WEEK 4: Trends and Issues in IDT
Trends and Issues are known
to be present in every field. In this week’s post, I would like to focus on the
Business & Industry, the Medical Profession, and P-12 Technology
Integration.
Business & Industry
Various trends and issues
exist in the Business and Industry in regards to IDT. Businesses are willing to
spend a plethora of their resources on external instructional designers (Reiser
& Dempsey, 2012.) There are multiple resources that impact how businesses
function in today’s world versus just a few years back. With the click of a
button, a team member can log in to a virtual meeting when faced with being in
a different geographical location. With the creation of communication tools
including Skype, Google Docs, and Adobe Connect, employees within the industry
can collaborate with distance not being a factor (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012.)
This has revamped how businesses operate completely. I can relate to this in
the sense that we use tools such as Google Docs to collaborate on lesson plans.
My department works together in this sense and we can share and do our part
when needed.
Medical Profession
The role of technology in
supporting performance and instruction in health care is immense and increasing
constantly. The book informs us that while many associate health care with
hospitals and doctor’s offices, the health field involves not only the delivery
of health services, but also biomedical research. It also includes the
professions of veterinary medicine, dentistry, nursing, allied health, and
public health (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012.) A visit to your local doctor’s
office will shed light on the technological advances taking place. At our local
office, the doctor walks in with an iPad that has all my medical history and is
able to enter recent information in a matter of minutes. If you end up in the
ER, your attending physician can access your medical history without having to
dive into a folder. The progress we have made is incredible. In the educational
setting, medical students are being educated in innovative ways with
cutting-edge technology. The authors state that allowing students to learn
basic and clinical reasoning indicating that expertise is largely a function of
previous problem-solving experience. Problem-solving expertise is dependent on
the type of patient cases encountered, rather than involving application of
general specific methods and hypothetico-deductive reasoning as Flexner
suggested. Instead, it depends on acquiring rich, elaborated conceptual
information about particular diseases and illnesses that can be associated with
problems patients’ present. As expertise develops, problem-solving becomes
automatic and more a matter of pattern recognition than formal deduction
(Reiser & Dempsey, 2012.) There is a
large similarity in this concept with the challenges in education. For example,
our new appraisal system, Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System or T-TESS
was designed to allow the proficient teacher to grow. The rubric shows us the
two higher ratings, Accomplished and Distinguished, are driven by student
actions with little teacher action. Students solving problems, engaging in
hands-on activities, and demonstrating knowledge through Socratic seminars are
ways to engage students versus a traditional “sit and get” model.
P-12 Education
Instructional design has
taken the educational setting by storm and we are seeing more and more
districts implementing a one-to-one initiative. The authors state that a
primary area of P-12 focus for instructional designers is technology
integration (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012.) Gone are the days of teachers
blocking off a slot on the campus computer lab. Schools are moving in the
direction of Instructional design in every classroom. Even state standardized
testing is available online. The authors list the third type of ID development
involves designing integration lessons for classroom implementation in which technology
is used for a variety of roles (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012.) Resources such as
Schoology, iMovie, and Google Classroom allow for teachers to incorporate
technology with the purpose of enhancing the learning. The aforementioned programs
are ones I personally use in my classroom and have seen great benefits from it.
I have seen shy students who would be reluctant to present in front of the
class put forth exemplary work. Technology affords students like this to
demonstrate mastery through these tools. Student achievement is what drives us,
and Instructional Design through technology allows us a different method to
arrive there.
Global Trends and Issues in
IDT
With the world growing at a
rapid pace, we have a responsibility to prepare our students for the challenges
ahead. I believe our best chance in preparing our youth to address the problems
of living in a world with nine billion people is to educate them in ways to
rise above the challenges. I realize this will take a united effort, yet it is
possible if each of us would take responsibility for our own. While I do
believe our education system, curriculum, and instructional practices are
progressing towards more rigorous standards, I do not believe we are where
other countries such as European and Asian countries. I was speaking to my
pharmacist (who is Asian) about his schooling. I was left speechless to hear
the value of education their students have. Parents and students alike have
strong values in their education. Unfortunately, that is not something that is
seen frequently here. However, I am of the mindset that it can begin with us.
