Teacher vs. Instructional Designer

Introduction

I’ve thought a good deal about the differences between a teaching job and an instructional designers job. Ironically, my first hand experience in both fields makes it more difficult for me to see the distinction between the two.  As a teacher, I regularly fall back on my instructional design skills to plan effective learning units.

1. What are teachers expected to do that instructional designers are not?

I’ve been asked to answer the question, “What are teachers expected to do that instructional designers are not?”  In short, teachers traditionally are looked at as people who deliver content.  Some key additional responsibilities include building relationships with students, communicating with parents, maintaining students’ personal records, collecting, analyzing, and reporting on performance, grading assignments, and establishing personal behavior and learning plans.  Teachers also need to complete a teacher certification program show mastery over the content areas they teach.  Contrary, as an instructional designer, I relied on subject matter experts (SME) to outline the content for course development.

2. What are instructional designers expected to that teachers are not?

To the second question I’ve been asked to analyze, “What are instructional designers expected to do that teachers are not?” I have a harder time delineating.  The basic answer is that instructional designers make decisions about how content is delivered.  They need to understand how to use different authoring tools, plan scope and sequence, write scripts, choose supportive media, and develop assessments.

By the same token, as a teacher short on time, I scavenger for material I can stitch together.  Instructional designers need to create their own material from scratch or purchase copyrights because often their work is created for a profit.  As a constructivist, it’s critical for me to design my own content so that I understand the logic behind the design. My teaching philosophy is that educators should build scenarios for students to discover new information and use the best platform possible to do that.

3. What are three major differences between instructional designers and teachers?
Three major differences between a teacher and an instructional designer are practical experience, focus, and expectations. Instructional designers must stay abreast of new technologies like graphics programs, mobile learning, podcasting, and interactive media.  Conversely, teachers gain experience in helping students fill gaps to construct new knowledge.  A second difference is instructional designers are required focus on content development and delivery.  While as a teacher, I received 6 weeks of training on Promethean’s authoring tool ActivInspire.  However, there was no requirement for me to incorporate this tool in my daily duties.  A teacher’s primary focus is on showing student growth.  Finally, Instructional designers are expected to design content and teachers are expected to deliver it.

Web Based Instruction–Story Board and Prototype

Streamline Story Board with Sample Screen Shots

View this document on Scribd

Instructional & Motivation Strategies

Web-Based Instruction Strategies Worksheet

View this document on Scribd

Pre-Planning Activities

Gantt Project Time Line (p.181)

 

 

Completed Task Objective Analysis (p.188-196)

View this document on Scribd

Clustered Objectives (p.198)

1.0 Using Forms to Gather Data

• A. Prerequisites (objective 1.1)
• B. Application (objectives 1.2, 1.5)
• C. Analysis (objective 1.3-1.4)

2.0 Google Drive to Save You Time

• A. Prerequisites (objectives 2.1-2.3)
• B. Application (objectives 2.4-2.5)
• C. Analysis (objective 2.6)

3.0 Blog Planning for Better Preparation

• A. Prerequisites (objective 3.1)
• B. Application (objectives 3.2-3.4)
• C. Analysis (objectives 3.5-3.6)

4.0 Authentic Student Engagement with Digital Learning Logs

• A. Prerequisites (objective 4.1)
• B. Application (objective 4.2)
• C. Analysis (objective 4.3)

Summative & Formative Evaluation Planning

Assignment 1: General Overview of Evaluation Criteria (p. 132)

Evaluation Criteria	Explanation	Data Source
Appeal: create a connection for user between the formula (daily activities + time management tools = more efficiency.)	Review ability to hook the audience by pin pointing real life challenges	Teacher KLW survey Application of technologies in the classroom Time on task survey
Usability: ease of user access and use	Determine if users are able to navigate the course without any tech support	Ability to turn assignments in User interest in taking another similar course
Effectiveness: ability to utilize the tools as they were taught in the WBI course	Determine if participants are able to apply new skills	Frequency with which the technologies are applied the classroom

General Evaluation Orientation (p.132)

This course model is oriented toward the participant.  The both formative and summative assessments will be designed to evaluate how well the course has served the participants needs.

