Week 9 Reflection

For your reading reflection, pick out two trends or issues in Chapter 21 that particularly surprised you and/or hit home and explain why.

1.    NTeQ Model.

NTeQ model “uses an instructional design foundation to develop problem-based lessons focused on student use of technology as a tool”. To solve problem, student need to get required knowledge and skills, which are the instructional objectives. By following the ten-step lesson plan, teacher can efficiently integrate the instruction with computer by designing the instructional resource (including information and environment that are needed in learning process) and the instructional process of student achieve the knowledge and skills. Besides, this model is also helpful on improving students’ abilities. Since student might be curious about the problem, it can stimulate the student’s initiative of learning. In problem-solving process, students need to select appropriate information from various information and resources that teachers provide to solve problems. In this process, student grasped the instructional content. At the same time, they get practice of their critical thinking since they need to reason some questions such as “why choose this information” or “how to use this information”. As later of this chapter mention about, critical thinking and problem-solving skills are important element in twenty-first-century.

2.    Preparing for the Twenty-First Century.

I think this is what we are doing right now, preparing ourselves. Under the situation of globalization, the requirements for people are different from before. To be able to get a position in such a highly competitive environment, the professional knowledge that only learned from schools is hard to meet the needs. The elements that listed in this chapter (page 213) make me think about the situation of Chinese education. In our undergraduate study, we only focus on the major study, instead of learning something else at the same time, like the Life skills. On the other hand, in China, students always are passive audient. They get knowledge from listen to what teacher tells to them most time. They are hard to get development of their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Well, I know that this might because the tradition of Chinese education since the long, long time ago. But the 21^st Century Skills affords us some good points that merit attention. Maybe, what we need is a revolution of our education system.

Google Maps Engine Activity

I choose option 2 of activity.

Idea:

When I try a several times of Google Maps Engine, I’m thinking about using it into Chinese History study. Since China have a long history with many different dynasties, student can use Google Maps Engine to create each dynasties’ simple map. Here is one I did as an example:

The red line is the boundary of Qin Dynasty. And the gray line is the Great Wall in that period.

Furthermore, I think teacher can give different student different assignment. Like some student can mark some important cities in this dynasty; some student can mark where some important event happened; some student can draw the line of march of some crucial war; etc. 

Week 8 Reflection

I didn’t have a professional work before and now. So, I mainly use my own experience, as an international student, to explore useful application that description in this chapter.

Cross-Cultural Training

In my undergraduate and graduate study, I play different roles. In my undergraduate period, I studied in a University that has 60% students coming from different countries. I once helped many international students to learn Chinese. At that time, my English was not good. In that way, communicating was a hard thing sometimes. Like sometimes they didn’t understand what you were talking about since they couldn’t understand the idiom or slang, or maybe they didn’t know some particular things that only had in China. I realized the cultural gap at that time. And now in my graduate study, I reverse my role to be an international student. In here, I’m the one who have a different culture with most of my classmate, and the one who have to always ask, “Oh, what is that?” I need to learn the new culture and adjust myself to the new educational system while I study the EDT knowledge. Therefore, using my own experience to say, it is important to consider the cultural factor in instruction.

Technology-based training delivery

Here I want to address the Web-based training most. I never experience a normal web class in University before. In China, I rarely hear about any University have a web class (maybe now some Universities have but I don’t know). The best thing I get in web class, comparing Chinese class and US web class is the feedback. Well, this maybe a plaint. In my four years undergraduate, I never got a feedback from all my teachers, except the graduation thesis. Many Chinese students might face this problem. Since there are too many people in China, every class might have 40 or more, sometime even 70, students. And for some public class, there might have more than 200 students in one class room. In that way, most teachers haven’t time to give feedback to every student. So most of the time, they just give us a grade. But without a feedback, student will not know which part they didn’t do well that cause they lose the point. As a consequence, they did practice but they did get improvement. But the web class is different. Its features of synchronous and asynchronous allow teachers have more time on their student so that student can also benefit from self-study and teacher’s help. 

Week 7 Reflection

1. Related to Chapter 14, what are some ways the ideas/concepts/principles discussed in this chapter could be applied in your professional work? Do you see opportunities where these ideas could help you or your students? Reflection

This chapter mainly introduces the history of HPI and HPT to us. When we talk about human performance technology, we always relate it with company or training. Indeed, the application of HPT in enterprise has got some effects. But at the same time, I think that we also need to consider about performance in educational field. When I read this chapter, I recall some about the definition of educational technology discuss in previous chapter, “Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources” (AECT, 2008). To facilitate learning and improve performance, from a perspective of performance to design instruction is needed. For example, the gap between desired workforce performance and actual state of workforce performance in performance analysis (pg.141) can be related with need analysis, which is the first step of design instruction. Therefore, whether in the teaching activities or on the job training, we should realize the complementary advantages of methods and practices between HPT and ID.

To apply HPT in instruction, I think we can use the instructional goal as the desired performance and some present situations of instruction, such as the instructional resource, instructional model, and instructional concept of instructor, as the actual state of performance, and then find the gap and analyze the cause to design and develop intervention which can improve the performance.

2. What added value might podcasting have in your professional setting (company, school, etc.)?

In this week’s activity, I choose option 2-create a podcast. Here is my Podcast onPodOmatic. I think Podcast is a tool that easy to use since user can easily upload their audio file and share it with other. Like RSS, user can subscribe the podcast they like. Also, users can communicate with each other by using comments function. Those features of podcast make it can be used in instruction.

1)      Create a Podcast learning platform. Instructor can create a podcast and upload instructional audio series on it. Since many textbook update slowly, instructor can update instructional content at any time. Also, learner can play those podcast at anywhere and anytime. Furthermore, both instructor and learner can use comments function to discuss easily.

