Well eventually it happened...I had to break ice in the "blogging world"....probably, I would have kept procrastinating the possibility of blogging, but I had to do it. As part of the requirement for the course my goal was to "search for and explore various blogs and resource sites relevant to the field of instructional design". I told myself: "Self, brace yourself it could be a bumpy ride". Came to find out it was not such a terrible experience. At least I was broken in gently to this new thing called "BLOG". The word even sounds "funny" to me it reminds me of some 60's movie, "The BLOB", remember...well probably this is new for some of you that were not born back then, but let me not digress...what's important I started looking at the suggested blogs.
My first visit was to IDEAS:Instructional Design for eLearning Approaches. I started here thinking, maybe this site will give me "ideas" on what to add to "my blog", then I realized that this blog thing is not about pouring my opinions on a specific topic, but to share with others professional articles and experiences. Needless to say the video "Blog in Plain English", was a great help, I think we all can agree that it really is "plain simple dummy/foolproof English".
As I stepped into the website, I found myself, looking at so many interesting articles about Instructional Design. Especially in an area I am interested in, teaching traditional faculty strategies for using technology out of the classroom, teaching even when you're not in the classroom.. Let's face it, the transition from a traditional classroom to a virtual learning environment is moving really fast. Classrooms don't need walls, just a round trip ticket to the information highway. In his blog, Krauss refers to Prof. Mark Kassop's article, "Ten Ways Online Education Matches, or Surpasses, Face-to-Face Learning." , who supports that "web-based education has the potential to change the way students learn" We can see the effects of this school of thought as more "brick and mortar institutions" move towards a blended or online environment. After reading this article I thought, what would my role be as an instructional designer (ID) to help make this happen? It takes two to tango, so I guess this will be an effort of three, ID, faculty and administration. Also, I found an article on strategies for faculty development, one of them by Gold, titled "Constructivist training for Online Teachers". I have participated in face to face constructivist training, but looking for strategies for online teaching is a different story. I was very excited to read this article,it would be extremely interesting to apply. I will definitively bookmark this blog, there is plenty to read and share here.
My second stop was Word Press . This one I choose because of the name, it remind me of a publisher. It end up being very informative, I liked the structure, it was not too busy, plus the first article posted is about eLearning in a Blended Environment. Awesome! something I am interested in...you know the more I dig the more I like. It's like a triple chocolate cake with chocolate covered strawberries on top!! I am liking this "Instructional Designing thing" a bit more everyday . On this site I ventured to read more of the responses and postings. Being a Steven Covey avid reader, one particular section caught my attention, "Design" since it lists the "Seven Principles of effective Instructional Design". These seven principles very well could be adapted from a traditional classroom , to a blended or a virtual one. Another one to read feedback later on. Check!
The last stop was Internet Time Blog. For a beginner like me this experience, helped a lot. first it has a glossary (I bookmarked it) of ID terminology explained like books for Dummies series, please excuse my candidness. it is explain in such terms that it is up there like the "...in plain English videos" . Besides the Glossary, there are so many other articles included in the Archives, there is one, "How People Learn", this article is a doorway to find strategies that will enable educators reach students with all types of learning styles. That will lead me to my next voyage, Week 2 Learning and the Brain.