I’m still checking out graduate programs in instructional design. The only school has really stood put from the pack so far has been Syracuse. I’m open to advice if anyone knows of good programs I should consider.
Looking through the materials Syracuse sent me, I’m realizing I will have so many options before me. I have to decide what I honestly want to do. I know I want to develop curriculum. That’s about as far as I know I want. It’s a good thing I have months to figure this out.
I’m also realizing that I’m trying to discern if there’s really a difference between an instructional designer and an information architect. Perhaps one is a subset of the other? If they are related, my options are even more varied.
The nice part is, I am an experienced cuuriculum developer already, and I have been working on learning things like web and graphic design.
Posted by Rebecca as e-learning, Information Architecture at 7:40 AM EDT
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I’ve been working on my other website lately, trying to get some meat behind the blog, trying to give people more informaiton on who I am and what I do.
I think I probably ought to carefully read through Designing Interfaces for help. It is a very clear booksite that covers much of the material (in less depth) than its book. If I find the site terribly useful, though, I may just invest in the book anyway!
Designing with your user in mind is important any time you want to share information. That’s something I’ve kept in the back of my mind as I work on these websites- keeping everything user friendly. If your user can’t find what you want them to find within a reasonable amount of time, then you need to revisit your design. Your information should be accessible!
Found via Jeremy Hiebert’s blog.
Posted by Rebecca as e-learning, Information Architecture at 7:42 AM EDT
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We’re slowly starting to find out that we need to be teaching more than just critical thinking. We need to be teaching the more empathic skills as well. The article suggests activities for incorporating these skills into various subjects.
I guess this puts those of us who are whole-brained in a great position as we move ahead in this shifting time, provided we’re making good use of our whole-brained tendencies.
Found via elearnspace.
Posted by Rebecca as Components of Learning at 7:37 AM EDT
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So you may not actually establish yourself as an expert this way, but sharing knowledge is a great way to establish yourself and to start building your brand!
In this case, however, the sharing of knowledge is a generous and trailblazing move on the part of a certain school. The OpenCourseWare Project form MIT may just set in motion a move to help make knowledge more acessible.
True, it’s been around for a bit, but now it’s going to be wider spread.
Posted by Rebecca as e-learning at 7:58 AM EDT
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I’m working on creating a portfolio to add to my websites that addresses the majority of my skills.
In the teaching section, I had intended to include my Philosophy of Teaching. When I was in my teacher prep program, we had to create these our first semester. I’ve included mine in my hardcopy portfolio ever since. Last week, I was reading over it as I tried to mark it up to go into the electronic portfolio and had a good laugh.
I wrote it nearly ten years ago. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was in the middle of my museum education career. It’s refelcted in that philosophy.
I looked over the document, and tried to decide what was still true about my way of teaching. I’m still a haptic learner, and a haptic teacher. I’ve moved from facilitating students through various center activities to working with students one-on-one through individualized programs. I still prefer to teach through facilitation and questioning, but I definitely am working in smaller groups than havng to consider how to alter my teaching style to fit with the inevitable large groups.
I’m still very much an informal educator, with an informal teaching style. I just need to update my philosophy to reflect the settings of my current teaching strategy.
It really was interesting to read and consider how much I’ve changed as a teacher over the past ten years.
Posted by Rebecca as Reflective teaching at 7:47 AM EDT
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When I first started exploring e-learning, I was drawn to e-portfolios. Then I started reading about social learning. Now I’m reading more about both and being introduced to the concept of “personomies”, and I’m just utterly fascinated.
I like this idea. I really do. I think it has potetnial in the educational arena and the career arena. Of course, both have been debated far and wide over the past two years.
I think one of the biggest problems I see, and why I haven’t managed to embrace my own e-portfolio or tried to participate in the discussions on these matters is actually rather funny. Everyone is trying to figure out what the ideal CMS or PLE or e-portfolio or whatever should be.
Everyone agrees it should be made up of a reflective space, have the ability to store and display artifacts (photos of work, screenshots, articles, essays, etc), and have a way for those who view the personal space to intereact with both the material and the person behind the material.
I’ve been trying to build my websites with this idea in mind, presenting myself, but trying to remain accessible without giving away too much of myself. I really want more from my personal web space, though.
I have the reflective bit covered. I’m working on creating the artifacts. I’m weaving themes to pull together the seemingly disconnected parts of my life. I also want to able to manage myself privately through the same space. I want to be able to maintain a calendar where I can keep track of my schedule, my daily work flow, and publish selected bits of my schedule. I want to be able to maintain various to-do lists privately. I want to be able to record my notes in a manner that makes sense to me. I want to be able to manage my RSS feeds within the same space.
It’s something to work toward, I guess. Something to think about while pursuing this crazy dream to get back into grad school!
Posted by Rebecca as e-learning, Weblogs at 7:42 AM EDT
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A couple of weeks ago, I’d noted an interesting study looking at Wikipaedia vs Britannica online.
Round 2 now appears to be available, and I must admit, I find the commentary more interesting. I’m still sorting through understanding things like information scent and information architecture, but it seems like these online repositories of knowledge are lacking in one, the other, or both.
Perhaps I just need to read more…
Posted by Rebecca as Responsibility, Information Architecture at 8:01 AM EDT
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