Evaluation Matrix: Formative Evaluation Questions. (p140)

Evaluation Criteria & Categories	Questions
Appeal
Goals	Are the goals relevant to the learner? Is there a clear connection between technology use and time management? Are the goals manageable for learners at varying levels technology proficiencies?
Content	Does the information directly address teachers’ daily duties? Is the information applicable immediately? How many people will application of the content impact?
Technology	Is the navigation intuitive? Are the materials easy to access? Is the course free of typos?
Message Design	Is the course organization easy to understand? Do the videos, graphics, fonts, and colors have universal appeal? Is the course pitched at adult learners of varying age and skill level?
Efficiency
Goals	Are the goals stated clearly and concisely?
Content	Is the content appropriate for all teaching disciplines?
Technology	Is the LMS/web structured properly? Is access to other learners or an instructor an option? Do technology applications outside the course design function easily and efficiently (Google & Weebly)?
Message Design	Does the information scaffold on prior skills? Is there a clear organizational pattern?
Effectiveness
Goals	How do the goals support best practice instructional strategies? How to the goals reprioritize teachers time?
Content	Will the information enable teachers to apply skills immediately or will additional practice be needed? Does the information reflect current instructional practices?
Technology	Will the required WBI platform (Edmodo) support learners? Will there be access to an instructor or other learners?
Message Design	Is the message design consistent with district instructional practices? Are the directions short and concise? Have screen shots been used according to district standards?

Stakeholders (p.143)

Primary Stakeholders

• Designer: Responsible for course quality and revisions
• Instructor: Responsible for informing the designer of snags or challenges in the course
• Learners: will spend time trying to expunge information from the course
• Learner’s students: successfully application will directly impact how the students are trained to use these tools.

Secondary Stakeholders

• ITC department: The course reflects the department’s productivity level
• School Administration: teachers working smarter reallocates time teachers’ time
• Parents: Transparency and efficiency = more effective instructional time

What is Being Evaluated? (p.145)

	Motivation strategies
	Objectives
Design Plans	Grouping of objectives
	Instructions
	Activities
	Example Items
Prototype & Website	Assessment items
	Navigation
	Interface
	Collaborative Modeling

Who Are The Evaluators and Reviewers (p. 147)

Evaluator/EDTECH 512 Online Course Design Professor:

Youngkyn Baek has his Ph.D., Educational Foundations and Computer Based Instruction. He is a professor at Boise State University and teaches Online Course Design among other online classes.  Areas of Interest and Expertise: Game-based Learning, Instructional Mobile Game Design, Teaching and Learning in Virtual Worlds.

Evaluator/Designer/Instructor: Gillian Riley is an Instructional Technology Coach for SCCPSS. She holds an Education degree and has 7 years of classroom teaching experience. She is also a former Instructional Designer and is ¾ through the M.E.T program at Boise State University.

Expert Reviewer (instructional design, subject matter expert): Wendy Marshall is the Program Manager of the Instructional Technology Department of SCCPSS. She is the former director of the Educational Technology Training Center at Armstrong Atlantic State University.

Expert Reviewer (instructional design): Cris Higginbotham has her Ed.S. in Education and is an Instructional Technology Coach SCCPSS high school teachers.  She headed the adoption of Edmodo as a LMS for professional development and has developed the districts first online courses for teachers.

Expert Reviewer (subject matter): Stephen Routh is Science teacher in SCCPSS. He is partnering with the designer to test implementation logistics. Stephen is an avid user of Google Apps for Educators and is a leader of technology integration at his school and throughout the district.

Expert Reviewer (instructional design): Melissa Milligan is and Instructional Technology Coach at the middle and elementary level for SCCPSS. She has her Ed.S. in Education and is an online instructor.

