reflections, with two weeks to go.

So, in the final weeks of the ID class, we’re reflecting on what we’ve learned and thought about throughout the course.

Fortunately, for me, I didn't have a clear picture of instructional design before I started this course. I knew it probably had to do with designing curriculum and probably a correlating presentational scheme. Beyond that I had no idea; I had plenty of room to grow. I've found the framework of the course to be useful, the “ID Power Train” includes useful tools, I've gotten a better idea of educational theory, and I've learned about concepts that help with instructional design. So this course has created a foundational image of ID for me, on which I can, hopefully, build.

I was expecting more about theory and less about specifics (such as "how to incorporate a specific technology into a curriculum" etc.). Until the “ID Power Train” the material fit that expectation (which was great... exactly what I expect graduate education to be). Once we started with the “ID Power Train” I felt that the course was much more like undergraduate courses, filled with specifics that might change in light of new research. I do think the “ID Power Train” is useful, but I also missed the theory we were talking about earlier on. On a side note: I felt that the theory could be applied across the spectrum. It doesn’t matter if you’re working with K-12 kids or college students, teaching math or information literacy, brain research or postmodern criticisms can apply. Once we got down to the nitty-gritty of the “ID Power Train” and specific projects, I felt much more disconnected from my classmates… we were all working on such different topics. (I don’t think this was all bad. Though there was a disconnect, there were still elements in common—remember this paper is a cloud?—it just took a lot more work to find the similarities.)

My work situation continues to add opportunities to use the instructional design concepts for instruction. Currently I'm (essentially) a TA for one section of LIB 100 at Wake Forest University. Next fall I'll be co-teaching with a coach in the room. Hopefully, after that, I'll be co-teaching just like the rest of the instructors. There will be increasing opportunities to use instructional design ideas in the courses I'm involved with. I've picked up several things I'd love to incorporate, too (such as pretesting).

I plan to continue to read up on information literacy, which will give me the librarians’ perspective, but I also know that I will want to keep up with instructional design as an independent field. My gut is that I will look in journals and read relevant articles, but I’d like to also attend training sessions at conferences, etc.

I think, at this point anyway, I need to be able to use instructional design in a more regular way. It will be useful to me to be teaching, because that will help me really learn what we've discussed and the course reading. However, I'm sure that actually using instructional design on a regular basis will just raise more questions.

(Oh, and I'm a postmodernist in most ways. Though I like the “ID Power Train” in some ways, and I like that it forces me to focus on tangible skills, I also am too confluent to love it, so there will always be a little pomo in me.)