Key Concept 2

2.1 Candidates will be able to apply instructional design models to improve lesson design.

In ED602, Dr. Keane gave us the opportunity to use the Understanding by Design (UbD) template to redesign a unit. The goal of UbD is to allow teachers to work with backwards design, focusing first on outcomes and then reverse engineering to design curriculum, assessments, and instruction. The ultimate goal of UbD is to teach for understanding, and the template helped me look at a staid, traditional lesson (in British Literature, no less, which is staid and traditional to being with!) and spice it up with engaging activities and technology in order to help every student achieve. As I look back on it now, I see many elements that we just learned about in ET631, at the end of our cohort experience, echoed in this, one of our first assignments. Many of the activities I added, in fact, seen to have unconsciously aligned with the R2D2 model of online learning. I used readings, viewings, and student creations to help my learners better grasp what used to be a sit-and-get lecture.

Since real-world or hands-on experiences are so critical to a learner's being able to connect prior knowledge with new knowledge, one major component I transformed was the Inaugual Kenning Challenge. In the screencase below the UbD template, you can see my explanation of what students undertook in order to better understand this Anglo-Saxon literary device.

While it may seem intuitive to being with the goals you wish to accomplish and then work backwards, oftentimes, teachers are rushed and time is at a premium. We don't always accomplish those simple goals. The UbD framework and its steps helped me focus better on what I could do in the same time, with better resources, and facilitate my students into more learning and better learning experiences.