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EDLD 5368 Instructional design
Teacher and student Learning styles and methodologies. On this page you will find the files for the inventories used to evaluate teacher style and methodologies and student learning style. Teaching style Inventory Learning style Inventory

Here is a link to schoology, a web tool that allows teachers to create online courses. If you are interested in creating a course just look for instructions on the users guide in the schoology website. http://www.schoology.com

Here are the postings made in the discussion board on weeks 1,2, 3, 4, and 5. Learning Beliefs and InventoriesThis week you completed a pre-inventory and a post-inventory of your Learning Theory Beliefs. You read three articles on instructional design. You completed a Teaching Style Inventory and administered a Learning Styles inventory to your students.Keep in mind all of that work as you reflect on the following discussion questions:• What did you learn about your learning theory beliefs from this activity? • What did you learn about yourself and your students based on the learning inventories?
 * Week 1**

Once I completed the inventories and this week readings, I can say that I'm currently using a little bit of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism in my instruction, just because of the grade level I'm working with. Right now EC students require a lot of teaching/exposure in self awareness/control, motivation, knowledge of actions and consequences, relate daily experiences to lessons, and responsibility, to mention some. It is very hard to implement them on a regular basis because they are still developing physically, emotionally, and mentally, and that requires a lot of supervision, repetition, questioning, patience, and of course hard work.
 * Since I teach pre-k it was very difficult for me to perform a class inventory, however, I have been testing my students in different ways for the past 2 weeks and I always take notes about how they perform and then I graph their testing behaviors so I can try different approaches the next time, therefore I was very lucky to have those notes because I was able to determine what percentage belong to each one of the learning styles. 40% are visual, 15% are auditory, and 45% where tactile. I use in my classroom a little bit of everything so I can reach the majority of my students, and since I have some SPED students, using a variety of materials for teaching let you work with all the different abilities within your students. I have to say that I like more the theory of multiple intelligences rather than learning styles because it gives you a wide list of skills that an individual can have and how to reach those individual needs.

Defining and Assessing UnderstandingAccording to Wiggins and McTighe (2000), some teachers believe their students should “really understand,” others want their students to “internalize knowledge” and yet others want their students to “grasp the core or essence.” Do these mean the same thing? When a student really understands, what will he do that he will not do when he does not understand? What is your definition of understanding and how do you assess understanding?
 * Week 2**


 * My definition of understanding is to put in practice what was taught in the classroom into the real life. At the grade level I'm teaching at, is very difficult to assess understanding because students are not fully physically/mentally developed. However, when one of my students make connections of what is happening around him to what I have been teaching, then I can tell that he/she is understanding why those events are happening. When students understand a lesson, you can actually see a "spark" in their eyes, and you know that something is going on in their heads. "Big ideas" come naturally when curriculum, and real life (meaningful exposure/background knowledge) are aligned.

Designing InstructionLast week, we began our discussion of “backward design.” Steps 1 and 2 of the template focused on an identified need and then the desired results. Educators are not accustomed to designing instruction in this manner. In this week’s discussion board, share with your colleagues what steps you would normally use in designing instruction. Also, discuss your overall impression of the “backward design” process. What are the pros and cons of designing instruction in this manner?
 * Week 3**

the backward design is a process that we already follow in our campus, we are teachers, learners, and designers. We really "design our lessons to meet specific purposes thru curriculum and learning experiences" as Wiggins and McTighe say (2005 p. 13). I think the pros of this process is that lessons are planned with the end in mind and is much easier to modify/adapt lessons to cover specific needs of our students. I just see a con, and that is time consuming. Teachers really need to spend time in planning for that end of the year objective and figure a way to modify the lessons and make them fun and easy to understand.
 * Normally, I plan lessons that are linked to the end of the year goals. I start introducing the topic by exposing the children to the materials, and skills that we want them to have. We assess every 6 weeks and we have a tool that compiles all the aspects that we want them to accomplish and we work on them the whole year. By the end of school year most of the students accomplished their goals, and at the same time we cover all the content dictated by the district. I'm very fortunate to have a great team of administrators and colleagues that collaborate and give idea on what lessons to do and how to implement them.

