In a perfect world, we would be able to go back to our workplace or school and implement some of these new tools.  In the real world, many of us are blocked from accessing these tools we’ve learned to enjoy that not only benefit us but could benefit our employers as well.  However, let’s just assume for a moment that we could implement some of these tools.  How do we use them and what do we need to consider when implementing them into our classroom?

When researching online learning best practices for another class I’m taking this semester, I came across General Guidelines for Distance Education Programs from Distance learning: Principles for effective design, delivery, and evaluation written by Mehrotra, Hollister, & McGahey. (2001) One of these guidelines stood out above all others:

• Identify the teaching or learning objectives to be achieved, and then choose the technology tools that make the goals achievable.

I’m very excited about using these tools, but we can’t let our excitement cloud the reason for using them in the first place.  There’s so much “buzz” in my workplace about Web 2.0 and what tools may be available to us in the future, but:

• Have we really taken the time to decide how to use these tools and are they more effective than the tools we currently use.
• Will the benefit of using these tools outweigh the time and energy that we spend in trying to have them implemented?

I’d argue that it does but these are questions we need to answer as we move forward.  I have no doubt that Web 2.0 is already changing the way we learn and the way we’ll design learning in the future.  Let’s enjoy the journey but not forget to step back from time to time and reevaluate our destination.

Resource:  Mehrotra, C. M., Hollister, C. D. & McGahey, L. (2001) Distance learning: Principles for effective design, delivery, and evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Retrieved November 23, 2008 from http://www.rodp.org/faculty/pedagogy.htm.

1. Awareness – Engage students to become technologically literate.  Students need to know whats appropriate and not appropriate when using different digital technologies.
2. Guided Practice – Provide students with guidance on the appropriate use of technology.  Students need to know they’re in safe a environment where take can explore and take risks with the support of their teacher.
3. Modeling & Demonstration – Teachers and other adults need to be positive role models to demonstrate what it means to be a good digital citizen so students can follow their example.
4. Feedback and Analysis – Adults should offer constructive criticism and maintain an open discussion about how technology can be used in school and in society.

With the support of parents and others in the community, teaching digital citizenship can improve the safety of the classroom and online in general.  If we instill these values in our students today, will safety and security be less of a concern in corporate tomorrow?

Currently, safety and security is an issue of concern at the corporate level.  I’d think we need to set similar expectations and maintain a code of conduct when using tools in the corporate environment as well, but a blog post by Michele Martin may suggest otherwise.

She was an instructor and facilitator of an online Work Literacy course that presented various Web 2.0 tools for learning professionals.  The 5 week course had 3,000 visitors with 749 creating profiles and posting on each others walls.  There were 60 forum threads and 45 blog posts among numerous other communications.  Through all of this communication, she didn’t witness a single inappropriate or unprofessional exchange, nor did she receive complaints from any participants.  The only potential issues she witnessed was when there were a few participants that were there to sell a product.  In these cases, the other participants mostly ignored them so in a sense they were self policing and didn’t acknowledge this behavior.

Can we leave this self policing to chance in a corporate setting?  If not, how much control do we need to have over the tools we use?  If we provide too much control, will learners be discouraged from using the tools?

• How will we know if we’re successful?
• How will we know what we’ve learned?
• How will we know how to become better at what we do?

Reflective practice, introduced by Schon, involves thoughtfully considering one’s own experiences in applying knowledge to practice while being coached by professionals in the discipline.  As a new practitioner of instructional design, research and reflection are essential to my success. I need to think about what I’m doing each day when I’m completing a needs assessment or when I’m stroryboarding a new e-learning.  It’s important that I reflect on why I made the decisions I’ve made and where I acquired the information to make those decisions.  I need feedback from peers and coaching from mentors and supervisors.  I need to read industry publications like ASTD’s T&D and the E-learning Guild’s Learning Solutions E-Magazine.

During these past three weeks in class, I’ve become the reflective practitioner of which Schon is speaking.  Although Schon introduced this concept in 1987, with Web 2.0, reflective practice has never been easier than it is today. Blogs and wiki’s allow me to share my ideas with co-workers, classmates and other professionals in the industry. Because I’m a novice at blogging and new to the field, it’s yet another opportunity to solicit feedback and improve as a designer.  I read other professional’s posts to learn from and reflect on what they’re presenting.  By using Diigo, I’ve joined other e-learning and instructional design groups where we share and comment on links to blogs and sites that may be of interest to other group members.

I look forward to my journey as an instructional designer.  Research and reflective practice will be my guide.  Michelle Martin said it best on her blog, The Bamboo Project, when commmenting on reflective practice.  She said, “reflection is about–considering what you can learn from your experiences and then doing more of what works and less of what doesn’t.”  I want to do more of what works. How about you?

After reading the Wikipedia reference to social network services, I discovered that I started social networking when I joined Classmates.com in the late ‘90’s. The interface as I remember was relatively simple. I joined as a member and created a profile with my high school name, college name and years of graduation and then searched for fellow classmates by the same categories. The website allowed me to send an email through the site to classmates of my choice. It would be years later that I joined MySpace to keep in touch with my group of friends, send them party invitations, make plans with them for the weekend and be reminded to wish them a Happy Birthday. Who would have guessed how much social networks have changed the way we communicate and provided us with additional opportunities to learn and network?

Today, I’ve created a diverse social network via MySpace, Facebook, Linked In, Wikispaces, iGoogle and Twitter, among others. I keep a blog and post photos to Flickr and Mobileme galleries. I saw little value in social networks beyond keeping in touch with friends and networking through Linked In until recently. I continue to read in trade journals about the importance of using Web 2.0 and social networks as tools to enrich the learning experience.

Where do I go from here?  I think it’s very important as an Instructional Designer to continue to learn and keep up with industry trends and new technologies.  Social networking affords us that opportunity.  The E-learning Guild and Work Literacy are currently sponsoring an online conference called Work Literacy: Web 2.0 for Learning Professionals.  This is a great example of how we can use social networking to increase our knowledge in the field.  It’s no mistake that they’re using Ning, a Web 2.0 tool to present this conference.

Blogging is another excellent use of a social network to increase our learning and to share what we know with others.  As a new blogger, I look forward to sharing my ideas with other learning professionals.  I hope that other new instructional designers will relate to my successes and challenges and I look forward to feedback and advice from those seasoned in the field.

Lastly, I want to explore the use of Ning to create my own social network.  When I’m not taking class, I enjoy acting in community theater productions.  Recently, I’ve seen extensive use of Facebook in the theater community to post auditions and advertise upcoming productions.  I envision a social network, specifically for those interested in theater, where they can do this and more.  The network would have discussion boards related to audition tips, where to take private dance or voice lessons and reviews of local and Broadway productions.  The network is already established and active, the challenge is to encourage the potential members to use the site.

The more we use these tools, the better prepared we’ll be to understand how to apply them to enrich our learner’s experiences.  I look forward to the endless possibilities that Web 2.0 and social networks offer and I look forward to your shared experiences on this journey.