For the past three years I have worked as an instructional designer at Performance Learning Systems. It was a great experience and I learned quite a bit about design, teamwork, and myself. I have made some great friends while developing online higher education for teachers. But, like all great things, my time with PLS has [...]
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My Predictions for Learning Trends for 2010
In my crystal ball, the future is murky…so very very murky…but wait! It clears just a bit. Listen carefully for this is what I see:
a redefinition of the terms “teacher” and “student” and “subject matter expert” because of open source content
the emergence of a new marketplace system dependent upon open source resources and content
open source [...]
Chicken and the Egg: Skill or Quality
Connie Malamed has a really great post on the 10 Qualities of the Ideal Instructional Designer. What I like best about her list is that I can see most of those qualities in myself.
*puffs her chest out*
Then I realized that qualities are not skills.
*deflates a bit*
Quality is a personality or character trait.
Skill comes from knowledge [...]
Kinetic Typography
Ever seen the very cool YouTube video “The Machine is Us/ing Us“? If you have, you’ve already experienced kinetic typography. In general, kinetic typography is a mix of motion and text and can include music or voice overs. I know that when I watch this type of video I am more inclined to pay attention to the information or what the author has to say than if it is just music, just motion, or just text. I’m not sure if you could do an entire course this way, but wouldn’t it be interesting to use kinetic typography as a central theme?
I could certainly see it used as a way to engage students and then offer them directions in which to explore the topic at hand. And, if using a social platform like an Elgg installation, the learning could be social as well.
Here are a few examples:
“Kinetic Typography of Human Rights” walks you through Article 1 of United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This might be an excellent way to get the conversation started about human rights, social change, world politics, etc. It has the added bonus of taking a long and sometimes dry document and making it visually appealing in a way that impacts the viewer.
“Social Life, with Friends” is a poem by Kenneth Koch and set in kinetic typography with a voice over. While this might be used to teach poetry, I can see it as a stepping stone to discussing what teens face on a daily basis and how they see the future. Or maybe its a warning from adults to teens about the future? Either way, its certainly topical even if the poet is no longer alive (he passed in 2002).
Admittedly not all of the kinetic text is purely educational. For example, I found a very sweet robot trying to outdistance the text to “Help!” by the Beatles:
How would you use kinetic typography for elearning? Instructional design should never be static (ha ha) but could this be used in an effective manner for learning?
2009 in Review
The Learning Circuits’ Big Question for December 2009 is “what did you learn about learning in 2009?”
Wow, what a tough question. Overall, I realized that learning is not what I thought it was. I think that the following five “aha moments” show what I learned about learning this year:
1. I’ll never know all the information I want in a tangible and applicable way even if I stay up 72 hours in a row going through tutorials, using software, asking questions, or reading. I learned that I have limits (nooooo! said the SuperMom) and am better for it. Now I can focus on the stuff that matters.
2. I have doubts about the learning styles veracity. There. I said it. The whole concept of visual, auditory, kinesthetic learning is too pat, too neat to explain the myriad wonders of the human brain, nervous system and how we process information. If you agree/disagree with that statement, feel free to post a comment and let the discussion begin!
3. The attention that my posts on developing an e-portfolio for instructional designers humbled me. It was a topic that, apparently, needed exploration and I am glad that I was able to offer a springboard for others in my field.
4. Social networking is not just for saying “hi” to long-lost college buddies. It is a means to learn in any byte size needed (Twitter, blogging, Digg, Delicious, etc). I learned more about instructional design within the past few months watching tweets come through Twhirl than I had in the previous six months before using Twitter. Social learning is the next step in e-learning (if it isn’t already).
5. Open source, open learning, open everything is something that resonates with me. I have learned more about open source in this past year than I realized after conversing with a colleague. This will most likely be the focus of my dissertation (yes, I began my PhD this year).
Now for my top posts, as determined by number of hits. Since I moved my blog recently to a hosted solution, some of the following links will point back to my original blog (aprilhayman.wordpress.com).
- How To Develop an Instructional Design Portfolio
- TCC 2009: Using Social Networking Tools to Build Learning Communities: A Case Study of the Punahou Technology Lab School Ning
- How to Develop an Instructional Design ePortfolio – Part 2
- How to Develop an Instructional Design ePortfolio – Part 3
- How to Develop an Instructional Design ePortfolio – Part 4
- Chicken and the Egg: Skill or Quality
- Food for Thought: Timothy Ferriss, learning and instructional design
- Open Source and Design Challenges
What I learned most, though, was that the community created, supported, and participated in by educators is second to none. You are a fabulous group of people who have given me food for thought and made me excited to learn from you about what you do, how you do it, and why you do it. I want to thank each you for the selfless giving of your time and energy.
I can’t wait for 2010!