Throughout the instructional design course
this semester, I have had the opportunity to continually review my
current instructional practices and abilities in order to provide
students with a more effective online course experience. As an
instructional designer I believe that course design is a continual
process and that there is always room for improvement. In the following
essay, I will discuss my growth as an instructional designer during
this semester’s course – EDUC 763 Instructional Design for E-Learning.
One of the key concepts that I have extracted from this course was William Horton’s
online design model that proposes that educators should provide
learners with “absorb, do, and connect” activities. I have provided all
three of these activities previously in my online course, but I did not
realize there was a name or theory behind this type of organizational
method. I also did not realize the “connection” between all three
elements. I had witnessed other instructors using this design and had
simply adopted it without much regard or understanding. Now that I
truly understand the philosophy, I have been able to revise my modules
to be more effective and interconnected! Yahoo!
By compiling an alignment chart this semester; I have been able to
improve my course curriculum by taking the time and reflective energy to
more closely align the modules with WTCS course competencies. In
addition, constructing learning guides also assisted in making clear the
connections between course competencies, activities and assessments.
Completing the alignment chart enabled me to look at my
oral/interpersonal communication course from a macro level perspective
and completing the learning guides allowed me to view my course design
from a micro level perspective. Both exercises were needed to properly
structure and polish my course. I believe that my modules are now more
solid, well rounded and unified. I could not have accomplished this goal and/or task without the knowledge I learned during this graduate course.
During the course I also assessed my strengths and weaknesses as an
instructor. Assessing these elements has assisted me in compiling a
list of professional goals to work on throughout the upcoming school
year. I will be integrating and implementing these goals into my
professional development plan for 2013-2014.
Finally, I can honestly say that I have truly enjoyed the
professional atmosphere of the community of learners that my fellow
classmates and instructor created during the semester. I am looking
forward to incorporating the revisions that appear under this project’s
“Course Revisions” tab in the following two weeks before the fall
semester begins. I am very excited to hit the ground running in order
to revamp and update my online course with all of the wonderful things I
learned!
To view my final project, feel free to click on this link.
