Story in 5 frames

Here's my story. I just love these pictures because of the joy they convey and they remind me of a great time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yolmx/sets/72157602832616364/

The Design Challenge

Reading chapter 6, The Design Challenge, reminded me of some of the challenges I'm facing in designing the instructional project for Beatty's 801 class. I noticed parallels where designers must please their clients, who are often not the end users. If a designer doesn't take the time to know the users, the usability or ease of their design may not be clear to the users. There is also the consideration of time and cost going into design. These considerations affect the final product and its usability or understanding to the user.
Similarly, in instructional design, a common problem is that the designers are not the instructor and do not know the learners well. When a thorough learner and context analysis is not done preliminarly, the instructional design often comes out flawed and/or is ineffective. Whether designing for instruction, or a user product, good designers anticipate problems and become as knowledgable as possible about the target population (whether they are students, factory workers, corporate employees or an end-user of a product.)
Norman pointed out the examples of problems designing toasters, faucets, tables, and even rulers for the left-handed person! Interestingly enough, he also pointed out how to do things wrong. So if I simply deduct the opposite, I should be able to design things in the "right" way. Let's take a look:
Wrong: Make things invisible, Right: Make things visible
Wrong: Be arbitrary, Right: Be rational and objective
Wrong: Be inconsistent, Right: Be consistent
Wrong: Make operations unintelligible, Right: Make operations easy to follow and understand
Wrong: Be impolite, Right: Be polite and considerate
Wrong; Make operations dangerous, Right: Be safe!

Left, Right, Left, Right

Am I a right brainer, or a left brainer? Traditionally, I have thought of myself as a "leftie". I like to read manuals, I like to follow step-by-step directions to understand things. I like things concrete and explainable. But since becoming a teacher, and also after taking several courses in the ITEC graduate program, I have had to tap into my right brain and think of myself as a creative person.
I'm also a person that learns and gains meaning by talking. I conversed with my teenage daughter about our text, "A Whole New Mind, Why Right Brainers Will Rule The World". She got very excited when she found out right brainers will rule the world, because she definitely considers herself more or a creative person, and does NOT like to take standardized tests. Pink states that the U.S. of yesteryear, success was based on knowledge society. The SAT-ocracy emerged, where the ability to reason logically, sequentially and speedily was the key to sucess. Pink's book states that our economy now needs an edge in order to succeed, and that's where right brain talents come in. "Today, we are all in the art business".
Conversing about left and right brainers, we envisioned a story to highlight the differences. The story goes like this:
Two very different people in high school are friends. One is more a a left-brainer, good in math, excellent test taker, etc. The other is the right-brainer "arsty" friend, involved in theatre, creative writing and art class. They graduate from high school, one goes to MIT and graduates as an accountant, the other goes enters a fine arts school and becomes a video producer. Years later, they meet and compare what their lives are like, and the accountant spends most of his time in an office, while the video producer is living the high life in Los Angeles. This is an oversimplification of left and right brainers, and in reality both students would be using their whole mind to be successful. Afterall, the accountant is going to need to be able to attract and relate to her clients and the video producer will need to have organizational skills to function in society.

Educational Blogging Reflection

I was very interested in reading about educational blogging, having actually seen one in action, created by fellow classmate Aaron Boyd, with his high school economics class. Blogs are thought of as new, or maybe not so new ways of communication in a open forum. I think the fact that blogs are public, is key in that it makes students more aware of their writing. Key words that stood out to me were that blogs are short, informal, sometimes controversial or deeply personal.
It appears that blogs will become more and more pervasive in education. For teachers, it facilitates how to set up curriculum, disperse timely information, organize class discussions and conduct assessment. For students, blogs provide a platform where their "voice" can be heard equally. Students are motivated and excited when they know others can read and respond to their comments. I think it will be important to be aware of installed applications where access can be controlled (for example, the blog is private and accessed only among teachers and students). Ultimately, blogs are motivating, they break down barriers, are current and have immediacy. Nobody is immune!

Learning for 21st Century

Learning for the 21st Century

In the Mile Guide for 21st Century skills, I couldn’t help but think that the whole report was a bit unrealistic. I have been in education for 10 years, in many different capacities, and I although the plan is commendable, I have only seen it in practice in independent and private schools. The letter to America’s Education Leaders states that, “Clearly, we must work together to fully prepare people for the challenges of work and life in the 21st century”. There is a partnership between major businesses and education organizations, and what I would like to know is, how do the public schools in San Francisco, that I have worked with, get to be one of the schools lucky enough to be a partner in this program?

One of the biggest challenges I see to the “plan” is one of establishing a technology infrastructure. It seems that the ability to have a technology infrastructure depends on the ebb and flow of the school budgets. At the beginning of my teaching career, my school’s budget was “fat” and we were able to purchase all the hardware to set up a computer lab geared to preparing and educating the students in a technology forum. Two years later, after developing a computer technology curriculum based on the California academic and technology standards, budgets were cut, and not only could the lab not be preserved and maintained, the Curriculum Technology Integrator (CTI) teaching position could not even be funded! I am a credentialed teacher, and therefore went into the classroom, but the whole program that I had developed just disintegrated. Needless to say, it was very disappointing to the teaching staff, the students and the extended community. The report summed it up in two sentences: Budgets are tight. Demands are intense.

Talking about intense demands, schools in San Francisco, run in on a shoestring budget. Classrooms are overcrowded, understaffed and lack educational materials. I agree with the whole premise presented by the article, we must prepare the future generations for learning in the 21st century! However, until our federal and state governments fully commit to all schools to incorporate the key elements, with funding and resources, then children will be left behind, and no teacher will be left standing.

First Blog Post to itec 830

Hello Fellow itec830 classmates. I'm not even sure where this will be posting to, but Dr. Foreman said to "play" and have fun with this. Hoping to become much more of an expert and actually create a blog with some interesting info and semi-intelligent banter.
I'm pretty amazed with this Web 2.0 thing. My fifteen year-old is all over it, using MySpace, Facebook, Photobucket, Flickr (I lose count).
Hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather this past Labor Day Weekend.