Reflections on Week 3 - Educational Issues

The review of instructional systems designs models was fairly helpful, but I couldn't help thinking that alot of what is stated in these models is formulaic, and should be almost instinctual to a caring, thoughtful teacher in planning how a lesson , a unit, or even the school year is going to unfold. Alot of the differences in the ADDIE and ASSURE models had to do with when you review and revise, the linear nature of the former contrasted to the holisitic approach of the latter, and the systematic theory versus the systemic theory. I thought lawyers used excess semantics, but educators, particularly educational theorists, take the cake. "Iterative," come on, how about repetition, a more familiar word?

The ASSURE model was helpful to me because it provided a concise blueprint on how to set up an integrated lesson with technological resources targeted to your objectives and learning outcomes. Its emphasis on evaluating your learners is sound differentiated instruction practice, and to me it gives you a mental "sounding board" to think out how you will meet the diversity of learners and the digital natives' preferred modes of intake while still conveying the intellectual heart of your lesson. It is a roadmap to make sure all your points are covered and your media/technologies are on track, and it is also a great way to plan an inquiry based lesson.

The four models of instruction which I will use here are 1) Behavoral; 2) Information Processing; 3) Personal Development; and 4) Social Interactive (Joyce, Weils, & Calhoun). For each, I will jot down a few ideas for technologies which might be aligned with that particular model:

• Behavioral - internet resources, videos, CD's, overhead projectors, smart boards, slide projectors, computer drills, essentially direct instruction assistive devices
• Information Processing - internet access, educational software, mindmaps and flowcharts, excel spreadsheets, del.icio.us, webquests, Word for writing summaries, blogs (all to enhance concept understanding and inquiry thinking)
• Personal Development - design software, mindmaps & flowcharts; productivity & presentation software; personal web pages and blogs; web publisher; search engines; streaming audio & video; podcasts (all to enhance creativity and personal evaluation)
• Social Interactive - microphones and video cameras; joint access to internet resources; dedicated chat rooms; wikis; forums; whiteboards; presentation software; simulation programs; instant messaging; image & document uploading (all designed to enhance cooperative learning and social behavior and values)

The 5E Constructivist lesson plan from the webquest you provided was fun to experiment with, as it provided almost a bulleted format for a short lesson plan covering the essential elements of inquiry based learning. The engage looked to me like an anticipatory set, or a quadrant one discussion in McCarthy's 4-Mat approach; the exploration allowed experiential learning; the explain an opportunity for the teacher to come back to the lesson and crystallize explanations and solidify students' perceptions; elaboration the opportunity for students to make the learning their own, apply concepts to different paradigms, and perform; and the evaluation phase to assess learning and participation. The emphasis throughout is passing the teaching from the teacher to the students, so that they can feel, touch, and embrace the concepts.

I am doubtful you could teach with an inquiry-based approach all the time. State standards force you to keep such a breakneck pace that you must rely on direct instruction to convey all the necessary materials and concepts in a limited timeframe. But I very much liked what Arthur L. Costa stated in the inquiry learning site you gave us, to wit, even if you start with two days a week of inquiry lessons, that will be a tremendous boon to your students and their creative thinking and learning. There is no question that students can not be passive like they are in direct instruction, they must be active learners as they are in inquiry (with social interactive features), and to meld the two styles is possible and highly beneficial. And even with direct instruction, you can add a bevy of technological aides and resources to your lesson to spice it up for the digital natives.