Reflection at the end of the quarter

Just when you are getting used to it, the quarter is over.
Our classes packed a lot into a short amount of time!

This course confirmed my interest in pursuing this Educational Technology degree and highlighted the relevance of this field to my career. This program builds on my previous undergraduate study of user-centered design and analysis (Cornell University Dept. of Design and Environmental Analysis),  my user-centered experience as a public librarian and user education experience as an academic librarian and online instructor. The concepts of user-centered design, "universal design"and accessibility are familiar and it is so beneficial to learn methods to best apply them to design effective learning environments.

So much in the textbook is timely for me, not only as introduction to the theories, terminology and research of instructional technology, but as a guide for evaluating and selectively incorporating  tools and methods to facilitate learning.  This statement by the textbook authors echos statements of educators, academic librarians and educational administrators, "We need to take stock of the shifts technology and alternative perspectives on learning and pedagogy have engendered in how we think about, provide, and evaluate how we teach and learn." (p374)

Thank you Kimberly, for the great introduction and chance to practice using some of the high-level, user-friendly tools and techniques of instructional design. The projects for this class gave me a chance to try things I have been avoiding and help me feel more confident to try them again.

Wow - Week 9 Already.

Thinking about statements for my e-portfolio made me recognize that education and technology are integral to all aspects of academic libraries and academic librarianship.  That seems pretty obvious, but as I learn more about research in educational technology and assimilate the concepts of learning theories, I now have concepts and terminology to describe the connections and the beginnings of techniques to use.

This week's readings and discussion are timely and very relevant to my interest in this field of study: e-learning, learning objects, rich media, social networking tools and games.  I have practitioner experience with some of these tools and concepts, but learning about the definitions, theory and research related to these concepts broadens my perspective and helps me recognize the options and the rationale for advantages and disadvantages for learning.  As a 'novice' it is a lot to take in in one sitting, but I will definitely be coming back to these chapters. New to me concepts of special interest:
Seductive details, overload, transient nature and passive mode of video as compared to less complex graphics. Also, there is a lot of focus on learning styles, so it is very intriguing to learn about research that determined that the learner's level of prior knowledge is more of a determinant than their self-assessed 'learning style'.

The question about whether we are repeating history by jumping 'on the bandwagon' with new web 2.0 and "rich media" technology tools is a concern when viewed with the research on achievement of learning outcomes in mind.  I think the lack of success with most of the previous technologies that were seen as the "solution" is that little attention was paid to how the technology was integrated into the learning environment (e.g. just watching an 'educational TV' program without follow up discussion or assignments or assigning students to computer-based lessons and then moving on to other topics).  Our current 'miracle' tools could suffer the same fate if they are used just because we can and not because they are determined the best fit for the learning objectives.  Yes, many students would think it would be great to watch an animated video instead of PowerPoint notes with simpler graphics, but the 'evidence-based guidelines' indicate that sometimes simpler is better or that both could be used in an integrated design to reinforce the concepts.

For example, although the Lynda.com videos are great, I would not benefit as much from them if I couldn't see the actual Flash files, turn on the captioning during the video, review (and keyword search) the transcript and frequently rewind to repeat the steps when I am working on my own project.

Week 8 - The Learning Curve

My head is spinning. 
I am learning a lot and it is reassuring and also very challenging.

This week's readings helped me make a lot of background ideas more concrete with names and details about things we generally take for granted. For example, I had no idea that "help" screens are "performance support interventions" and that the concept is so relatively new. I also had no idea of the details of the types of knowledge that is included in "knowledge management".  I have always worked in settings that are part of larger organizations where learning the tacit and common knowledge are critical to success.

As a librarian, I work with all kinds of databases, but I never really understood how a knowledge management database would be constructed or what it would include.  The chapter helped me realize I was actually already doing it. Sharing tacit knowledge based on experience is extremely valuable for libraries.

In the "olden" days reference librarians used to keep card files of questions and answers or resource finding aides.
This photo is labelled "The Original Database"

Now, we maintain blogs and wikis to share and add to our common knowledge.  We post reminders or announce changes to explicit knowledge (policies and procedures), share tacit knowledge about recent or recurring questions or assignments.  This is of course much more efficient.  The search keyword improve access compared to the alphabetical order of the cards.

I am definitely a believer in informal learning and the just-in-time action learning that is vital to many workplaces.  Although I do know something about search techniques, it is often difficult to find the right information when you need it.  Googling it can be helpful, but often the search results are just other people asking the same question or the 'answer' is too complex.  The point in the chapter about the need for formalized development and maintenance of performance support and knowledge management systems is important and the need for multiple 'interventions' is also critical.  Sometimes you need actually ask someone who knows. 

This brings me to the challenging situation of trying to learn these new tools for class projects (and hopefully beyond). The Lynda.com videos provide an excellent overview of Flash.  But when you are trying to do something slightly different, there is often not enough detail to help you figure it out.  I am also struggling with the e-portfolio.  The WYSIWYG tools are not as easy to use to meet our specific purposes.

