INTRODUCTION
I will be designing and teaching an English I course for 9th grade students. This is a year-long course designed to provide 9th graders with an overview of literary genres. The students will read poems, short stories, and novels. They will learn to appreciate the distinctive qualities of literature. They will also be expected to write and practice grammatical skills. To become better writers, students will write a variety of compositions including paragraphs, discussions, and a research project. Vocabulary development will increase based on reading selections. Speaking/listening standards will be assessed through various presentations, discussions, and self-reflections.
Instructional Design Theories
Instructional design is the process of creating effective materials that help students learn what those materials are meant to teach. At base, instructional design is “a set of rules—or procedures, you could say—for creating [learning] that does what it is supposed to do” (Piskurich, 2005, p. 3).
The core elements of instructional design are analysis, design, development, evaluation, and implementation. This is the ADDIE model that Bates (2015) references. I will be using a mixture of theories to teach my digital learners. Digital learning is very unique because the same way we cater to our students in person, we have to do it even more when teaching digitally. We have to carefully design a course that is accessible to each learning style. Scaffolding is going to the one of the key factors in this journey.
References
Bates, A.W. (2015). Teaching in a digital age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage
Piskurich, G. M. (2005). Rapid instructional design: Learning ID fast and right. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
UbD Plan Implementation
I implemented the UbD plan in my learning environment to help me plan and roll out new activities and concepts for my students. It is more straight to the point and easier to follow for other teachers and even students. The UbD design has helped me plan, outline and focus on the key points I want to target.
In Understanding by Design, Wiggins and Mctighe discusses backwards design focusing on how the students are able to understand the context. The main goal for the teachers’ is to plan and organize the lessons for students to get the most out of their learning. At times teachers just focus on the lesson/objective and not what students’ are actually suppose to get out of the activity. The UbD design helps teachers really focus on what will really grow the student.
References
Wiggins, Grant, and McTighe, Jay. (1998). Backward Design. In Understanding by Design (pp. 13-34). ASCD.
Importance of Online Learning
Online learning is very important for students especially in the state that we are in. Because of the pandemic, learning has already been evolving. Teachers and students have had to adapt to the world of Educational Technology. I believe that being able to teach and provide education and courses online, will provide students more accessibility to instruction. Students will have more opportunity to take learning into their own hands, which will help them take accountability. This is another reason why I want to utilize Eportfolios in the classroom, so that students can take their learning into their own hands.
Segaran, M.K. & Hasim Z (2021). Reflection enables a learner to evaluate his or her learning strategies which, in the case of the ePortfolio, are captured in an online platform. Student-centered learning is seen as a powerful medium for achieving the goal of students becoming active. Participants in learning, who can deal with complex phenomena and solving problems in the most innovative and imaginative ways. At the same time, technology plays an important role in promoting this change.
Technology is how we will continue to increase innovation within education.
References
Segaran, M. K., & Hasim, Z. (2021). Self-Regulated Learning through ePortfolio: A Meta-Analysis. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, 18(1), 131–156.
Enduring Understanding
EDLD 5318 has taught me how to create a course. This past 5 weeks I have designed an actual English I course for my class. I have planned outlines, studied scholars and their articles. I feel confident about course design. I also am aware of the importance of catering my course to my students and making my instructions extremely explicit and detailed. This semester I am planning on creating a course that holds all our work and assignments. This could also be used unless we have to return to our homes, because of the Pandemic. It is better to be over prepared in most cases. I want students to have access and unlimited opportunities to succeed. This has been a tough few years for all of us in Houston, Tx. First it was Hurricane Harvey, then the Pandemic, then the Freeze. I believe we all could use some extra time and opportunity.
The Digital Millenial 