Creative Contribution

50 Shades of Achromatic Grey

50 Shades of Achromatic Grey is an instructional website that I created for my creative contribution. I understand that is may be “different”, however, this project stems from my blog “Weaving Technology with Education”. Before we jump to it, let us cover a little background.

Distance Learning

Instructional technology is a blend between education, psychology, and technology. It is used to solve problems in education or at least provide more efficient ways to enhance the education of the students. Distance learning is becoming more and more popular as students are seeking non-traditional paths, states Richard Smith from Almeda University. Many people are looking for the flexibility that online courses provide. Learning a topic or course over the internet has its challenges and any course is only as good as the content being presented. Instructional designers step in to help the organization providing the course to develop content that would be beneficial to the organization and the students.

Demographics

Developing course content can be a difficult task, but you must have an idea of how the students taking this course learn. Do they learn best by watching videos? If so, include a few videos in the content. Do they learn best by “doing”? If so, give them a hands-on task or even a quiz to complete. Demographics would tell you lot about the students and would provide the designer a place to start. The age and average reading level of the students will make a big difference as it will determine the simplicity or complexity of how the subject is presented. The audience must always be considered when creating course content.

Websites

There may be websites that are relevant to the course and to your audience. Take those websites into consideration and getting permission to use some of the content may prove to be beneficial. In the digital age, people are turning to websites and videos to teach them a skill or solve a problem; therefore, more people are learning how to create websites for that purpose. Knowing a little about HTML and CSS will take people further in this digital age. In “Writing for Digital Media”, Brian Carroll states, “[c]omputer programming codes like HTML… and CSS are the principal languages of the Web” (44) and I agree. Many websites are not created by instructional designers, however, the main concept that a designer focuses on is learning. Therefore, if the average Joe creates a website or a video that teaches a concept to the audience, then he reached the same goals as the designer.

The Importance of Shading

As I mentioned, people are using the internet to learn and teach all sorts of things from anywhere in the world and I want to jump on the bandwagon. For my creative contribution I wanted to embody an instructional designer and create an instructional website.  Carroll mentions that “web writers should know the basics of creating websites in order to ensure what the writers see on the screen” (44) so I tried my hand at writing for the web on my own website. There are so many people looking to the internet to learn with distance learning, online libraries, instructional websites, and videos. I figured I would add one more to the bunch.

50 Shadesof Achromatic Grey was designed as if it is a working website for a company that teaches people the importance of shading in drawing. The company would accept feedback and requests from their fans about what to add to the website such as tutorials. I have also included a quiz to get you involved, but you will need your own pen and paper.

The Importance of Instructional Designers

Instructional Design is a profession that combines psychology, education, and technology into one field. The ultimate goal is to improve instruction through research, evaluation, and application of learning theories. The importance of instructional design lies in the fact that this field changes constantly as new theories and technologies are developed. The traditional approach to education is outdated and nearly as obsolete as floppy disks. The times are changing, and instructional design is changing as well.

Instructional designers teach the teachers how to integrate technology into their classroom. Technology is not everything and an instructional designer's focus will remain on instruction and how well students are learning the presented information.

So where do instructional designers work? Instructional designers may work in the private sector for training of employees, or in the K-12 and higher learning education systems. Instructional designers working in K-12 schools are generally referred to as Media Specialists. For instructional designers in higher education, the focus shifts to e-learning and developing courses. Instructional designers are utilized everywhere and the field continues to grow.

Dave Stein states that "[t]he instructional designer provides a blueprint that serves as the foundation for a successful training program. You wouldn't build a house without an architect, so why would you design your training program without a designer?". Instructional designers are hired more and more each day as times are changing. Will you choose to make a difference in education?

What is Your Gregorc Learning Style?

