Reflection
These are my thoughts on meeting the learning outcomes of the Masters Instructional Design and Technology program. I can confidently say that the learning experience has been a meaningful one, and one that has helped me stay true to the 'Adapt, Innovate and Apply' principle that has informed my journey as an educator and instructional designer.
01
Apply learning theories and sound pedagogical practices to instructional design and development process
As an educator, the importance of the application learning theories and pedagogical practices to the instructional design and development process has always been foremost in my mind. However, my teaching experience has been limited to in-class instruction. The Masters IDT program introduced me to non-traditional and blended learning environments, which demand a different approach to the instructional design and development process. This has been a process of sometimes unlearning, learning, and relearning for me, where I have had to unlearn some of the ideas and strategies and relearn new ones to design effective and meaningful learning experiences according to learner and learning contexts. The Learning Sciences and Technology course, while it refreshed my knowledge of learning theories and pedagogical practices, gave me several opportunities to apply them to various contexts and learning problems. This was a valuable experience in learning problem analysis, learner needs and context analysis and coming up with a viable and feasible solution. The Grounded Design activities, both the group collaboration activity that required us to apply a particular combination of learning and instructional theory to a learning problem scenario, as well as the Final Project where I had to examine a learning problem and design an instructional method/curriculum to address that learning gap, were invaluable in making me think critically about each and every design element and choose the best suited methods and strategies. This also helped me in future projects that I created like the asynchronous learning course and the instructional design model.
02
Apply a systematic process to design instructional strategies that meet identified learning contexts and needs
One valuable takeaway for me from this program is that instructional design and development is extremely process oriented. Through the program I learned about the importance of following a clear and systematic process to develop effective and meaningful instructional strategies. The Instructional Design Theory course introduced several instructional design models, like ADDIE, Dick & Carey, Kemp Design, to name a few. The Learning Sciences and Technology and the Design of Online Blended Learning introduced Situated Cognition, Cognitive Apprenticeship, ARCS, all of which stresses the importance of a systematic process of analysis, development, application, and revision to design learning experiences that would affectively address the identified learning need and/or gaps. This helped me design my artifacts like the asynchronous learning course on Romeo and Juliet, the UDL lesson, and the Instructional Design Model to teach Web Literacy skills.
03
Create authentic, technology-mediated learning experiences
One of my biggest areas of self-doubt as I entered the Masters IDT program was around my ability to be proficient at technology that drives so much of the learning today. I have always considered myself “technologically challenged”, so this was one area which worried me the most. The program forced me to address my fears head on. I will admit to the learning curves being steep sometimes, especially in the Game Design course that I took in my very first semester (that course was perhaps the most challenging for me). After the initial hiccups, I was able to gain more confidence as I interacted and played around with various tools and learnt basic coding. I am especially proud of the game that I created with my group on Minecraft for the final project. Another course in the program that introduced me to educational tools and programs was the Teaching with Technology course, especially the Tools Showcase assignments where we had to evaluate and present several tools like Canva, Kaltura, Edpuzzle, etc. I was able to use several of them when I designed my artifacts. The Multimedia Studio course provided me with opportunities to design and create multimedia products like posters, videos, and animation to deliver rich, technology-mediated learning experiences. I am over my inhibitions of interacting with technology and actually actively research current tools that I might learn.
Solar Eclipse Animation Video for Multimedia Studio
04
Evaluate learning technologies and strategies using a variety of methods
The Masters Project required us to conduct an evaluation of one learning artifact that we designed during the program. I chose the asynchronous learning course on Romeo and Juliet. This evaluation enable me to apply evaluation methods learned in the Instructional Design Theory course and gave me an opportunity to experience what an evaluation process. Formative evaluation methods which included evaluation tools like questionnaires. focus groups, enabled me to design and conduct a structured and reliable evaluation plan that provided valuable feedback on the feasibility and effectiveness of the artifact. Learning how to evaluate learning technologies and strategies also enabled me to make revisions to improve the quality of pre-existing lessons and learning materials, for instance the blended learning lesson plan on the structural differences between poetry, prose and drama that I revised for the UDL course.
05
Analyze current research and emerging trends in the area of learning technologies
An instructional designer needs to keep updated on current research and emerging trends to design meaningful learning experiences. One such learning for me was the Game Design course. I had not looked at games, educational or otherwise, as effective, immersive learning environments. The Game Design course changed my perspective and it also provided me opportunities to research educational game theory. This changed perspective is also what prompted me to choose educational games as the subject of an online textbook page for the final project for the Teaching with Technology course. This project had me analyzing emerging trend and current research especially of the impact of online educational games on critical thinking skills, communication and collaboration skills, motivation and engagement.
