(From EDD 8008 Discussion #5)
As my focus in my career is training, implementation, and teaching effectiveness, improving the performance of teachers and designers is in my humble opinion, the most interesting, if not vital of the three spheres of performance improvement.
As my focus in my career is training, implementation, and teaching effectiveness, improving the performance of teachers and designers is in my humble opinion, the most interesting, if not vital of the three spheres of performance improvement.
Through quality teaching and design, organizations can move mountains, and learner’s lives can be changed. No doubt the organization itself has an effect on teachers and designers, but I nonetheless believe that good design and good teaching can move mountains, despite the organization. Quality teaching and design can reduce learning time, increase learning effectiveness, enhance the productivity of teachers and designers, and create instruction that is more appealing and respectful of human values (Molenda & Pershing, 2008).
What is more, good instruction is justified by the expectation that learners will want to continue to learn if the experience is appealing (Molenda & Pershing, 2008). As Molenda & Pershing (2008) express, “being appealing can at least increase time on task, which is consistently associated with improved learning (p.56).” Appealing qualities to design include (Molenda & Pershing, 2008):
· Providing a challenge that evokes high expectations
· Maintaining relevance in the learner’s past
· Holding attention
· Engages a learner intellectually and emotionally
· Connects a learner to his or her own interests or goals
· Uses multiple media forms of representation
My belief in a constructivist approach to the value of teachers and designers aligns well with Molenda and Pershing, and I found this section of the chapter particularly applicable to my career and ethos. As constructivism places emphasis on emotional and motivational features that often depend on technology-based programs for learners, I can apply these experiences in my course design, particularly in the games that my institute creates to engage learners in their coursework.
Molenda, M., & Pershing, A. (2008). Improving performance. In Januszewski, A., & Molenda, M. (Eds). Educational technology: A definition with commentary (pgs.49-80). New York, NY: Routledge.
What is more, good instruction is justified by the expectation that learners will want to continue to learn if the experience is appealing (Molenda & Pershing, 2008). As Molenda & Pershing (2008) express, “being appealing can at least increase time on task, which is consistently associated with improved learning (p.56).” Appealing qualities to design include (Molenda & Pershing, 2008):
· Providing a challenge that evokes high expectations
· Maintaining relevance in the learner’s past
· Holding attention
· Engages a learner intellectually and emotionally
· Connects a learner to his or her own interests or goals
· Uses multiple media forms of representation
My belief in a constructivist approach to the value of teachers and designers aligns well with Molenda and Pershing, and I found this section of the chapter particularly applicable to my career and ethos. As constructivism places emphasis on emotional and motivational features that often depend on technology-based programs for learners, I can apply these experiences in my course design, particularly in the games that my institute creates to engage learners in their coursework.
Molenda, M., & Pershing, A. (2008). Improving performance. In Januszewski, A., & Molenda, M. (Eds). Educational technology: A definition with commentary (pgs.49-80). New York, NY: Routledge.