There are many theories on how people learn. I relate to Dr. Anthony Gregorc’s model of learning styles.  In "The Way They Learn", Cynthia Tobias explains that according the Gregorc, the way in which we view the world is our perception, either concrete or abstract, and the way we use the information that we perceive is our ordering, either sequential or random (18). When you put everything together, the four combinations are:

• Concrete Sequential (CS)
• Abstract Sequential (AS)
• Concrete Random (CR)
• Abstract Random (AR)

Everyone will have a dominant learning style with a few common traits of any of the other learning styles. So which are you? Visit "Check Your Personal Thinking Style" and take the test to determine your dominant learning style.

Students who “are” dominant CS are typically well-organized, dependable, and detail-oriented, though, they are perfectionists and impatient as well. They expect others to be consistent, to follow the rules, to give specific directions, and to take responsibility for their actions (Tobias 30).

Students who “are” dominant AS are able to conceptualize ideas and must analyze a situation before making a decision, however, they may show a lack of friendliness or interest in others and are highly opinionated. They expect others to use logic and reason, be deliberate, and to keep issues factual (Tobias 38).

Students who “are” dominant AR are spontaneous and they understand how others feel, nevertheless, they are unpredictable and overly sensitive to criticism. They expect people to let them know where they stand through feedback, to not put them in the middle of conflict, and to show appreciation (Tobias 44-45).

Students who “are” dominant CR are independent, intuitive, and creative, yet, they are also impulsive and stubborn. They expect others to be flexible, tell them what they did right instead of wrong, and to point them in the right direction then leave them alone (Tobias 54).

What is your dominant learning style?  I am a dominant concrete sequential learner and I do not do well with vague instructions. I need to know exactly what I need to do. I understand this may be similar to hand-holding; however, I do what I can to try to read between the lines when necessary. Be very aware of the negative perceptions of your dominant learning style as they are your weaknesses. Figure out a way or get help to overcome these shortcomings if they are damaging to your education. Did you learn anything about yourself?

Should Technology Force Teachers to Change Their Teaching Style?

Technology has impacted many things such as how people communicate, travel, practice medicine, learn, and teach. Many innovations give professionals a way to do things more efficiently; therefore, new training is required. In order to learn, a person must be taught. In order to teach, teachers have to understand how people learn in this day and age and that may include technology or social media. If technology is changing the way students learn, then it stands to reason that the way students are taught changes or should change as well.

Take a look at how a couple of theorists perceive learning and how a teacher could implement the principles.

Seymour Papert, an educational technologist, believes that “technology should help children experience knowledge and construct meanings” (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 30), and created constructivist software using this ideal.  A teacher would offer opportunities for children to develop ideas through experience while using technology to support those experiences. In this particular case, the use of any source of media is advantageous. However, many teachers are resistant to change and may not want to use technology in their classrooms. Methods that were effective when the teacher was growing up may not be as effective today.

“If they can't learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn” -O. Ivar Lovaas

Jean Piaget, a developmental theorist, identified the key developmental stages that may affect learning. Teachers should “be aware of the students’ developmental stage when presenting content” (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 30). Just as coursework is based on the class and developmental stage of the students, the content presented with technology should be reciprocal. The use of technology should coincide with the physical development of the child when necessary. A child’s hand-eye coordination and dexterity should be considered as it may affect how a student uses the source of technology.

As technology advances, so should teaching methods. The world is changing and who can create the future leaders of today while using outdated methods of the past? Some teachers need to step up to the plate or out of the box and learn how to implement the simplest use of technology or media in their classroom. There is only one way to find out how effective it can be by adding technology to the classroom.

“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most important.”  -Bill Gates

What is Instructional Technology

What is instructional technology? Many people may think that instructional designers create instruction booklets or manuals and this is not true. Currently, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) defines instructional technology as “the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management and evaluation of processes and resources for learning". Many of the resources used are different types of media such as videos or computer programs. Instructional designers must understand how people learn and what technology can do in a given situation in order to help teach a lesson or support a learner. Although technology plays an important part in instructional technology, one must remember that technology is only a tool and you must learn how to use it effectively.


 “Any teacher that can be replaced with a computer, deserves to be.” - David Thornburg