This module has made me think about my role as an instructional designer in the following ways...
Before studying this module, I had not given much thought to the "behind the scenes" work a teacher does to prepare for her class. I knew that lesson plans had to be made and a course conceptualized before classes began, but that was the extent of my knowledge. This being my first semester as a student in education, that may be understandable. Still, I felt woefully under-prepared and to be honest completely overwhelmed with the task of creating a unit of study in the project-based learning style. Gone are the days of the rote: read, lecture, write a paper. While I believe that project-based learning is more valuable and better suited to today's student, I felt that designing new methods of instruction would be quite the daunting task.
Though I will probably still have twinges of anxiety throughout this process, after completing the two lessons for module 1, I am confident that I can embrace the title of instructional designer. There are so many tools and tutorials in our course materials, as well as on the web in general, that will help me create a unit that will be beneficial to my future students. One thing in particular from the Intel Education eReader that resonated with me was the statement that, "classroom teachers facilitate student learning and are implementers, evaluators, and curriculum designers." I had not equated creating units of study with designing curriculum, but that is exactly what it is. As an educator it will be my job to ensure students learn from projects and other class assignments that support the state standards in a way that will also develop 21st century skills. Fortunately, today's technology offers so many creative outlets for learning. I hope that by learning about and creating a project-based unit, I will be better prepared to design meaningful learning opportunities for today's students.
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