Expert Reviewer (instructor): Caronia Shafer has 12 years teaching experience and is a professional development coach for SCCPSS. She has her Ed.S. in education and works with the designer as an instructional partner.

End-User Reviewer: Teachers who participate in both the face-2-face course and online version will be asked to give feedback on the course after each module. Learners from of the face-2-face version will have required attendance. Those accessing the content online will have chose to take the course. This should be noted as the responses from participants will be impacted based on how they came to take the course.

Evaluation Matrix Revisions (p.152)

Evaluation Criteria & Categories	Questions	Methods & Tools
Appeal
Goals	Are the goals relevant to the learner? Is there a clear connection between technology use and time management? Are the goals manageable for learners at varying levels technology proficiencies?	Observation Pre-assessment Pre-requisite survey
Content	Does the information directly address teachers’ daily duties? Is the information applicable immediately? How many people will application of the content impact?	End-user and expert reviews (SME) Observation Survey
Technology	Is the navigation intuitive? Are the materials easy to access? Is the course free of typos?	End-user and expert reviews (ID) Survey
Message Design	Is the course organization easy to understand? Do the videos, graphics, fonts, and colors have universal appeal? Is the course pitched at adult learners of varying age and skill level?	End-user and expert reviews (SME, ID) Survey

Efficiency
Goals	Are the goals stated clearly and concisely?	Expert review (SME, ID)
Content	Is the content appropriate for all teaching disciplines?	Expert review (SME, ID) End-user review Observation
Technology	Is the LMS/web structured properly? Is access to other learners or an instructor an option? Do technology applications outside the course design function easily and efficiently (Google & Weebly)?	Expert review (SME, ID) End-user review
Message Design	Does the information scaffold on prior skills? Is there a clear organizational pattern?	Expert review (SME, ID)

Effectiveness
Goals	How do the goals support best practice instructional strategies? How to the goals reprioritize teachers time?	Expert review (SME, ID)
Content	Will the information enable teachers to apply skills immediately or will additional practice be needed? Does the information reflect current instructional practices?	End-User and expert (SME, ID) review
Technology	Will the required WBI platform (Edmodo) support learners? Will there be access to an instructor or other learners?	Expert review (ID, instructor)
Message Design	Is the message design consistent with district instructional practices? Are the directions short and concise? Have screen shots been used according to district standards?	Expert review  (ID) Instructor review

Assignment 2:  Summative Assessment (p.163)

Guiding Questions—Evaluating Appeal Is there a change in appeal of face-2-face professional development vs. WBI? What benefits do participants sight as preference for WBI over face-2-face instruction? What challenges do participants sight a detractor for WBI vs. face-2-face instruction?
Data Source	Rationale & communication method	Time-frame
Survey participant perceptions	Evaluate the appeal of online professional development to present report to department head and board of education.	Face-2-face data collected Spring 2013. Online data collected Summer and Winter 2013.

Guiding Questions—Evaluating Efficiency Do learners find WBI more efficient than face-2-face instruction? Did learners feel their time was spent more efficiently in WBI or face-2-face course?
Data Source	Rationale & communication method	Time-frame
Survey participant perceptions	Evaluate the efficiency of online professional development to present report to department head and board of education.	After a face-2-face and online version have been offered (Winter 2013)

Guiding Questions—Evaluating Effectiveness Was there a difference in implementation rates between face-2-face participants vs. WBI participants?
Data Source	Rationale & communication method	Time-frame
ObservationInterview participants	Evaluate the efficiency of online professional development to present report to department head and board of education.	Conducted Spring 2014

Learning Task Map

LEARNER TASK MAP

Part 1: The learner task maps identifies the major steps participants will need to complete the activities outlined in this course. Click on the brainstorm image to see it full size.

Part 2:

Task-Objective Assessment Item Blueprint by Gillian Riley

Part II: Task Objective Assessment Item Blueprint

REVISION PROCESS

Laying the tasks helps the designer realize how just many steps are involved in each objective. Perhaps more importantly, misalignments become apparent. In constructing the Task Objective Blueprint, I could see how both my objectives and my activities were aligned. After spending a good amount of time with teachers, I realize they want something that’s applicable…tomorrow.