In 2007, the Sloan Consortium issued a report on the extent and nature of online learning in K-12 schools. The overall number of K-12 students engaged in online courses in 2007-2008 was estimated at 1,030,000. Sloan-C also reported that more than 4.6 million students were taking at least one online college course during the fall 2008 term, a 17 percent increase over the number reported the previous year.Post to the discussion board using the following questions as a guide to respond to the Sloan-C reports. • How do you see online education being used in your classroom, campus and district?• What type of staff development do you think K-12 teachers need in order to begin to develop and implement online learning? • What impact will this type of teaching and learning have on the business world?
 * Week 4**

Online Education is being used in my district as a way to combine traditional education and 21st century education. It is more used at college/university level, and of course teachers that want to earn a degree and don't have time to attend to a regular schedule class. I don't see online education applicable to my campus (unless a training has to be taken by the teachers), since our students can't read yet.I think that a lot of technology trainings are needed, specially for those teachers that doesn't like computers at all. I would say that staff development needs to be linked to the curriculum that we are teaching, so in that way, learning how to use the web 2.0 tools will be easier. I have attended to many trainings of different multimedia and web 2.0 tools in my district but they don't really tell you how to use them in a real project, so the teachers that are reluctant to work with computers have a great excuse to continue not integrating computers into their teaching. The impact of online learning on the business world will generate more students than traditional schools because of the way that the student access to the class/course, and the accessible cost of earning a degree compared to a brick and wall university. It will also generate more job opportunities and students that are ready to integrate 21st century skills to the real world. I choose to obtain a degree online because of the flexibility of time. But, until I actually started classes I realized that it does require a lot of maturity and discipline to study. I had to set up my own schedule, and as you mentioned it takes dedication, creativity, and patience to accomplish your goal. As a pre-k teacher I believe that online education is a better choice for students in college/university/graduate than for high school or elementary school students. These students need a lot of interaction in a classroom so they can have the maturity needed to start an online education degree.

I was also afraid to take online classes because I heard that when you are looking for a job, employers don't take as seriously as students graduated from a renown university. However, I am sure that for any adult who already has a family and a job, online learning is the best choice since it offers you flexibility and you can do it anytime, anywhere.

Reflection
Since I teach pre-k, I will use my online course as a tutoring tool, and as homework, inthat way I will be able to involve parents in their children learning experience, and I can continue to work with them at school in one-to one sessions. I would try to integrate online learning as a tool for parent involvement. Due the age of my students is difficult for them to access the course by themselves. However, I can use it in the classroom to perform one-to-one interventions. I have to say that properly used, technology will help students acquire the skills they need to survive in a complex, highly technological knowledge-based economy, regardless of their race, sex, abilities/disabilities, age, socioeconomical background, and age. Integrating online learning and technology as part of teaching/learning experience means more than teaching basic computer skills and software programs in a separate computer class. Effective tech integration must happen across the curriculum in ways that research shows deepen and enhance the learning process. In particular, it must support four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts. Effective technology integration is achieved when the use of technology is routine and transparent and when technology supports curricular goals(Why integrate technology into the curriculum, online, 05/10/10, []). Using Online Learning to Enhance Teacher Professional Development is very important because it gives the opportunity to //Find the Best Educational Resources on the Web// The World Wide Web since it provides rich resources for educators, and also gives different //Approaches and Tools for Developing Web-Enhanced Lessons,// but they are only useful if educators know what resources are there and how to find them//.// Online courses must adhere to the general principles of good teaching and learning, in that way teachers are capable to aligning courses to classroom practice, building educator collaboration and a culture of collegiality, extending learning over time, and focusing on the content and pedagogy as opposed to just the technology. (using online learning to enhance teacher professional development, online, 05/10/10, []) I learned that when designing an online course, goals and objectives are more clearly stated, and content and assignments are consistent to the guides or curriculum followed in the district/campus where that teacher is working. Assignments are measurable because students have to follow a rubric and doing so give them ownership of the project as well as additional skills. It also benefits the educator as he/she needs to develop more technology skills so in that way the course that he/she has create intentionally emphasizes 21st century skills, including using21st century skills in the core subjects, 21st century content, learning and thinking skills, self-directed learning, global awareness, and includes 21st century assessments, as identified by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (NACOL standards quality online courses), pretty much your online course experience has to be very close to a traditional classroom experience. I think that there are so many web tools that a techer can use to create online courses, that it would be impossible to me to ask questions at this time. I think that questions may araise as I use the tools in my everyday teaching. I believe that online learning is a great way to study, specially when students time and money is limited. I do have doubts using it as a way to study for the little ones (EC-4) because they are not mature enough to self regulate their study schedule, and emotions. At this age is critical to develop strong emotional and psychological skills. However, I know that they still need more contact with technology in order to get the 21st century skills needed. I would like to make sure that the quality of my students learning experience is not diminished. It is important to not simply accommodate students’ preferred learning styles, but also to expand on students’ learning strategies by exposing them to other viable and interesting ways of learning (a model to integrate online teaching and learning tools into the classroom, online, 5/12/10, []). In my case it is very important that parents understand the purpose of the online course so in that way they can hep their children at home. I would like to create tutorial lessons for the units that assessment shows there is more work to do with the children, and at the same time it has to be a unit/material easily understood by parents and put in practice at home as an external resource to extenden knowledge and community involvement.