April Hayman

Goodbye…and Hello!

Jan 22

April HaymanFeatured, ISTE, Opinion, Uncategorized Higher education, ISTE, Professional development, Technology No Comments

Image by janusz l via Flickr

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 come to an end. And, with a heavy heart, I must say goodbye to the friends and colleagues I have come to know so well.

And say hello to my new colleagues at ISTE. As of January 25, I will be working for this terrific organization as an instructional designer. I look forward to creating professional development that is informative, timely, and innovative. I find this opportunity exciting as I hope to continue my personal mission to help teachers prepare our kids for a world increasingly dependent on technology and the increasing amounts of available information.

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My Predictions for Learning Trends for 2010

Jan 01

April HaymanFeatured, Opinion No Comments

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:

1. a redefinition of the terms “teacher” and “student” and “subject matter expert” because of open source content
2. the emergence of a new marketplace system dependent upon open source resources and content
3. open source software accepted on its own merits and not as a “poor cousin”
4. connections between ourselves (personal), each other (social), and networks (technological) becoming ubiquitous and it will seem odd if someone doesn’t have some kind of mobile or computing device on their person at all times
5. social learning becoming a buzzword
6. e-books and e-textbooks increase in popularity and online library resources increase
7. real time communication, through Twitter, texting, etc., leveraged by teachers in the classroom
8. collaboration becomes the norm rather than the exception as educators and colleagues use wikis and Google Wave to communicate and create
9. young people becoming meaning-makers and being taken seriously for their efforts, interest, and contributions
10. social action combining with learning to make a positive change while learners receive hands on education

I am not the only one making predictions! Here is one that I hope comes with goggles and a really cool nerf gun mod:

So, what does your crystal ball tell you?

Chicken and the Egg: Skill or Quality

Dec 03

April HaymanFeatured, Opinion, instructional design character trait, effective learning, instructional design, instructional designer, skill 4 Comments

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 and practice.

If I have skill to hammer nails effectively it does not mean that is an inherent quality. The quality would be to have a “pride of work” to make sure the nails are straight and not bent outside the wood.

Anyway, my point is that Connie’s fabulous post relates to Cammy Bean’s post about accidental instructional designers.

Hold on. I’m getting to the connection.

If an accidental designer uses the skills to develop effective learning does he or she already have the qualities inherent in Connie’s list?

It’s like the chicken and the egg conundrum. Which comes first: skill or quality?

This is only my opinion, but I think that quality must come first. A designer, even an accidental one, must first have the undeveloped characteristics Connie lists. Then, when thrown into the role of instructional designer, he or she would find that some aspects of the job come easier because they already have those qualities. The skills learned can then hone the qualities that he or she already has.

If I play devil’s advocate, though, I could say that when an accidental instructional designer is thrown into the frying pan (hey, that sounds like a good idea. Why don’t you spearhead that?), he or she must quickly acquire the skills to design and develop learning. The qualities then come as a natural by-product of those skills, particularly over time.

So, in your opinion, which comes first: skill or quality?