Week 3 - Direct Instruction

I really liked Ashley and Sara's blog for direct instruction. It was refreshing to different approach than a wiki or Google site; I admit I've probably overused Google sites in my projects. I think for their project it worked out well, and I enjoyed interacting on the blog for a change of pace instead of responding in Vista. Although, I do see two minor issues with the blog format. 1) Long threads can be tough to follow 2) Not everyone has a gmail account some sometimes the post appears as anonymous, so you don't know who posted to whom you're responding.

I thought Ashley and Sara provided some good information on direct instruction. And I'm actually glad there was some disagreement and clarification on the definition of direct instruction, or at least meaning of direct instruction within the context of online courses. I felt that some of the information they provided was not specifically geared towards one shot small unit/lesson individualized online instruction. Seemed like it was more a model of group instruction. In either event, I've been practicing direct instruction in both contexts. In my fly casting school I've been using direct instruction techniques for many years without being aware of the concept. Direction instruction suits my logical mind. I like to break everything down into small steps that are clustered or chunked into small units that built one skill upon the next in a logical sequence until the end goal is reached. And I've designed and developed many job-aids to teach short specific skills to individual, independent learners.

I also really enjoyed this discussion because it allowed me to use some of the knowledge and skills I'm currently learning in my other summer course, instructional design. I think being more aware of the entire process - tuned into the learners needs, the context of learning environment, detailed break down of steps - definitely helped me in producing a quality direct instruction project on how to create a web site in Weebly.

Of course, being a "techie" I found Jacob's discussion on technology interesting. However, I didn't find too many technologies that were new to me. One I did like, and think might be good for instructor feedback or even an introductory activity is Eyejot, http://www.eyejot.com/about.html. Very similar to Tokbox in that user's create a free account, record a message, then send it to another user's mailbox - video email. Only limitation is both people must have an account, and there could be concerns about security or privacy. I like the idea of video introductions, especially for the instructor, but think it's probably best to record and delivery those using KSU tube via Vista.

I think the asynchronous technologies are by far the easier technologies to use, both for instructors and students. Easier in the sense that just like course materials, there is more time to learn how to use it, learn at your own pace, and time to deal with figuring out any technical difficulties. My experience has been both from an instructor's perspective, I developed and delivered a Wimba tutorial which was presented just like a regular class lesson, and a students, having used iLinc, that synchronous technologies are difficult to learn and use well. Lots of features, requires better technology skills and equipment, greater possibility for technical difficulty with duplex audio and video, take more practice to learn, etc. Not that I'm complaining, that's future job security for me ; )