The global issues we face will not go away, we must empower this generation to
confront them.
Reiser, R. A., & Dempsey,
J. V. (2017). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology.
Boston: Pearson Education.
The various communication tools are remarkable! We have come such a long way in such a short time but still have far to go. The countless technological advances have also had a significant impact with individuals with special needs. Communication tools such as smart phones, computers, and voice commands have opened up a whole new world for all of us!
ReplyDeleteIndeed we have seen how technology has also impacted the healthcare arena. Telehealth/telemedicine is a driving force to reach an underserved populations in rural areas. With these advances in place, we need instructional technologists to help in the process to ensure HIPPA/confidentiality issues are also addressed to ensure that the healthcare professional adheres to his/her Code of Ethics.
I like your comparison of healthcare to your role as teacher. It is so true that problem-solving skills and critical thinking cannot be understated. The more we can engage the student, the more interested they become and therefore, the more driven and focused they are. As we tap into what (intrinsically) motivates the learner, we can facilitate and foster their personal growth. As you state, “we must empower this generation”.
Desiree,
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing your post so clearly and giving some great examples. It hadn't crossed my mind how the business industry was like teaching due to the flexibility to communicate with one another. After reading your example, I connected with it because our team uses Google Docs for everything now. When our district first started to push it, not everyone was on board. This last year has been the biggest year of change for us, and I honestly couldn't see us communicating as well without Google Docs!
I also enjoyed reading your connection to T-TESS. I agree with your statements that the T-TESS system pushes teachers to let students "do the work" by problem-solving and collaborating with one another. If students are exposed early to these critical thinking skills then they will be ready for the challenges that lie ahead.
Thanks for sharing!
Your examples of each group (business, medical and education) are great! I knew education used multiple type of technology tools like iPads and such, but hadn't really thought about the fact that business and the medical fields use such things as well. When I think of each group, I tend to keep them separate but looking at the tools they sometimes use shows that even though they are all different and use the tools differently, they do have some similarities that we can relate to.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, we need to empower our students to help them value their education. It's sad that the majority of our parents do not place a higher value on education and don't encourage their students to do well. As educators, we need to help foster a love of learning and help our students understand the importance of education...not just in the sense of being in the classroom but the fact that even once they graduate, they will still be learning, whatever their job may be.
I love the personal connections you made in the medical section. I also thought this comment from the book was an important one and a validation of using PBL in the classroom. "As expertise develops, problem-solving becomes automatic and more a matter of pattern recognition than formal deduction."
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately through my classes this summer, I have read where teachers are in schools that are still utilizing the lab time format. Hopefully this will soon change!
Last year I had a student that had just moved here from Korea. It was really interesting to read the section on Korea and how they value education and face to face interaction as you mentioned a similar connection with your pharmacist.
Great post!
Excellent post with some great points on recent innovations that have revolutionized collaboration in all contexts. I remember thinking as a kid, how interesting it is that people can conduct conference calls through video when that was introduced. Now, video chatting, and other ways of staying connected through online tools are common place in business as well as P-12 education. Google Drive jumped in and completely redefined how we work together as educators. Tech tools and innovations are not just for Business and Industry, the Military or Healthcare anymore, they are tools used daily for many purposes in P-12 educational settings. Your example of using technology to allow shy students to present was an excellent way to describe how these tools have redefined the learning environment. As I have worked my way through the graduate program, I have had a couple of courses that require a video or audio presentation of a project. While I am not shy by any means, I definitely prefer small group interactions versus presenting in front of large groups, although I facilitate a lot of professional development opportunities both inside and outside of my district. Through my graduate projects, I have discovered even more about myself in that if given the choice, I would choose presenting in front of large groups any day over video recording myself presenting a project. However, for some students, presenting from behind their computer screen provides a platform for them to open up and shine. I guess that just go to show why they are most assuredly a YouTube generation. Thanks for your insights in this post. I enjoyed making my own connections through them.
ReplyDelete