Week 9 Blog
Trends and Issues in Instructional Technology
As seems fairly normal, I enjoyed the readings this week.
Being in the publishing industry (I work for an international dental research
journal), The Martin article on systematic reviews (Martin, Dennin, & Bonk,
2020) was of great interest. I agree that, with an understanding of the
limitations of these types of review, they can be a powerful way to combine studies
into a much more meaningful and statistically significant avenue of knowledge. I
also appreciated the quote at the end of the article,
“It is vital to study complex and pervasive educational
problems instead of the latest technology system or device” (p1626).
While only tertially related to the systematic studies to
which the article speaks, it is a powerful reminder, to ALL fields, that
systems and devices will not solve problems in and of themselves. It is how we
(especially we as instructional designers) weave together the needs, skills,
and resources of society, or segments of society, to attend to, or address,
problems that will allow us to solve them.
In Martinez’s article on designing informal learning
environments (Martinez & Whiting, 2021) I had an interesting thought. After
all this education is said and done, I would like to go into corporate
training. In the reading it caused a “perfect storm” of information, synthesis,
and reflection, and I thought, “What would a corporation look like if employees
could get credit for promotion or other consideration if they were given the
opportunity to write and submit reflection papers on education they picked up informally?”
Would we empower workers to seek out learning opportunities wherever they were?
Would the opportunity to reflect give greater confidence and competence to
staff? I don’t know if it would be a workable prospect, but kudos to a research
paper for making me think outside the box!
-Kevin
References:
Martin, F., Dennen, V. P.,
& Bonk, C. J. (2020). A synthesis of systematic review research on emerging
learning environments and technologies. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(4), 1613-1633.
Kevin, I am with you on the corporate training piece. I work for a tech company where designing a skill training program would be of great benefit to the employees and organization. In my case, it is in the realm of professional development to allow employees to see what the next step (training and skill requirements) is for advancing to a higher level. Most of the big companies offer plenty of training courses but it is more educational technology than instructional technology. I believe formalized training would give employees the choice to meet a standard level of training required to be successful at the next level.
ReplyDeleteIn the "Designing Informal Learning Environments", Martinez and Whiting (2021) talked about formal and informal training. It included informal sessions in the department about topics that may be of interest to the employees. I think these sessions are valuable but more formal training needs to be designed for more relevant topics within the section. I particularly this is important doing on-boarding of new employees. A checklist of required training along with some of the article suggestions such as a mentorship or shadow program would increase employee learning and increase productivity.
The comment above came from Ed.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
ReplyDeleteYour insights regarding the readings this week were very interesting. I loved this quote from your blog post: "While only tertially related to the systematic studies to which the article speaks, it is a powerful reminder, to ALL fields, that systems and devices will not solve problems in and of themselves. It is how we (especially we as instructional designers) weave together the needs, skills, and resources of society, or segments of society, to attend to, or address, problems that will allow us to solve them." As someone who works in educational technology, I think so often users become excited about shiny new tech tools. Although new tech tools can be exciting, these tools should not detract from the purpose of the tools. As designers, we should all work to encourage the best tools for educational purposes. Often, the simplest tech tool is the the tool that will work the best in many educational environments.
-Shanna Sanders
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that technology, systems, or devices themselves cannot solve problems. We have to analyze the problem and then create solutions to the problem that may include the use of technology. However, how we implement the technology is also important. This reminds me of a course I teach, Leadership Development and Change. When implementing change, in this case technology, it is important to use systems thinking. It is also important to evaluate if the change is needed and why. Another key element of change is to get buy in.
I like your idea of reflection papers in corporate organizations. I have spent my career in higher education, but I think this would be motivating and increase education and learning in organizations.