. My Advanced Instructional Design Theory class has really pushed me to think about the application of learning theories in real world context. For the final project, I am working on creating a prototype that can hopefully one day be used for work. It is a Community of Practice for new brokers/associates coming into the commercial real estate business.
I've also been hard at work expanding my knowledge about creating websites. I've played around with web design for fun in the past, but this semester I've been working hard to learn about accessibility for websites. It's really opened my eyes to a whole new side of webdesign. Especially from the angle of creatitivity. It can be a challenge to create a website that is "hip" yet accessible to all users.
As we turn the corner into Spring, I have a few summer classes lined up. I'm looking forward to hitting the golf course as well as local waters for fishing. I love Washington D.C. in the spring. It's been a rollercoaster for weather, but overall I have nothing to complain about... the air is fresh with promise of warm sunny days!
the changing of the leaves - fall semester
Fall 2008: I decided to take another class in which I had some familiarity with, EDIT 772- Adobe Flash. This class focused on the functions in Flash during the first part of the class, then quickly moved into HOW to use the functions as an instructional technology. I felt it was a good foundation for Flash, but it did leave me wanting more. I really enjoy working with graphics and animation and I was pleased to declare a solid understanding of the software after this semester.
Innovations in Distance Learning (EDIT 611) was my first real taste of participating in a distance learning team project. Although I felt it was a little challenging at first, I've come to appreciate this setting just as much as I do working with teams in a classroom. This class really opened my eyes to the wonderful tools that are being developed and that are available for both formal and informal learning environments. I established a solid understanding as well as an ability to identify the appropriateness and effectiveness of technologies as it is applied to learning.
first semester
Summer 2008: I was very excited to start up with classes again. I wasn't quite sure what to expect though, almost two years had passed since my undergraduate studies. There was a pinch of anxiety, but a mountain of determination to tackle school, I was going to apply every resource and all my efforts to be the best student that I could be. I was still unsure about applying to the Instructional Technology Master's program, so I enlisted for the E-Learning Graduate Certificate Program and George Mason University. It didn't take me long to decide that going for a Master's would not only benefit my career, but it was finally the answer I'd been looking for... Admittedly, I didn't have much direction when I graduated from Radford, I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up! Instructional Design was the perfect intellectual combination I had been looking for.
Photoshop and Captivate were two classes in which I had some intimacy with the programs. I'd taken Captivate through a two day class for work and had been using it at my old job to create training demonstrations for certain areas of my work. I was even more familiar with the functions in Photoshop, I used it at work as well as for personal things. Although I was famliar with the software, I was not familiar with the manner in which they were to be used for e-learning or instructional design. Captivate focused more on the specifics of ID, the training was focused on the learner and the training was created in the heart of ID theory. Photoshop however, was focused on functionality and was more focused on mastering a tool that was often used to create graphics for ID purposes.
EDIT 705 was my first official introduction to Instructional Design. I was a little nervous going into the class because I had never taken an online course, and I wasn't sure what to expect of the teacher, the class or myself for that matter. Through readings, discussion and homework, I was quickly pulled out of the dark. The mystery of Instructional Design and E-Learning began to unwravel and it was during this class that I became enthralled with the theories and practice of Instructional Design.
As the first semester started closing out, I knew the biggest hurdle I was going to face down the road was applied knowledge. I wasn't using e-learning or instructional technology in my everyday work life. In fact I wasn't using it at all except in using graphics software. I wasn't ready to think about this issue yet. I was too excited about school.