Introduction

Why Instructional Design?
     Humans have been teaching forever, or at least it seems that way considering our own short lives, Mothers taught children to clean skins of animals and father showed their children how to catch the animals. They didn't call it teaching, they probably didn't even have much vocabulary. So we've been teaching for a very long time.
     So why study Instructional Design? It should come naturally. And in some ways teaching is natural and basic, but we have discovered we can teach more effecitively if we have a plan. In this class we will improve our ability to plan our teaching or design our instruction more effectively.

     We can study theory, and we will, and could memorize the names of great thinkers, and we will might remember some, and we can simply discover, explore and use reasoning to become more effective in designing our lessons. In this course, we will follow a path. It may not be straight and at times it may not be narrow, not to mention bumps and irregualarities, but we will develop a clearer view of that best practices (straight and narrow) path.

Using what we know
     In this course we will follow somewhat of a common sense approach. In our daily livies, when we encounter a challenge, a difficulty, we may try to define the problem; to understand the problem. What's involved in this probelm? We consider ways, options, how we might solve the problem. We gather information and make a decision, choose a plan. We put the plan into action, hopefully meeting the challenge the best possible way. Finally we take a look-see if the plan is working, and perhaps if it isn't, we go back and make some modifications and try again.
     Personally I think almost every model for doing almost anything is a modification of that process. There are several models for instructional design, some formal with credit going to the creator and some that just simply exist. Since most models are similar, we can choose just about any one and it should work. Since most models have differences, we can choose the one that fits our need best. We will focus on the ADDIE model.

Looking ahead
     We will develop skills in preparation for the final project. We will also use and hone our skills in technology at the same time by developing our projects electronically. We will also enhane our life long learning skills by researching current trends through journal articles, reviews, discussions and group activites.

Final Project - The Ultimate Goal
     The final project in this course will be a complete lesson or unit. It will be an electronic lesson presented either on a CD or as a website. Either way the lesson should stand alone with links so the students can and will direct their own studies. Along with the final product will be a fairly extensive explanation about the process used to develop the lesson, ultimately including all the steps in a model such as the one in the textbook or ADDIE or a similar model. It would be wise early in the course to identify a topic for this project and to refine the work around that topic throughout the course.

However, Our First Step and Assignment
     To start the course, read the first two chapters in the textbook. Go to Moodle and comment on your reactions to the reading. Do this by midnight on Saturday, April 2. Return to Moodle after April 2, read the comments of the other students and add a comment to at least one other student's reaction by the following Monday at midnight.. This is virtual discussion.

     Secondly, you will visit a museum or art gallery and develop a short lesson around objects in the museum or art gallery. For example, if you were to visit the Jensen Arctic Museum on the campus of Western Oregon University, you might choose a topic regarding transportation and develop a lesson about transportation in the Arctic. Part of the idea is to make the objects come alive. Remember each object was actually used by a person with a life just like you and me.
     Since this is an online class, we will not be able to present our lesson in a classroom. So we will develop a brief powerpoint which can stand alone in itself. Thus there must be narration and clear navigation. Clikc here for a brief explanation how you might do this. You will upload these powerpoint presentation in Moodle or YouTube.
     Let's make this due in two weeks, by April 11.