Photo sharing and Instructional Design

I put a few photos on flickr.com. While it was easy and fund to put pictures on a photo sharing page, I have trouble thinking of educational purposes. I suppose one could share photos of historical sites for social studies or pictures of animals, rocks, or habitats for science projects so students can have a closer look at those things, but other than that, I personally do not see a whole lot of educational value in photo sharing. I also guess that a teacher could have a photo sharing page showing students' work and show different things that go on in a class, kind of like a portfolio.

I think the biggest problem with photo sharing is that students would not use them for educational purposes, if that. They might put up photos that are not school appropriate, which can be a problem. This is where careful monitoring has to take place. A teacher can ask each student for the photo sharing web page so the teacher can look at it to see if the students are following directions As I write this, I thought of another issue that could come up, especially if a teacher teachers students of lower SES backgrouds. Photo sharing requires the use of digitial cameras. Many people of lower SES do not have one since they maybe cannot afford one. Granted some have cell phones in which they can take pictures on. If those can be loaded on, that might be an alternative if done outside of school since phones cannot be used in most schools. But maybe a photography or journalism teacher can provide a few to use if students are responsible with them and maybe work in groups to share the cameras.


As for Instructional Design, I read about the acronymn ADDIE. The charactersitic of ADDIE reflect on what lessons should be. Teaching should focus on the learners with proper objectives and goals, apply to the "real world" in some way to make it relevant, focus on outcomes that can be measured, should use data, and perhaps use some type of additional support whether it be another teacher or paraprofessional.

ADDIE also reflects on how lessons should be carried out. First, we need to analyze any pretests or evaluations or test scores to find out what to teach our students. From there, we design the lesson plans with proper objectives that can be measured in some way. The lessons are further developed and then implemented or taught. Students are given an assessment that reflects upon the objectives and the teacher evaluates the assessments and makes revisions to the lesson and interventions if needed.

If anyone is in SPED, they have learned about Curriculum Based Measurements (CBMs). The CBMs reflect beautifully the ADDIE model. Let's take reading for example. First a student's level is found out through reading passages in a grade level, then going back until the level is found. This is analysis because it is determining what to teach your student. Once the level is determined, the goals are designed. The goals for CBMs have to be measureable. A goal could be that Johnny will increase reading fluency from 15 words a minute to 25 words a minutes. This goal can be easily measure by simply counting the number of correct words in a minute. The intervention is then develop, depending on student need and interests. I did CBMs with a student last year who had trouble decoding words and such. I did repeated and echo readings about snakes, since he had a huge interest in them. Once the intervention is planned, it can be carried out. Then the student can be assessed. For my SPED class last year, I had to do the CBMs twice a week with at least 13 assessments. My assessments were in the form of reading word lists for my student. He had to get so many correct in 1 mintue and the numbers were recorded on data tables and put on a graph to show progress. There is a rule with CBMs. We as teachers must draw a goal line from the starting point to projected goal. If the student falls below the goal line 3 times in a row, then the intervention must be changed. If the student goes above the line, then the goal is adjusted. That reflects the last step of evaluations and depending on results, interventions or goals are revised as needed.