After reading all three chapters that have to do with instructional design, I have found two major themes.
The first theme is groupwork or teamwork. The following quotes support this theme:
"Large-scale projects typically require a team approach...However teams themselves will vary depending on the type of organization and the complexity of the project." -Chapter 18, pgs. 176-177
"The GSTE calls for forming a Core Team or "Starter Team" of about five to seven key opinion leaders from all the major stakeholder groups, establishing a culture and understanding of systemic change, and expanding into the Leadership Team." - Chapter 21, pg. 217
Chapter 22 provides two good charts on pages 225-226 on organizing people in groups according to specialty.
The quotes and charts provided me with strong evidence that teamwork is a crucial element of instructional design. Team members must work together to achieve school goals such as implementing curriculum, raising test scores, and improving student behavior. Schools can take make a Starter Team that consists of a school board member, a principal, a PTA leader, and superintendent to help to meet the needs of all children who go to that district. I know from personal experiences that schools often have a multidisciplinary team when a child is referred for special education services. That is because there are so many areas of expertise. For special education, there is usually a school psychologist, social worker, special education teacher, general education teacher, parents, sometimes doctors, or other types of staff depending on the needs of the student. They get together to discuss goals and objectives for their student's IEP. That is one example I can think of as far as teamwork in a professional school setting. Teams that exist in our school is the crisis prevention team as well as administration. We all work together to ensure our students are getting their best.
The second major theme I got from all three chapters is the concept of problem solving. The following quotes best support this concept.
"Many instructional designers are tackling the problems associated with reducing design cycle time. Some seek to modify the design process itself." - Chapter 18,
pg. 179
"Step-up-to-Excellence (SUTE) is a process methodology designed to help change leaders in school districts create and sustain whole-district improvement." - Chapter 21, pg. 213
The diagram shows the steps to SUTE on page 214, which seems to focus on problem solving since they are trying to redesign the way things are done and performance to improve schools.
"Part of my role is to facilitate the development of learning and teaching strategies and introduce faculty to the distance learning production process." - Chapter 22, pg. 224
That last quote solves the problem of the lack of experience that faculty has in distance learning.
Problem-solving skills are very important in the educational system today. Without those skills, we would not have learning take place. We are always trying to figure how to raise test scores, improve behavior, or use the proper interventions to align with students' needs.
We need to as professionals always seek ways to improve on the performance of us as well as our students. This can be only done, however, in collaboration with other professionals. It is a job that we cannot do alone. Everyone must play their part on the team of education.
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3 comments:
What a thorough response this week... you're supporting "evidence" (quotes from the text) really highlights the two themes you found to be evident across the three chapters (18, 21, and 22); teamwork/groupwork and problem solving. Well explained. I also liked that you noted that problem solving for the betterment of students' experiences is not the only goal, but rather, that problem solving for the betterment of ourselves, as instructors, should also be a key component.
Great response. Very thorough and well supported responses. I think you supported your opinions using supporting evidence from the reading. The only thing I am not sure about is near the end (last paragraph). I totally agree that as educators, we need to seek to improve our performance as well as the performance of our students, and often times this is overlooked. I am not sure that the only way that this can be done is in collaboration with other professionals. I agree that we need to have efficient teamwork skills, and that we need to collaborate with colleagues. However, there can be some self-improvement, and many times the best improvements I've made, I have found alone. Where you are correct is that many people can not be true to themselves and find their own improvement needs, which is where a team can be beneficial. It all depends on the individual.
Great reflection this week!
Joy
I will have to agree with the thoroughness of your response and clear understanding of what you've read.
Now, onto the next step, of getting all the professionals to 'collaborate' and have a true understanding of what it is exactly, that we are all here for!
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