While the realization about what teachers want was heavy on my mind at the I set into design mode, the Task Objective Map helped me realize skills were embedded, but I wasn’t asking the most important questions: Why is this important to me? What benefit does this process produce for me and my students? How does the implementation effect my students or I long run? and If I do this, then what? The task objectives helped me extend my orignal activities to reach for more depth in the critical thinking process. In each course design, the Task-Objective Assessment Item Blueprint is the most helpful.

Project Analysis

PROBLEM ANALYSIS

When you ask teachers what they want more of, emphatically they answer TIME! Time to collaborate, plan, reflect, analyze data, and give feedback. These are fundamental to sound instructional processes.  Yet their time is often spent working in isolation, improvising, and using their bare hands to grade 100’s of assignments weekly. Public k-12 education has been one of the slowest industries to adopt time saving technologies and teachers are paying the price. Consider that even the auto mechanic leverages his time more effectively. Technology can automatically diagnose a car’s problem, identify needed parts, locate them, and place automatic orders. Repair shops use databased of information to preemptively market to their clients based on miles and make a BEFORE the repair is every needed.  Can you imagine such sophisticated and proactive data to educate our children?

While the similarities between cars and students are slim, what doesn’t change from the mechanic to the teacher is  one field the need to work smarter. Teachers will be the first to admit their attention and time is divided in 100 directions and rarely is the right amount spent on the design behind of the instruction. In conversations with teacher, they’ve said they need more time to:

1. grade & give feedback
2. get to know their students
3. plan
4. figure out how to engage students

SYMPTOMS

Digital tools have the ability eliminate  or reduce some of symptoms I see daily working with teachers as an Instructional Technology Coach. These symptoms include

• High stress levels
• Sense of isolation
• Bitterness toward professional development and other things that are not “A priorities.”
• Make it up as you go instruction
• Reinventing the wheel
• Lack of communication with students & parents
• Lack of engaged students

ROOT CAUSES

The root cause of this problem, is that the responsibilities of teachers huge and the number of hours in the day outside of instruction are limited. Time management is a popular training topic in corporations across the county, yet after 10 years in the education field, and after completing three education programs spanning 6 years, time management has never been addressed. Another cause is that teachers are challenged to manage their multiple daily responsibilities along with finding time to grow professionally. Taking their planning time for professional development is like robbing Paul to pay Mary.

In a recent professional development survey of 30 high school teacher 83% of staff said that an opportunity to exchange ideas with other teachers was very important.

Likewise, 87% said it was very important to be able to express concerns on school, classroom, or curriculum issues.

When asked how important it was to have time to learn to play with new technologies, only 67% said this was very important

My conclusion from this is that there ins’t a strong connection between time invested to learn new tools and the long term pay off of daily efficiency.

The evidence for creating a blended learning solution is slightly less conclusive because participants could select multiple options on this survey question. However, it does show that 37% prefer an online option, and 33% said a blended solution would be preferable.

.

That said, the rationale for creating a web-based course is two fold. The first is to differentiate professional development and to meet the needs of already overtaxed teachers at the high schools I work with. The second rationale is so the course can be offered virtually over the summer to teachers across the district to support them as they plan for the 2013-2014 school year. This solution will allow us to accommodate more users by offering more options.

