Analyzing Learners and Contexts

I understand the great importance of analyzing learners and contexts before attempting to design instruction. I have taught spur-of-the-moment lessons that have not gone as well as they could have, and have realized how helpful it would have been to think through "the characteristics of the learners, the contexts in which the instruction will be delivered, and the contexts in which the skills will eventually be used." (Dick and Carry, p.99)

I like how systematic the lists and sample tables provided by Dick and Carry allow designers to be. They guide me to focus on what is going to be most helpful in this type of analysis.

Learner Analysis:
Entry Behaviors
Prior Knowledge of Topic Area
Attitudes toward Content and Potential Delivery System
Academic Motivation - ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction)
Educational and Ability Levels
General Learning Preferences
Attitudes toward Training Organization
Group Characteristics

Performance Context Analysis:
Managerial or Supervisor Support
Physical Aspects of the Site
Social Aspects of the Site
Relevance of Skills to Workplace

Learning Context Analysis:
Compatibility of Site with Instructional Requirements
Adaptability of Site to Simulate Workplace
Adaptability for Delivery Approaches
Learning-Site Constraints Affecting Design and Delivery

The goal of analyzing these aspects of the target population and the performance and learning contexts is to make the instruction as effective and efficient as possible for the greatest number of learners in your target population. I wonder, after all this effort, how effective an instructional designer should expect his/her instruction to be. Dick and Carry state on page 100 that our goal is "to know which variables significantly affect the achievement of the group of learners we will instruct, since designers create instruction for groups of learners who have common characteristics." No matter what, no matter who is in that group of learners and how many common characteristics they have, not everyone is going to fit the mold we are designing. Does that mean instructional designers just plan on some of their targeted learners doing better than others with their design? Do designers just accept that fact and let it be? Can an instructional designer individualize instruction? Should they try?

Audio

How do teachers/instructors have time to explore all the audio tools available? How do they have time to investigate which tools are effective and which are not? I appreciated the list of ideas and suggestions given in the audio presentation. It helps to communicate with others who have explored and tried out tools to help you narrow down the field. Here are some of my favorite new audio sites/tools learned about in class:
•Firevox - plug-in from Firefox - reads texts to students from internet sites
•Audacity - audio editing - free dowload
•Podcasts - Story Telling, tone, expression, focus on content, “window” to the school for parents and community
•Web Links:
Radio Diaries
Room 208 (now 209) Podcasts

ADDIE

Things went well with our ADDIE project. ADDIE stands for:
Analysis
Design
Development
Implementation
Evaluation
I think I tend to overlook the Analysis step of this process because I have been teaching 6th grade students in an elementary school setting based on predetermined core objectives for 6 years now. I feel I should be applying this step of the process more even within my classroom based on the individual students in my class and their needs. This stage is vital in preparing instruction. It is difficult - impossible even? - to design "one size fits all" instruction. Analysis of your intended learners and context is definitely the starting point.

Let's get this show on the road!

I have been attending grad school in the IDET program for four weeks now, and I'm finally getting my blog going! But, don't worry I have been taking notes to post on my blog all along. So, here goes:

It seems that many concepts discussed in this class are things I have considered before, however now we are discussing them in more detail. Many concepts in the process of systematic design of instruction are things that good teachers do every day to some degree. I feel that it is good to review those concepts, and moreover to clearly define them. It helps instructional designers make sure they are focusing on important concepts and steps of the design process. I think often times teachers forget, skip, or rush through steps of the design process simply because they do not have an abundance of time. One benefit of taking classes on this subject is that you are forcing yourself to slow down, analyze each step, evaluate your success, and make important steps in effective instructional design more naturally and easily applied.

Some Definitions of Terms:
Education: system/process of teaching and learning
Instruction: how a concept is presented
Technology: “knowledge applied in a systematic way”
Design: “instructional architecture”
Educational technology: using multi-media to aide in achieving educational goals
Instructional technology: from the teacher’s point of view, techniques to help the teacher present information
Instructional Design: planning how best to teach concepts - effectiveness & efficiency
what is the need for the instruction? who are the learners?

Rough Draft

The rough draft of my new EDPS 6430 BLOG is due in one week!