Over the course of the Instructional Design and Technology program, I have successfully been able to apply sound pedagogical practices by aligning my work, and my evaluations of that work, with instructional design models, learning theories, and instructional theories. For each of my major projects, including the artifacts displayed in my portfolio, I used research and literature to support my design and development choices. As described in my Evaluation Plan and Evaluation Report, my Atoms and the Periodic Table Canvas Course was designed, developed, and revised by applying Keller’s ARCS Model and the ADDIE Instructional Design Model. My other artefacts and projects including my Learning Sciences and Technology Final Project, my Assessment Portfolio, and my Mobile Application Design Project were also great opportunities for me to apply pedagogical best practices to the design and development of various educational materials including assessments, a mobile application, and other learning experiences.
For each project during this program, I worked diligently to identify the learning needs, outcomes, and context of the population that each project would apply to. After identifying what the specific learners' needs and outcomes were, I used systematic approaches and instructional design literature to best create tools or educational materials that would support the learners in question. To do this, it was important to me that I understand the learners that I would be designing content for. At the beginning of development of each project and artefact, I identified the population of learners, the learning outcomes, and the context and understanding that those learners would have gone into using the materials that I was designing. A common practice for me was to create a course map of planning document as a part of this process. Similarly, my Evaluation Plan and Evaluation Report describe my rigorous methodology behind selecting participants to test out the Atoms and the Periodic Table Canvas Course. Each of these serves as an exhibit of my understanding of how to tailor instruction to meet specific needs. The systematic design process is also exhibited in my evolutionary and revision-based prototyping in projects such as the Mobile Application Design Project and Articulate Storyline Project. These assignments specifically taught me and showcased my ability to apply a methodical, evidence-based approach to creating instructional materials that are developed based on learners' needs.
Coming from a background of teaching, I was already familiar with many educational technology tools before beginning the Instructional Design and Technology Program. However, over the course of this program, I have learned, used, and created many other technology tools to create meaningful and real-world based learning experiences for students that cater to their specific needs. Through assignments like my Evaluation Plan, Evaluation Report, and Mobile Application Design Project, I considered ways to adjust my designs to better serve learners, ensuring that my work was both functional and user-friendly. Projects like the Atoms and The Periodic Table Canvas Course and Articulate Storyline highlight my ability to integrate technology effectively into learning environments, producing error-free, interactive artifacts that enhance learning experiences for students.
I have learned many strategies and assessment methods for evaluating learning technologies during my experience in the Instructional Design and Technology Program. In assignments like my Evaluation Plan and Evaluation Report, I collected data on the effectiveness of a specific learning technology that I had created and performed rigorous and methodical data analysis. Knowing that data analysis and assessment methods should be researched based and replicable, I used evaluation methods that were backed by literature and provided thorough descriptions of my data analysis processes.
There were many learning experiences for myself that required me to analyze and synthesize research on emerging trends in learning technologies. Specifically, my Mobile Application Design Project, Learning Sciences and Technology Final, Evaluation Plan, and Evaluation Report required me to review and apply literature around emerging trends in education technology. I was successfully able to support my claims and designs with evidence pulled from that research, connecting theories to real-world application and designs. Through these learning experiences, I feel I have had opportunities to contribute to the field of instruction design and technology.