Challenge and some frustration are key elements of learning, "No pain, no gain". But it is a lot to learn in a short time.  I am used to learning just enough to be able to accomplish a task, but this time I am trying to learn in a more systematic way to be prepared for more complex applications later in the program.  I try to keep this philosophy in mind: 
        Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open. Thomas Dewar

Learning more about this profession

It was enlightening to learn more about the various professional organizations during the Google Hangout and from the textbook and organization websites.  I didn't know about any of these organizations before and I didn't expect such a variety in terms of size, range of activities and 'vibrancy'.  I plan to look into memberships.  In the past year, I have seen several job announcements for Instructional Design Librarians.  These positions are primarily focused on working with distance learning faculty and students but they are also needed to develop and maintain library websites and web-based services.

I was glad to see that school librarians (Teacher Librarians) are visible participants in several of the K-12 focused organizations.  Many of the activities of K-12 libraries are also relevant for community college libraries, but there are, of course, a lot of differences.  While browsing the organization websites, I was able to find a few articles in the professional journals related to instructional techology and college libraries.  For example, Library 2.0: The Changing Role of the Academic Library. By Katharine Hixson
Journal of Applied Learning Technology Spring 2011.
(abstract available online: http://www.salt.org/JALTtoc.asp?key=161354 )  

As CSULA students we can access some of these journal through the college library website, but some others are only available online without charge to members. 

I mentioned in a previous post that the class broadened my view of the value and wide range of Web 2.0 tools.  Just today,  I found an article in a Library trade journal on Reddit, the Web 2.0 tool I showed in our first online meeting.  
 
"We’ve Reddit, have you?: What librarians can learn from a site full of memes." By Beth Sanderson and Miriam Rigby.  College and Research Libraries News November 2013 74:518-521  Full Text  or Full Text (PDF)

A main teaching focus of academic libraries is to help students develop  "information literacy" skills, including evaluating information sources (e.g. credibility, bias), recognizing types of sources (e.g. primary sources, scholarly sources), and ethical use of information (e.g. attribution, citing sources, understanding plagiarism and copyright).  This article discusses the value of Reddit in encouraging users to develop these skills.  Redditors are encouraged by reddiquette and popularity "karma" points to do more than just re-post.  Popular posts are credible and well documented.   In these author's view it's not just about "crowd sourcing" but using the crowd to encourage sharing and online scholarship.

I appreciate that our courses are in Moodle so that we can see each other's work, share comments get help and reassurance. 

Learning Theories, Cognitive Dissonance, Facebook and Second Life

The group presentations were very enlightening in terms of seeing these theories in action and seeing the various ways the groups organized and presented their topics. In retrospect, I think our group focused more on content than concept, interaction and creativity.  It was good to see that less content and more activity can be very effective in conveying the content.  It also highlighted the overlaps and between the theories and concepts.

A couple of the presentations mentioned 'cognitive dissonance' or the gap between the learner and the new knowledge.  While some of the curriculum in the program seems related to our previous personal experiences or courses (e.g. some of the psychology, some of the technical tools), I am certainly experiencing cognitive dissonance while trying to learn Flash. It is frustrating to try to learn it so quickly (although my friend warned me about it), but it is also motivating to have these assignments to apply the techniques we are learning.

It was good to peek at Second Life.  I can see why this was such a popular activity.  It is pretty amazing to be able to create yourself and your own "graphic novel" environment and virtually meet others with similar interests.  Many libraries had (or maybe still have) islands on second life.  The idea was to bring the services to where the users are.  I am not sure how effective it was in terms of use (are people really thinking about their research/homework while in second life?) but it did help expand the concept of the library.  

Treats and Tricks

As I mentioned in my last post, many "treats" and creative tools are now available for instructional designers.  It is sort of like selecting which candy treat to choose on Halloween.  I really appreciate looking at and discussing these in class and the recommendations from classmates. 

We learned about several graphics tools in class that will make our work easier and more engaging to viewers. The "tricky" part is there are so many to choose from!  Especially if you are like me and have a hard time making that final decision.  Another trick is that some are free to use but may not be private, or may not be around for long, or may decide to start charging for use. 

The textbook is treating us to a a good summary of the range of "trends and issues"and an  introduction to practical details and critical background theories we will need to pursue instructional design.  I am looking forward to learning more in depth from the groups and as we proceed into the more detailed courses. 

Week 4 Random Reflections

I am glad we are taking these three courses together because what we learn in one, helps with the others.  It was helpful to learn the basic HTML  since we are also peeking at Action Script.   Also, it is helpful that we discuss image file types in multiple classes - that has always been confusing to me, but I think I now have a better idea of the plus and minus of gifs and jpgs. 

I think we are very fortunate to be taking these classes at this time!  As Kimberly discussed, there are still areas of incompatibility between hardware and software, but this is much less of a problem than even a few years ago!  The software tools we have to work with are very advanced compared to what was generally available in the recent past.  Of course this means that it is challenging for novices to learn these tools (e.g. Flash), but I am sure the effort will be well worth it. The Lynda.com and other videos are very helpful and a great resource.

It has been challenging for me to come up with project ideas Also my ideas seem to be too big for the assignment criteria and time frame and especially because my skill level is not yet up to my ideas. It is very helpful to see the examples from previous students, but it is also intimidating.