GAPS ANALYSIS

ACTUAL SITUATION	GAP ANALYSIS	OPTIMAL SITUATION
GRADING & FEEDBACK	GRADING & FEEDBACK	GRADING & FEEDBACK
Grading and feedback is widely still done by hand. Teachers are often the only ones giving feedback on student work.	Class wide rapid assessment tools and data is inconstantly gathered and used to inform instructional decisions.	Rapid assessment tools are regularly implemented and used to drive instructional decisions. Students take a more active role in assessing each others work before it is submitted for teachers feedback.
KNOWING STUDENTS	KNOWING STUDENTS	KNOWING STUDENTS
High school teacher have reported it’s a difficult to get to know 120+ students.	Differentiated instruction cannot be implemented without prior knowledge about the students.	Teachers will implement tools that allow them to hear from and learn about their students regularly.
PLANNING	PLANNING	PLANNING
Teacher often plan in isolation and reinvent the wheel year after year.	No Virtual collaboration space is in place. Many teachers are unaware of the benefits of cloud-based storage solutions.	Teachers collaborate regularly with those in and outside of their school and use a cloud based solutions to keep track of lesson plans and teaching resources.
MAXIMIZE INSTRUCTIONAL TIME	MAXIMIZE INSTRUCTIONAL TIME	MAXIMIZE INSTRUCTIONAL TIME
Instructional time is not always maximized. GAPS analysis reported a lack of closings in lessons. Teacher report they often run out of time for closings.	Lessons may not be fully thought out and therefore specific goals may not be met. Time indicators are rarely utilized to keep lessons on track.	Daily instructions are clearly printed so students have direction and flexibility to move at their own pace. Teachers utilize tools like digital timers to ensure openings, work sessions, and closings stay within targeted timeframes.

INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL

At the end of instruction, teachers will be able to identify how technology tools can be used to streamline their duties in gathering assessment data,learning about their students, planning, maximizing instructional time, and creating authentic engagement  They will also be able to evaluate if these tools can be applied in their classroom. Further, they will have the skills needed to apply these tools if their learning environment permits.

LEARNER ANALYTICS

As an Instructional Technology Coach and former teacher in the district, the course designer has personal experience with the learners. This course will also be offered as a blended solution before it is offered online. The blended version is a pilot to be revised based on evaluations and complete rates before the online version goes live. The image below outlines what is known about the learners. Below is a link to a survey that will need to be conducted to answer the unknown, namely discovering disabilities and learner technical skills. Click the image to enlarge.

See the Prerequisite Survey.

EDTECH 512: Online Course Design

Time Management Tools for Teachers Designed by Gillian Riley

Web Based Instructional Design 

• Analysis & TOAB
• Evaluation Planning
• Concurrent Design
• Instructional & Motivation Strategies
• Story Board & Prototype
• Implementation
• Summative Evaluation

 

---

Final Products

• Overview
• Module 1: Cloud Collaboration
• Module 2: Teacher Websites for Planning
• Module 3: Gathering Data With Google Forms
• Module 4: Student Publishing with Digital Learning Logs

EDTECH’s 50 Must Read K-12 IT Blogs

I don’t think anyone would disagree there’s an overabundance of information to keep up with on the web, especially if your interest is the ever evolving field of EDTECH.  My favorite web tools are those that help us curate and manage content.  If you’re looking for a great place to get started, browse these high quality blogs.  My recommendation would be to pick no more than three and look for authors that cover different topics and those who publish on different dates.

EDTECH’s 50 Must Read K-12 IT Blogs 2012

 

Multimedia Integration In the Classroom

The following are a collection of videos to help teachers see what technology integration looks like in the classroom and how it is transforming the learning process. Please be aware the Ted Talk videos do not have a stop play button so you will need to exit out of the site when they finished.

What Technology Integration Looks Like In Elementary School

Meet the faculty at Forest Lake Elementary in Columbia, SC. Starting as techno- novices, they now use customizable software, interactive whiteboards, digital cameras, and more to tailor lessons to the individual needs of diverse students. To see more exciting reports from our Schools that Work series, please visit our website: http://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-south-carolina

What Technology Integration Looks Like in High School

The DNA of Learning: Teens Tackle Animal Poaching Through Genetics

Eleventh-grade biotechnology students use DNA barcoding to help save endangered African wildlife.

 

Twelfth grade students use Google docs to collaborate on a group science paper. They use scholarly research searches, power point, video and sound clips, blogs, and ScyncronEyes to broadcast to other students computer screens.

