Original Activity
Connect Assigment
Students, has there been a time in your life that you have accomplished your goals. How did you do it? What was your motivation? What did it take for you to succeed? We have all used different strategies and organizational tools in order to accomplish a particular goal. Today’s assignment is to share with the class what tools and strategies did you use and how did it help you accomplish your goal then. Also, how can you use these same strategies and ones learned in class to help accomplish your educational and career goals today? Be creative! You can submit a blog, YouTube video, poster, word document, PowerPoint Presentation, or any other creative forms of communication. I am looking forward to see what you have created. Please use the link below to see my YouTube video.
Revised Activity
Success in the classroom comes by making clear plans, goals, and following through to the end. For each student the reason for going back to school may be different, but the process is still the same. Organization and planning is the key to attaining your set goal. Take time to reflect on why you have decided to go back to school. Once your motivation is clear complete the following assignment.
Choose a time when you have accomplished a goal. It can be personal, educational, or professional. What steps did you take to accomplish the goal? What was your motivation? How did you succeed? We have all used different strategies and organizational tools in order to accomplish a particular goal. Today’s assignment is to share with the class what tools and strategies did you use and how did it help you accomplish your goal. Also, how can you use these same strategies and ones learned in class to help accomplish your educational and career goals. Be creative! You can submit a blog (to write about your experience, YouTube video (to record yourself telling us about your experience), poster (to give written and graphic details about your experience), word document (to write a description of your experience), PowerPoint Presentation (to given written and graphic details of your experience with slides), or any other creative forms of communication. I am looking forward to see what you have created. Please use the link below to see my YouTube video.
When designing instruction supporting the needs of all students is imperative. Program Learning Outcome 3 in the MATLT program is to “design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the needs of all learners”. After considering this outcome and reflecting on the past weeks required reading and interaction appropriate changes were made to a previous course assignment. During the redesign a few design and implementation challenges were experienced, but resolutions were found.
Designing curriculum to support the
needs of all learners is not just good practice, but effective instructional
design. The masses benefit from curriculum that is adapted to meet special
needs of a few (Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2003, p.7). Designing curriculum
needs to be done with the student in mind. How students learn, are motivated
and perceive teaching and learning should be taken into consideration (Felder
&, Brent, 2005, p.57). Another aspect of instructional design to take into
consideration is Gardner’s multiple intelligence, a revolutionary view of
learning validating the diverse ways students learn and perceive knowledge
(Feng-Mei, 2014, p.12). It is apparent from Gardner’s multiple intelligence,
and countless of other theorist, that the traditional sender receiver
passive learning style is not affective.
In order to be effective instruction needs to be designed
for multiple learning types. With the use of technology creating effective
instruction for all is realistic and possibly, easily attainable. With the use
of technology an instructor can create audio files to supplement written
instruction, embed relevant videos throughout files, and give students
countless options for learning and assessment activities. In today’s classroom
it is possible to make changes within the curriculum, with the use of
technology, to accommodate the needs of all students within the classroom. In
an online or hybrid classroom this reality is even easier to attain because of
the technology centered, independent nature of these classes.
One of the biggest changes made in the assignment is
acknowledging that students will have different motivations for getting an
education and clearly explaining how these motivations can be used to achieve
educational goals. During the process of reviewing the activity it was clear
that many of the teaching strategies were already in place. Students were given
multiple options of ways to complete the assignment. Students received written
and verbal instruction, which was beneficial for multiple learning modalities.
An example of the activity was demonstrated for the students, helping students
who may need extra direction. Yet, after reading “Understanding Student
Differences” (Felder & Brent, 2005) it was evident that a critical element
was missing from my activity, the motivation factor. The activity focused on
helping students succeed in the independent, self-motivated environment that
online learning is made of.
The first changes came by acknowledging students
different motivations for learning. Secondly, and just as importantly, students
were given the opportunity to reflect on their motivations for learning. This
second step incorporates the purpose of the activity which is to have students
connect succeeding in an online learning environment with success in the past.
Students acknowledge past motivations and success strategies with the hope to
utilize these same strategies to be successful in an online university.
After further review it was apparent that further
direction was also needed explaining the purpose and use of alternative
technologies for completing the activity. The use of technology in the
classroom should have a clear, direct purpose. The initial activity gave
students multiple ways to complete their assignment, but gave no direction on
the purpose of using these technologies. The revision made was a clear
description on the purpose of using the given technology for completing the
assignment.
In making the necessary changes the most challenging
component was choosing an appropriate assignment to revise. After careful
consideration, an activity was chosen that had elements of good instructional
design that could use a few improvements for optimal effectiveness. The next
challenge came from choosing what changes would be beneficial to the activity
and potential students. Overcoming this challenge was done by reviewing week 2
reading, discussion post of peers, and reflecting on past courses and
assignments.
Great instructional design is done when it takes into
consideration the needs of all students. In the MATLT program students are
expected to learn how to apply technology- enhanced instructional strategies to
support learning needs of all students. Through the week, and program, special
attention has been given on effective instruction for all students. With this
in mind necessary changes were made to a previous course assignment, making the
assignment accessible and effective for more students. Throughout the process
of making these changes there were challenges in the design and implementation
process. Thankfully, there were clear solutions for every challenge.
References
Fang-Mei, T. (2014).
Exploring Multiple Intelligences. Journal Of Human Resources & Adult Learning, 10(1), 11. Retrieved from
Proquest. http://search.proquest.com.proxy- library.ashford.edu/docview/1554975773
Felder, R. M., &
Brent, R. (2005). Understanding student differences. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 57-72. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Understanding_Differen ces.pdf
Hall, T., Strangman,
N., & Meyer, A. (2003). Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation. Wakefield, MA:
National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum.
Retrieved from http://aim.cast.org/sites/aim.cast.org/files/DI_UDL.1.14.11.pdf
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