EDU 658 Instructional Design Application
Pamela L. McGimpsey
Coming
from a family whose craft is teaching I grew up hearing about the development
of lesson plans all day every day. It
was not uncommon for my mother to spend her summer and holiday breaks creating learning
outlines that included bulletin boards, art projects, and live presentations of
student reports. This was of course
before the virtual world of learning came onto the scene. While I appreciated her efforts and outcomes
as much as her students, I never fully valued the amount of time she spent on
creating one course. But EDU 658 Instructional Design Application
forever changed my respect level for those training professionals who are also instructional
designers.
Like
an architect I took the first step in designing a course of learning. With fingers to my laptop keyboard I tapped
out a planning document. At the conclusion
of the second draft I believed my intended course plan was pure perfection. There was nothing I was going to change. With positive momentum I pushed forward to
design the course Splash page. The visualization for this page was simple,
exciting, and full of color.
Unfortunately, I failed to include in my course development plan the
absolute need to become familiar, comfortable, and confident with the Canvas
learning management system (LMS). After
hours of stumbling around what was a virtual LMS learning pit I put together a
creation that opened to a thud on my monitor.
A welcomed peer review provided the most beneficial feedback that
resulted in converting my original Splash
page into a vibrant and easy to understand course cover page. Thus, my perfect cover page was changed and
for the better.
The
inclusion of Powtoon, Padlet, and Google Sheets proved perfect supplements to
my course learning designed as an entry level supervisory training for those in
the manufacturing industry. For someone who
does not warmly embrace technology I became brave enough to first try and then
include these new to me applications in my Canvas based course. Excitement coursed through my veins as I created
visually impactful and engaging learning elements.
During
the 16-week course of EDU 658
Instructional Design Application I learned that by pairing online learning
with face-to-face class time a course can become a richer learning experience
for the student and the instructor. For
each step of the design process I was the student stretching my artistic
boundaries to craft a course that will inspire the learners it touches to engage
in every element this learning program offers.
I am very proud of the final product of this course as it is the first in
what will be a long line of exceptionally designed learning programs.
