R/D11

After reviewing the competencies of an instructional designer in Table 27.3, one area that I need to improve on is in designing instruction that reflects an understanding of the diversity of learners and groups of learners. Sometimes I do not design my web content for school so that it is Section 508 compliant. For instance, to save time, I often do not include an alt tag (a caption for content such as hyperlinks and images so that it can be read by a screen reader such as Orca or JAWS) in my HTML code on my class website. I do not currently have any students with vision disabilities, but it would be good to have content ready for that type of student in case I did get one or even for parents with vision disabilities. I could also improve my instructional content to better meet the needs of varying ability levels and learning styles. Sometimes I just take into consideration my own learning style when designing lessons and do not think about the individual learning styles of my students. I could do a better job of varying my instructional methods to accommodate these learning styles.

A second area that I could further develop my skills in would be the identifying and describing the target population characteristics. This provides the foundation for the first area that I discussed. In other words, it is necessary to identify learning strengths and weaknesses prior to designing instructional material tailored to meet the needs of a diverse group of learners. Unfortunately, I sometimes do not have adequate class time to do pre-assessments or at least ones that I consider to be thorough enough to pinpoint specific instructional needs. However, in a remedial class that I taught last year, I was able to use computer software to identify individual weaknesses and follow up with a prescribed sequence of lessons. Using instructional technology like this provides me with the information I need to determine the competency of the target population which, in this case, would be the learner as an individual.

Finally, I would like to spend more time examining education journal articles and books so that I could apply this research and theory to my teaching. I have found some very useful information on successful methods of applying various technologies by researching the WMU online library. I hope to use this to improve my instruction.

One area that I am strong in is communicating in visual, oral, and written form. I like to apply dual-coding theory to my instruction and present my information in both visual and verbal form to maximize retention of the material. I found that, paired together, they produce better results than individually. Another one of my better areas is in analyzing technologies and determining how they can be used effectively. I believe that this course has helped me further improve in this area. I try not to focus on simply keeping up with the latest emerging technologies; rather, I also try to look for ways to better utilize already existing technologies. Then finally, I am good about evaluating and assessing instruction and its impact. I keep a daily journal of what worked and what did not work in my lessons. I then use that information to improve my instruction for the next time I teach it. Collecting and analyzing feedback, whether it be feedback from observation, speaking to students, or formal assessments, is vital to success as a teacher.

After looking at the instructional designer, training manager, and instructor competencies, I found that the the ID competencies fit me best. I believe that I am stronger in design than in presentation. Therefore, I hope to find a job that has more of a focus on instructional designer competencies than on training manager and instructor competencies.