5: New directions and technologies

In my current field of designing lesson plans and implementing technology, I have come to the realization that to reach the students you are struggling to reach, you must do things you have never done before. For example, in any social studies class, we have to make the material relevant and allow it to come alive. Through reading these chapters, I have found interesting new directions and technologies to IDT that I believe would allow me to reach out to students and make the content and classroom come alive. Some of these intriguing aspects are e-learning environments, the use of rich media and digital games or simulations.

This year, I attempted to facilitate learning by utilizing technology, cooperative learning and other means of acquiring knowledge to fit all learning styles. Without even knowing it, I was facilitating an e-learning environment by using not just technology, but any means necessary for the students to have a better learning environment. I also utilize simulations, such as the Silk Road activity, where students are put in a scenario or “purposeful learning activities” to acquire or work with the knowledge without really understanding they are engaged in a learning activity (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012).  I did find commonalities with the trucks analogy of the medium as depending on the learner’s traits, the medium can make all of the difference. I do believe that the use of this environment will facilitate more attainment and mastery of the selected learning goals and objectives better than original teacher-led lecture. With this emerging direction, it does depend on the type of involvement to determine whether or not a student will be successful. I could design differentiated instruction that fits different student’s need creating a better learning environment for all students. Also, due to the diversity of education and students today, it is especially important to design lessons with multiculturalism in mind, especially those that focus on Eastern concepts, such as Islam. This will allow them to interact with different characteristics, and in different environments. With the e-learning environments, it would allow for me as a teacher to exhibit minimal to moderate guidance and not “proceduralize the thinking,” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012). I find myself being the one that does proceduralize every aspect of my teaching because of the designed and planned outcome I want my students to reach. Therefore, it is very hard to let go. However, this would allow to me to relinquish a little more control.

The next new direction emerging in education is the use of rich media and animations versus normal and stagnant media forms in fitting the diverse needs of the student. While this will prove to be a little more difficult in social studies than in other subjects, such as science, I do believe the idea of utilizing rich media will only benefit the understanding of the material. Just like the novices became just as knowledgeable as the law students in understanding court and law procedures utilizing rich media, as will my students become experts in the material presented. Because of the media’s interaction with the students, as it would need to be a step further to disable “couch potato” mode, it would allow them to organize and integrate the new material into their long-term memory (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012).  This form of IDT does not break ethics and would allow me to use guiding visuals with students that need it to help fit the needs of diverse students. I could easily design a lesson where students get teacher input and then utilize rich media sources to expand on the learning already seen, such as an interactive timeline. With this element of the lesson, it allows me to switch roles from fully guided to more of a facilitator as I tutor those that need extra help and guidance. It can also be an extension activity for the high students that appreciate relevance past the typical lesson.

Lastly, the last emerging direction for education is the idea of “gamifying” education by creating games to provide a challenge or problem to solve. When reading this section of the book, I was reminded of a new program my school’s technology specialist adopted, Breakout EDU. As I know I have discussed it in previous blogs, the essential design is to utilize school curriculum in a problem to solve problems from a zombie apocalypse to the Roanoke, “The Lost Colony.” In this new direction, it creates a goal for the students to obtain. This creates a social and collaborative environment for the students that typically is not seen in education. It also would help the learners understand how to work with others while contextualizing the material (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012). Again, this new direction has no concerns about ethics, but can be the hardest to accommodate diverse students needs. As all students would be involved in this learning environment, it would be hard to accommodate different learners. However, the teacher can definitely have little to no guidance and really allow the students to be more responsible for their own learning and merely provide instant feedback.

Of these new directions in IDT, I do believe there is a place for all three. With minor tweaks and adjustments, I believe any and all of these new technologies can be implemented into my classroom this next school year. It can only make a typically boring subject fun again.

Reiser, R. A., & Dempsey, J. V. (2012). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson.