Friday, December 17, 2010

Section 7: New Directions for Instructional Design and Technology



Please note that this week's posting is due next Friday, not Sunday as with the previous weeks. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

The last section of your textbook discusses the concepts of distributed learning, reusability, rich media and the future of instructional design. Focus on the following for your post:

    * From Chapter 28 locate 5 examples of distributed learning. You may pick and choose from the following list. 
          o Academic distributed learning - http://www.cdl.edu/cdl_home
          o Hybrid classes - http://www.bvcdl.ca/index.php/programs.html
          o Virtual classes - http://keiseronline.edu-search.com/index.php
              * Chapter 29 discusses the concept of reusability. Think back over the courses you've had over your educational career and identify one with poor reusability characteristics. Explain how the course could be redesigned to improve reusability without changing the underlying content.
    * Chapter 30 takes a look at using rich media. Find or create a visual for instruction describing its surface and functional features.
http://cpd.conted.ox.ac.uk/nanotechnology/nanobasics/nano/interface.html
This example of rich media for education was created at the University of Oxford.  The application is an interactive media learning tool.  The main area in the center houses video and interactive activities.  To the left is the overall course guideline.  To the right is readable explanations of each of the specific “slides” that are being displayed. My favorite interactive example of the entire presentation is the Scale section.  The sliding bar that starts out from Earth and then slides in closer and closure until you are looking at an atom.  That was a really neat interactive example to demonstrate the nanotechnology aspect of size.
    * Chapter 31 discusses the future of instructional technologies in the near future from metadata to nanotechnology. Describe how nanotechnology could be used to improve a specific job or task you are familiar with. 
Being a “Gamer” I would prefer to be an even greater part of the game(s) I play.  Nanotechnology could allow for the direct interaction of a game.  No need for a keyboard or controller.  It could make the ultimate fighting game.  Your avatar in the game moves as you move.  Sure there are motion capture technologies today that are doing similar things, but there are problems with these.  Nanotechnology would allow for unique and precise interaction between humans and technology.
    * And finally! Chapter 32 provides two points of view on the direction of the field - the straight and narrow road and the broad and inclusive road. Which point of view do you agree with and why?
I agree with the broad and inclusive road point of view.  I think Murphy’s law of Combat Operations number 38 puts it best, “Make it too tough for the enemy to get in, and you won't be able to get out.”  There is nothing worse than to take a specific, exclusive approach to anything, especially if it involves something that evolves and changes as quickly as technology.  If the filed does not take a broad inclusive approach, it may kill itself because it will not adapt or change to the world around it. 

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