Instructional Design

I could look at my development in instructional design (ID) skills in one of two ways: 

1. I could say that I began my journey knowing nothing about instructional design; or 
2. I could say that as a classroom teacher I was very familiar with instructional design. 

Obviously, I will need to be more specific here. I was not familiar with the field of and profession of instructional design, but I was clearly aware of many of the concepts of instructional design from my work as a teacher. This program forced me to think about the concepts in a much more deliberate way. 
    
Throughout ETAD 873, I learned about models of ID and terminology. I was introduced to processes that I really came to value and enjoy, such as the front-end analysis (learner analysis, context analysis, content analysis) and usability testing. Also, I was exposed to principles that make up good design. I previously had not spent much time considering colour scheme, type-face, white space, chunking, visual design strategies, and utilizing multiple modalities. My consideration of these elements can be seen in my prototype that I developed as an instructional tool for teachers in my school division. This prototype took teachers through a procedural task.

Instructional Prototype for ETAD 873 (best viewed on a PC in Microsoft PowerPoint)

All of my learning and decision-making that came along with this project is evident throughout my written assignments for this class. I especially was challenged by and enjoyed Part C: Visual Design Strategies on pages 23-29; I was forced to think about my design in an extremely deliberate fashion.

My ID growth continued in ETAD 874. This class was an immersive experience that took me to the next level as a designer. My team was responsible for organizing, hosting, and distribution of the Baker Slides collection for the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society. 

Screenshot of Baker Slide Collection webpage

This was a daunting task that really stretched our skills and abilities. I feel that we all experienced a lot of growth over the three and a half months that we worked on it. In terms of ID, I really learned how to work as a team and how to work with a client. One key thing about this project is that we had a very diverse expected audience of users for the Baker Slides; therefore, we had to really consider a universal design. 

A major struggle that we faced as a group was developing a tagging system for the photos. Evidence of this struggle can be seen in our Usability Testing Report that I compiled. In the end, we decided to go with a broad tagging system that included all contexts of a word to ensure all potential searches would find the photo. For example, the image below contained the tags: animals, cow, cows, and cattle. 

Slide from Baker Collection

Another thing that I learned about ID, is the importance of thinking about future maintenance. In some cases, the client wants to re-hire in the future whereas other clients want to be able to maintain the product on their own. In this case, the SHFS wanted to be able to update and maintain the site. As part of the training for the SHFS to manage their own site, I developed numerous training steps and videos. 

Throughout the rest of my program, ID principles were always at the front of my mind. More of my work can be explored within the other tabs, especially within the Multimedia Design area. Specific ID evidence can be found within the GMCTE Flipped Teaching webpage and Three Act Math videos.