In reading the chapter for this week about Instructional Design and P-12 Technology Integration, I learned that there are three types of ID development – System ID, Product ID and Classroom Development. I always thought these fell under the umbrella term of instructional design/technology. These three terms are still a bit foggy as to how they are distinguished, but it makes sense to have several branches of ID. There are so many different parts to ID; of course it would need to be divided in order to accomplish the many goals of ID.
In addition to the three types of ID, I learned more about two integration models. The ASSURE model seems to be set up very much like other lessons. The NTeQ model gave me some questions. NTeQ is a model that likes to use authentic, real-world data, not simply simulation data. The goal of NTeQ is for students to learn the necessary objectives and as a tool for solving problems. It involves a 10 step lesson plan which has some great parts but when is there time to complete a lesson plan that extensive? Going along with that, and maybe I should have asked this first, are these lessons already prepared for the teacher?
The chapter went on to discuss Michigan’s Freedom to Learn initiative, which provided 20,000 laptops to middle school students and teachers. The short paragraph about this initiative left me with many more questions. Where in Michigan was this initiative implemented? When the district hired new teachers, were they given the same training as the previous teachers? Were they trained in how to effectively implement the use of these laptops?
Even with all of the initiatives to help teachers integrate technology into the classroom, researchers noticed that gains on state tests were inconsistent. One possible reason given for this was the use of low-level and high-level tasks on the computers. What do those high-level tasks look like? Am I using the lab effectively?
It was very interesting to read about the different types of ID and the different models used to try to help integrate technology into the classroom. However, even with all of this work, I was not surprised to read, “Education is ranked as the least technology-intensive enterprise among fifty-five U.S. industry sectors.” One reason given for this fact is the availability and access to computers and resources. That would have been the first reason I would have come up with. I don’t want this to sound like I am complaining because I know it could be worse, but I have 17 students and two computers. We go to the lab one day a week. We do have a laptop cart and are able to sign up for more lab time when it is available, but even there we have several computers that are not working properly. Plus, our software is outdated. Thus, availability is quite an issue. Furthermore, in thinking about the other technology available to us, I discovered that most of the technology available in my district is provided for teachers. Teachers are provided laptops, a document camera, projector, iPad2, DVD and VHS players. All of these are useful tools for the teacher to use when presenting information, however, it is not providing students an opportunity to USE the technology. They see us use it, but they don’t get the physical practice of using the tools.
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