Technology Integration with Google Drive

Team Teaching: Two Teachers, Three Subjects, One Project

A pair of educators are sanguine about their art, biology, and multimedia program.

Teaching Kids Real Math With Computers

Conrad Wolfram who runs the mathematical lab and research division behind cutting-edge knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha make an argument teaching real world math in school and leaving computation to computers.

What Technology Integration Looks Like In the Abroad

The Child-Driven Education

Education scientist Sugata Mitra tackles one of the greatest problems of education — the best teachers and schools don’t exist where they’re needed most. In a series of real-life experiments from New Delhi to South Africa to Italy, he gave kids self-supervised access to the web and saw results that could revolutionize how we think about teaching.

Technology Innovation in Slums

Charles Leadbeater, a researcher with the think tank Demos in London, looks at effective education innovation in slums around the world.

What Could A One-to-One Education Look Like?

Electronic TextBooks
Envision electronic textbooks the way Apple sees them.

Technology Integration from CaseNEX on Vimeo.

The 100-Student Classroom

In the fall of 2011 Peter Norvig taught a class with Sebastian Thrun on artificial intelligence at Stanford attended by 175 students in situ — and over 100,000 via an interactive webcast. He shares what he learned about teaching to a global classroom.

Building Bridges with Parents

A Lake Forest Elementary parent demonstrates how technology is keeping her connected with her child’s learning.

What About Games In Education?
How Games Play into Educaiton

We’re bringing gameplay into more aspects of our lives, spending countless hours — and real money — exploring virtual worlds for imaginary treasures. Why? As Tom Chatfield shows, games are perfectly tuned to dole out rewards that engage the brain and keep us questing for more.

Sasha Barab on New-Media Engagement

A professor of learning sciences at Indiana University explains how new-media literacies are creating new opportunities for student participation.

Lesson Plan

This plan is meant to accompany the Building Bridges with Parents video.

View this document on Scribd

 

Instructional Design–Job Description

Course 503: Instructional Design

January 2012

Summary

E3 is a nonprofit with the mission of making exceptional learning opportunities available to K-12 students across the globe. We are looking for individuals with a blend of pedagogical wisdom and knowledge of development technologies that to bring online content to life.  The ideal candidate is experienced with k-12 curriculum, best practices, technology in school environments, design principles, and has a creative vision toward the future of e-learning.  This instructional designer will set innovative standards for a blended approach to delivery, including classroom learning, on-line learning, podcasts, interactive video, just-in-time learning and assessment tools.

 

What you’ll do:

• Work with our team to develop age appropriate learning materials sequenced to build on learners’ prior skills.
• Story-board new courses and review key design components including lesson designs, scripts, and final builds.
• Design the documentation that service as the knowledge structures for lessons level design document for
• Instructional writers, and specifications and core pieces of teacher supported materials
• Serve as a member of a product/project core team, providing leadership and support to the team to ensure instructional integrity and to meet business needs

What you’ll need:

• Bachelor’s degree in Instructional Design or closely related field (Advanced degree highly preferred)
• Three to five years of experience in the field of instructional design
• Portfolio link demonstrating engaging e-learning courses
• Excellent communication skills with strong presentation skills
• Experience in K-12 market
• Knowledge of and experience with educational technology in the school environment
• Experience with technology tools that aid design such as Articulate, Camtasia, Adobe Creative Suite, Captivate, Microsoft Office Suite and others

To be successful you should:

• Be enthusiastic to learn.
• Understand how people learn.
• Know how to make an emotional connection with an audience.
• Brainstorm innovative instructional strategies.
• Plan and communicate ideas about user interface, interactions, graphics and finished product.
• Write effective copy, instructional text, audio scripts and video scripts.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts and team members.
• Know the capabilities of e-Learning development tools and software.
• Understand related fields—usability and experience design, information design, communications and new technologies.
• Have a “Can Do” attitude.

Links for inspiration

1. Sr. Instructional Designer (T-Mobile)
2. Instructional Designer (Arizona State University)
3. Instructional Design (Relay Graduate School of Education)