Creating a Wiki?

Some advice that I would give to someone creating a wiki specifically for a class working synchronously:

Students must write their information in Word first – for better grammar, but especially for back-up.
Create separate designated pages for each student to work on – possibly name the pages with their name embedded to be changed out later – as the wiki creator, you may be the only one to have the page creation rights.
If you know multiple people will be working on the same pages at the same times, allocate time buffer zones that people may post – for example, if 4 people work on the same page, one may post between 4-6pm, another between 7-9pm, another between 10-12pm, and another between 6-8am.

There are always Revision histories, but having 15-30 students post on the same page at the same time DOES NOT WORK. Separate the tasks and times as best as you can.

I would actually recommend Google Docs or Microsoft One-note if you are networked and have that option. It depends on your final goal of the project.

Theories, assumptions, and philosophical traditions as benefits to the instructional designer

19 Dec

If instructional designers have a lens with which to view or to reflect on a design process it can help support their practice altogether. This lens can be the knowledge of foundational theories, assumptions, and philosophical traditions of instructional design. Christensen (2008) writes it “helps later [to have this knowledge] when it comes to designing the instruction, but also serves as a guide for deciding how to analyze the learning tasks or content and how to assess learning.”

Smith and Ragan (2005) explain these three reasons to reflect upon philosophy and theory as an instructional designer:

Theories are the sources of principles from which many of the prescriptions for design arise, and understanding of the base helps both the learning from the text and ability to engage in application in the field.
Writers in this field need to acknowledge their bases of conclusions and recommendations.
Theories allow designers to explain why they make the decisions they do.

These justifications are all well and good, but instructional designers would be wise to take heed to the advice of Rod Sims (2006) who states you should “assess the relevance of theories and frameworks informing the design and implementation of those environments.”

Examination of the examination is a pertinent component for instructional designers who focus on the lessons and courses, but who want to think about the big picture in doing so.

References

Christensen, T. K. (2008). The role of theory in instructional design: Some views of an ID practitioner. Performance Improvement , 47 (4), 25-32.

Sims, R. (2006). Beyond instructional design: Making learning design a reality. Journal of Learning Design , 1 (2), 1-7.

Smith, P. L., & Ragan, T. J. (2005). Instructional Design, Third Edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apologies and Explanation

12 Oct

Dear readers,

As you may or may not know, I have recently started a PhD about Instructional Design for Online Learning. This in itself is a full-time job, especially given that I am taking two courses at once, per quarter. Add to this the fact that I am also working at a new job in a new country.

But to top this all off, two days from now I will be having a new baby boy. His name will be Mickey Thomas (some Thai name) Johnson. He will be born here in Turkey, fifteen minutes from my home at an excellent hospital named Medicana. I am both nervous and excited.

With these new additions in life, my posting for the next three years will not follow the: “Attention, Proof and Strategy” format I have set out to do. It will however showcase and sometimes call for feedback about some of the assignments or thought processes I will be working on.

The theme, “Technology, Design and Education” will still be prevalent with my forthcoming posts, just the formatting will be different, be miscellaneous, be wacky and be wild.

I look forward to writing more and hope you understand my rationale for this (temporary?) change.

Sincerely,
Tom father-to-be Johnson