Well, there is not much to say about this week’s blog. I am not as far along as I would like to be (although I think it is more because we are running behind as a class). So far there hasn’t been much feedback on the paper – probably because the due date was moved up. So far, the process has been fairly easy. This is most likely due to the fact that I have been working on this concept for a few semesters. So there was already a good list of research that I had already looked into. Hopefully this project will turn into my dissertation in some form, so that means I have already been looking into this a lot. The next step will be determining the questions for the pilot study (which I hope is still happening?). That will probably prove difficult – I don’t want to leave the questions too generic as that may not yield specific enough answers. But if i ask questions that are too specific, I might exclude out of the box solutions that I have not considered.

Generally, I take heed of almost all feedback I get, so once that happens, I will probably use most – if not all – of it. Until then, there is not a whole lot more that I can say. Since this isn’t due until next Monday, I might come back and add to this once there is more feedback.

To be honest, I don’t really believe there is a “best” method for instructional design in online learning. Each course is different, each instructor is different, and therefore each class is different. My process is that I meet with the instructor that is going to teach a course and discuss their goals and objectives. We look at the tools that will best serve those goals and objectives, and then we create those activities and lessons. I try to push towards a more student-centered social constructivist approach, but often the instructor and students are not ready for that. So whatever social or active elements I can get into the course is a win in my book, even if it isn’t much. So, unless there is a “just get it done, because you don’t have much time before the next assignment” method, I doubt my method really matches any existing models. This is probably due to working at a University, where the analysis is pretty non-existent or based on a list from upper levels more than actual students needs and wants. Add on to this the fact that the professor always gets to have the final say on design (and can sometimes be quite inflexible).

How did I learn to design instruction? I earned a Masters Degree in ID, then started working in various jobs through the years using that degree. Most recently, I have worked as an instructional designer for 8 years now. But to survive as an ID, you have to put your theoretical perspectives aside and design what the professor wants, which is usually behaviorist in nature. So I really don’t get to design many social constructivist designs. Occasionally, if I can talk the professor into some really good group activities, that is as close as I can get. But for the most part, I am putting a bunch of content to be transmitted, learned, and assessed through papers and tests. Stimulus and response or cognitive processing…. maybe. If the term paper is designed well. Even the discussion boards are starting to feel more like a behaviorist response tool rather than an interactive tool.

To be honest, I am a little confused about the extra questions for this week, After so many years of working as an ID and studying ID on my own and in a program, I was not aware that there were many ID methods that were specifically for online learning. Occasionally I hear of new theoretical positions like connectivism that are specifically aimed at online learning, but those are not ID methods. I have been searching and can’t really find one much less six… They all seem to pretty much be designed for online and F2F. Well, more accurately they are designed for F2F and adapted for online at some point. Even this long list of models doesn’t seem to list any specifically for online learning.I was able to find the Instructional Design Model for Online Learning (IDOL) by Siragusa, but it was described as an addition to existing models, nit a stand alone one. I apologize if I misunderstood the extra questions.