Instructional Design Defined & Fabulous, Relevant Resources!

                There was recently an interesting article posted on the IT Forum entitled Educating for an Instructional Design and Instructional Technology Future.  A portion of the paper defined the term “instructional designer”.  Some key components of the definition included that the instructional designer is one who creates education products, is responsible for the instructional components of education products, and is reflective about his/her work.  I think reflectivity is an important part of any job, but it is an absolutely essential part of an educator’s job.  How else will educators know what is or is not working?  Also, reflection is a way to be proactive in making needed changes.  The article discussed problem solving as a major component of instructional design and instructional technology.  While this may not necessarily be a well-developed skill for all educators, it shouldn’t be a new concept for any educator.  Much of this information reminded me of the Problem Solving Team/Response to Instruction movement that began this year in my school district.  Our focus is identifying instructional problems facing students who are struggling and developing instructional approaches (in the form of interventions) to overcome these issues.  Perhaps I have been unknowingly getting a dose of experience in instructional design!  As the Problem Solving Team/Response to Instruction continues to evolve during the school year, I will be interested to see how closely to process follows the process contained in the article.  I do believe that increased problem-solving skills will certainly serve to make my colleagues and I more effective educators.

                I continue to love the iLearn Technology blog because it provides so many resources that I can incorporate into my classroom.  Recently the author posted a link to Scholastic’s Study Jams.  This website has brief math and science video clips and songs about various topics.  There are also “test yourself” opportunities.  I can see these activities as being a great reinforcement in Math and a great way to incorporate Science.  Some of the topics even have a Karaoke component!  I know this website will be very engaging for my students!  The author of the blog suggested that this website would also make a good computer lab activity, and I agree.  However, I may have to make a “No Karaoke!” rule in the computer lab because that would probably be very distracting if everyone was singing at different times!  In a comment, the blog’s author referenced the blog where she learned about Study Jams.  The blog is called Bits and Pieces (2sparkley.edublogs.org).  I visited and scanned through the website and had to add it to my list of favorite places!  I am afraid I am going to need more hours in the day to explore all the resources contained within these blogs, but being a part of the IT online community has certainly proven to be an easy way to learn about useful resources that are just a click away.