Response to “First Principles of Instruction” by M. David Merrill & Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, by Will Richardson

“Today’s schools are faced with a difficult dilemma that pits a student body that has grown up immersed in technology against a teaching faculty that is less facile with the tools of the trade” (Richardson p.6)

After reading the first three chapters of Richardson’s book, and reading Merrill’s “First Principles of Instruction” it became clear to me that the fundamental challenge that awaits the system of education is how to use current instructional design theories to implement a change in how we use technology (mainly the Internet) in the classroom.

Merrill explains and elaborates on the commonality of many of the widely excepted instructional design theories. He discusses Reigeluth’s ideas that we should “…concentrate on what is taught rather than how we teach” (Merrill p.43). Merrill alludes to Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, Jonassen’s and Shank’s ideas on problem solving, and Van Merrienboer’s ideas on sequencing. What Merrill’s paper stressed is the idea that these theories all have some common elements. So how can these common elements all relating to problem solving; integration, activation, demonstration, application, and experience, be used to solve the problem of the read/write web discussed by Richardson?

First, we need to discuss the problems with the read/write web in education. As Richardson states, “…the Read/Write Web is changing our relationship to technology and rewriting the age old paradigms of how things work” (Richardson p.3). The main problems Richardson discusses are how technology is ever changing and we as teachers are behind where are students are in the learning curve. He also talks about the “toolbox” of ways to publish and maintain information. He list Weblogs, wikis, rich site summary, aggregators, and social bookmarking as some of the main tools. The question shared by both Merrill and Richardson is how teachers, schools, and the system implement this technology in the classroom?

When you “mesh” the two readings together the answer becomes clearer. We (as educators) need to approach the implementation and pedagogy of these technologies the same way we would approach any new curriculum. We must take instructional design theories that we know work in the classroom and apply them to the read/write web. I know what your thinking, sounds to simple. What is really going to blow your mind is when I ask you, how do we choose the instructional design theory, if as Merrill states; they have so many common elements?

The answer is one of the best parts about being a teacher. We get to decided what will work best for our students through trail and error. We have to approach the read/write web with the basic understanding that we know less then our students, not easy to admit but true. As Richardson discusses, we are really showing students the way to effectively use the technology with what we are teaching. There are so many benefits of weblogging, and wikis that we can not afford to not use them in the classroom or we have failed as educators.

~Jeremy Mellon

Times have changed

Times have completely changed over the last 10 years in schools throughout the country. 10 years ago we didn't even have computer labs in school, most students were carrying around beepers and getting their 911 page to let them know the number calling them was important.
Students today have to deal with cyber bullying, Internet hazing, other people placing photos of them online and making comments.
It almost makes you wish for the old days when it was just a guy named Biff bullying a skinny kid named McFly.

Technology Innovation Synthesis

Reaction Paper #4
Synthesis

Often they are underpaid, overworked, under-appreciated, and lacking their own free time. Of course I mean teachers! The common characteristic that I saw between all the presentations was the role of the teacher as the facilitator of technology innovations that are implemented in a systemic way. Through staff development, bringing recess back, technology literacy standards, alternative schools, the misuse of technology, foreign language development, and interactive whiteboards; teachers are truly the “middles” of the system. Often they are told what, how and when to implement this technology but are left to really make the systems work.
While viewing all of the presentations it became clear to me that the teachers are being given a technology innovation and told to implement it into a system. The focus of the implementation for almost all the presenters was how the teachers can make the innovation a systemic change. This stood out to me because as we have learned, systems are multifaceted and how each part interacts will determine the success of the system. Each presenter focused on how teachers usually do not get a strong “voice”. So in their presentations, they implemented the innovation as a systemic change with the teacher making the authority decisions and making sure the parts interacted in a successful way.
It was interesting to know that while teachers commonly feel that they are over worked and that they do not have enough time, they quickly would give themselves more responsibility like the authority decision making and the implementation power of these new technologies to make a systemic change. So the question that needs to be asked is why? Why would teachers give themselves more work and more accountability? Why did all of the presenters choose to make the teacher the most important part of the implementation process? The answer is quite simple; teachers know that if they can make the decisions based on research and their knowledge of best classroom practices, these innovations will be successful and lead to systemic changes that will last.
The presenter for implementing systematic change through staff development spoke about how teachers should be making the choices of how they want to actually develop. It was a novel concept, teachers choosing how they should become better teachers! This presenter placed the teacher as the authority decision maker.
During the presentation on implementation of interactive whiteboards, it was clear that the teacher would facilitate the how the “boards” were used. The teachers would be the one who would determine if a systematic change would take place. Teachers were also presented as the soldiers that would need to lead the fight against the misuses of technology by students. Teachers would need to development and implement a new curriculum to address those misuses.
The presentation on alternative school programs made one thing clear; the teacher would be the reason for the success of the program using their decision making, command, and motivational skills to successfully implement the program. The focus on the program was between the interaction of teacher and student, and how this interaction paced the way for success.
Through language development innovations, and the “bringing back recess” presentations, we were shown how the teacher’s creative abilities would ultimately determine the success of the innovation as a change. During the differentiated instruction presentation we saw how the teacher would be most effective if they were given a greater ability to make the decisions in the implementation process. Presentation after presentation showed us how systematic change would be more successful if teachers had the authority decision role. What I took away from all of these presentations was that teachers need a greater role in the decision, and implementation process. When changes are made, teachers are generally left trying to put the pieces of a puzzle together that do not fit. When teachers are more involved in the actual process they can create a “3D” puzzle that will last.

Web 2.0: I'm Bringing it, whos coming with me?

Implementation of Web 2.0:

The process to begin Web 2.0 will begin with the Middle School. Our Middle School is already grouped by teams. These teams consist of all of the core subjects; for instance the yellow team has a math teacher, a science teacher, an English teacher, and a social studies teacher. They meet everyday to discuss what they are teaching and how the students are using the information.

They can implement web 2.0 by creating all of the necessary components as a team in the beginning of the school year during the in service days.

• They will create a social bookmark so when they begin projects they will have a running online list of their favorites that the teachers can share with each other and their students.
• Each teacher will record important lectures to post on their podcast. That way students can revisit the information and use it when they work on their projects. Parents will also be able to hear what their children are learning so that they can help them if needed.
• All assignments, important information, and projects will be posted to the team's website. Students, and parents will be able to access the website at all times so they can see what is due.
• The teachers can collaborate with one another to share ideas and work as a cohesive team. They can create cross-curricular activities so as students are learning they will say, "We are doing something similar to this in English"

What the BLOG?

Reaction...
"A Day in the Life of Web 2.0"
Blogging seems like an excellent idea for teachers to keep in touch with their students...

The question becomes the time. When you first introduce the average teacher to the blogging world, confusion sets in. What is a blog? How does it work? Is there a thing called "blogspeak"? These are many of the questions that the beginner has. If you told the average teacher they would need to blog on their own time they would laugh and say, "what time"? The truth of the matter is this; blogging is the future (or at least will be for a few years until something else replaces it). Teachers need to set the tone and find out all of the great things that can be done with blogging.

Time...to steal a quote from the tv show Lost, "the universe has a way of course correction". If you give up a little time here and there to learn how to blog, it will probably save you time in the future when blogging will be required. Do yourself a favor - learn how to do it now so you won't be more than a year behind your students.

How do you blog and what is it? I recommend checking out "A Day in the Life of Web 2.0" by David Warlick.