Reflection Week 5 - What is instructional design?

Using Flickr for photos has been quite fun. I have never even so much as downloaded a picture to send anyone.  I'm more of a "hardcopy" kind of girl!  However, after finding some old pictures on my computer, downloading was a lot of fun after I finally figured out what to do.  I'm excited to use it in my scrapbooking retreat business.  Now I can direct "my girls" to this site so they can see the pictures and group photo now and not have to wait for the hardcopy at the next retreat!

I can see using Flickr with units in Spanish and geography.   Having been to Central America and Spain, I would use these educational photos to share my experiences and first-hand knowledge with the students .  I could direct them to certain photos that related to the Spanish-speaking country that we would be studying at the time.  One concern I have about this is that certain students might go in and delete photos or edit the descriptions (and in not a favorable way!).  This is one drawback.  Another is that not all students would have access to look at the photos or have internet that would allow the photos to be viewed.  A way to remedy that would be to use an LCD projector in class. This way all the students could see the photos at the same time, and we could discuss them together.

As in Instructional Design, I see ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) used in developing educational lesson plans.  I usually analyze what needs to be taught and then design a plan of attack.  The developing aspect comes next where I am able to actually come up with the lectures and accompanying materials that are associated with them.  Implemention includes actually teaching the lessons.  And of course, evaluation is where the testing comes to play.  Throughout this whole process, I am constantly revising because I want to make sure that all the students are progressing.  I may have to make changes along the way and redo several of the steps.

Unlike the more complicated process involved in Instructional Design, I see many teachers completing these lesson plans on their own or with one or two other teachers assigned with the same subject.  In Instructional Design, there are many people involved because of the "size, scope, and technical complexity" (p. 14) of the project, especially if it's high-tech.

My photo site is http://flickr.com/photos/rose_weaver