Learning Specialist/Instructional Designer Proposal Reflection
Image Source: Online Learning Consortium (OLC)
Who would have thought that we were half-way into our Instructional Design Grad Course? Our course began in the midst of E-learning. eLearning is "learning utilizing electronic technologies to access educational curriculum outside of a traditional classroom" (eLearningNC, 2020). While preparing a proposal for a technology tool that would enhance student learning, I had to brainstorm around ideas that could potentially involve E-Learning. For that reason, my proposal took many routes.
Image Source: Tim Riordan (2019)
At first, my focus was heavily on the language barrier that exists across many schools and districts. That is, students not understanding their teachers, and teachers not being able to communicate with families because of a language barrier. As an educator of English Learners (ELs), language happens to be one of my greatest passions and will probably continue to be. For that reason, I thought about keeping my proposal around the language parameters, but also around a major issue currently faced in our district. That issue is the inconsistency between learning platforms for students accessing the material from home.
Like many other schools, most of our teachers had very little training in technology, which then led them to use whatever they knew or had. As a result, different teachers were providing assignments in many different formats. Some teachers, for instance, were using very recognized online platforms such as Seesaw, Google Classroom, Class Dojo, along with many others. The inconsistency from grade level to grade level, and from teacher to teacher, led many families to have difficulty accessing the learning material. Families did not know whether they should go to the district website, get an email or simply wait for the teacher to tell them what to do. To help address this accessibility and communication problem, I thought about proposing on using a common online platform for the k-5 elementary group or at least within the grade level brackets k-2 and 3-5.
Image Source: Nord Anglia Education (2018)
When I first presented the idea of going forward with a common online platform, such as Seesaw, the proposal was not well received. Some teachers rejected the idea, and others did not give it much importance at that time. I believe this rejection and lack of importance was not intentional. Instead, it was something that would just add more to the tip of the iceberg.
Image Source: Nicholas Thibodeau (2018)
Teachers were already feeling overwhelmed with everything that was going on due to the pandemic. To help ease some of that anxiety, I began planning and using some of the Seesaw resources to share with teachers and admin. When I shared these samples with teachers and admin, they were very pleased and thankful. In fact, it was a good turn out that they seem to be ready to learn more.
Even-though there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel, there are still some barriers that need be overcome. Some of these involve getting more teacher buy-in, especially from reluctant teachers who have difficulty adapting to new changes. Also, the idea needs to be presented to the rest of the administration and wait for approval. Nevertheless, I am still excited about the idea of having a common online platform for our teachers, students and families. I think this will make a huge impact on the lives of many people in our district.
As one can see, the role of a Technology Specialist, just like any other specialist and educator is an ongoing one. There can be many challenges presented, but it is very important to be open to ideas, challenges and change. I am excited to continue evolving on this instructional designer journey and continue to see how technology impacts our world.
References
eLearningNC.gov. (2020). About eLearning. eLearningNC. Retrieved
Class Dojo. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.classdojo.com/
Google Classroom. (2020). Retrieved from https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-
Nord Anglia Education. (2018, June 4). Seesaw image retrieved from
Online Learning Consortium. (2020). Image retrieved from
Riordan, T. (2019, August 19). Which Way Do I Go? Image retrieved from
Seesaw. (2020). Retrieved from https://web.seesaw.me/
Thibodeau, N. (2018, January 12). Iceberg Illusion Image retrieved from
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