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Learning Specialist/Instructional Designer


Choosing a Problem:

In the beginning of my course on instructional design, I struggled a bit to figure out a problem to propose a solution to. I was thinking more broad in terms of what issues could be solved with technology within the whole school. Being a newer teacher, I think I will have more knowledge of this after more time at Marquardt Middle School. So to make things easier and more applicable to my teaching, I thought about issues on a smaller scale. After adopting a new science curriculum this past year, the science department came up with the goal to better differentiate assessments for students. The assessments presented in our curriculum are wordy, application problems. Many students in our district are not reading at grade level or have accommodations that need to be met. Assessments became a clear issue after students took the very first test. Throughout the year, I tried my best to modify tests by rewriting the online tests by hand, figuring out how to format them in word, and printing them out using a limited amount of copy money. Students taking the modified version would also require me to read it to them, so the students receiving the modified version slowly became evident to others.

Towards the end of the school year, I came across Otus as a resource that would be an easier way to modify tests, while also not making obvious which students were taking the modified version. I am excited to try this out next year because Otus has so many great features. It provides different question banks for creating assessments, reads the tests to students, has different question types, visuals can be uploaded, text can be highlighted or made bold, and assessment data can be easily accessed for teacher and student review. I think this will be much easier for me to meet accommodations and have a better idea of where each student is at. It is also going to help kids see their progress as they move through each unit.

Educational Technology to Improve Educator Efficiency | Otus
Source: Otus

Positives and Negatives:

As I reflect on my proposal, the most glaring negative is that I cannot try Otus out until next year with students. Due to the current pandemic, I have to do research and try to put myself in a students shoes as I create an example assessment. I can also use my knowledge of past students and accommodations they needed this year to figure out how to structure the assessment. One positive, however, is my district already uses Otus as a location to house professional development documents. This means it is already being paid for and will not cost extra to use this technology in my own classroom.

After looking at the different models and learning styles this summer, I see that the role of instructional designer is an important one. They must consider many different factors when choosing technology to support students and staff. For example, when thinking about the TPACK framework, one must have knowledge of content, pedagogy and technology. If any of these areas are lacking, then learning opportunities are going to be lost. In order to make a successful proposal, I need to have knowledge of these areas.

To learn more about TPACK, watch this video:

Source: YouTube

Source:

Kurt, S. (2019, September 16). TPACK: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework. Retrieved June 05, 2020, from https://educationaltechnology.net/technological-pedagogical-content-knowledge-tpack-framework/
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