2)      Establish an open instructional library. Since everyone can podcast, the audio files they upload can be the valuable instructional resource. Instructors can exchange their knowledge, opinions, and experience. Learner can use those resources for autonomic learning. Here is one experience of myself. When I was preparing the TOFEL test, I used a tool that can subscribe podcast which include a lot of English Listening resources that can help me to improve my listening.

Generally, I think Podcast is a useful tool that has many potential waiting us to explore. For self-interest using, like what I upload in Podmatic, I can share my Rap songs with you all!

Podcast

Here is my podcast. I upload a rap song that made by my friends and me.
Using Podmatic is very easy. I use my facebook accout to sign up. Then, just following the direction, and  you can publish your own podcast so quickly.

Week 6 Reflection

It is really difficult of this week’s reading, Psychological Foundations of Instructional Design. I’m not sure if I understand in a right way in some parts of it. So, for the reflection, I will quote the part that inspire me first and the plan next.

Behavioral Learning Theory.

l  “Because of the anticipated reinforcing benefits of feedback, instructional designs resulted that broke instruction into small steps and required learners to respond frequently, thus virtually assuring errorless performance.”(p.37)

l  Teaching plan:

In this course, students will be asked to figure out how to but 48 cans cola in cheapest way. I will broke instruction into 2 parts, and each parts will have several steps.

1.     A. Teacher will give students the information of choices. There are 2 brands of cola- Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. Each brand has a different price, which should be provided to students.

B. Students need to make choice. Basing on the information that the teacher gives, student will figure out which brand is cheaper and then make their choice. Then, they should give their choice to teacher.

C. Teacher will check up their answers to see if they are correct. If so, students will go to next step. If not so, they will be required to do this step again until they get correct answer.

2.     A. Teacher will give students the information of choices. There are 4 types’ packs of cola-1 cans, 8 cans, 12 cans, and 24 cans- and each type has a different price, which should be provided to students as well.

B. Students need to make choice. Basing on the information that the teacher gives, student will calculate the price of each cans in different types’ pack and decide which pack is the best choice. Then, they should give their result to teacher.

C. Teacher will check up their answers to see if they are correct. If so, it means that student learned to calculate and compare the unit costs of various sizes and brands of the same product. If not so, they will be required to do this step again until they get correct answer.

Situated Learning Theory.

l  “Learning from a situated perspective occurs through the learner’s participation in the practices of a community, practices that are mutually constituted by the members of the community.”(p.38)

l  Teaching plan:

In this course, students will be separate into several groups, and each group will be given $20 and asked to buy cola as much as they can. As the prerequisite, there should be at 2 brands and 4 types’ packs with different prices. Therefore, students need to make choice between different brands and packs. Also, after they made choice and bought the cola, teacher can make a comparison between groups and let them have a communication of their way to make choice. At the end, teacher should give a best number of cans that $20 can buy to student in order to let them know the best choice.

Yunnan Impression

Yunnan province is my hometown. This video shows some beautiful places in Yunnan. I've benn to some of them. But there still have a lot of place I have never been to yet. If I have time, I will continue to tour my hometown as much places as possible.

I took this picture 2 years ago when I went to Mang city. This ia a peafowl, one kind of typical animal of Yunnan!


I live in Kunming City. But I was born in Chuxiong City.

Week 5 Reflection

1.      Why the project had very little effect on the instructional practices employed by the teachers?

a.      Teachers or students are unwilling to change from the traditional ways of learning and teaching to using laptop computers which already installed all of the curriculum materials. Besides, it could also be possible that teachers and students are unfamiliar to the computers and thus they spend too many times and energies on how to use it. In that way, they might psychologically resist to use it so that the positivity and efficiency of both teachers and students will be reduced.

b.      The selecting of software in computers or curriculum materials is unsuitable or insufficient for the needs of instruction. Since those computers and curriculum materials were provided by school and used without tryouts with learners, once they were unsuitable, they would have very limited effects on instructional practices.

c.       Pertinence of different subjects is lacked. “It was necessary to consider all the elements of the communication process, and not just focus on the medium, as many in the audiovisual field tended to do.”(p.19) Similar to what this chapter mentioned about, besides considering the laptops and curriculum materials themselves, how to use them by teachers and students is also important. Furthermore, since there are four subject (math, language arts, social studies, and science), same instructional way might not be applicative to all of them.

2.      Strategies that could have been employed to help mitigate the factors.

a.      A professional training of computer might be helpful. In the training process, teachers and student will learn to use the computer and thus they will reduce the costing of time and energy on dealing with the technical problems during their teaching/learning time. Besides, in this process, they will be getting familiar with computer, and become to accept it. I think frequently using is one way to decrease the psychological resistance.

b.      Before the practice among the whole school, teaching experiment is needed. In the experiment, following steps should be considered:

1)        Analyzing the instructional needs of each subject. This will help to identify the learning needs and goals of student.

2)        Selecting the instructional materials. Basing on the learning goals, teachers should identify which instructional materials will be used to help student to enhance their knowledge and ability, and thus meet their learning goals. This will help to make sure that the selected software of computer or curriculum materials are suitable.

3)        Planning the instructional strategies. Teachers should plan the instructional strategies in order to help student to master the instructional content and achieve the learning goals. Especially, the situation of different subject should be considered. This will help to make the instruction have more pertinence.

4)        Evaluating the instructional effect. Before putting into practice, evaluating the instructional effect and improving the details or defects basing on the evaluation is necessary. This can help to ensure the effectiveness of instruction.

Also, here is my Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/128317393@N06/