I just scrolled through without doing any actual reading and thought I should note that all of your references need to go at the end….now to read!

You need an introduction here with a thesis statement…  “In this paper I will show …”

Because you didn’t attach the file and I just copied and pasted into a file I could read more easily, I can’t tell if your first level headings are centered or not. I was also unable to tell about fonts, margins, etc that Dave asked us to look at in the glance through. You may want to attach your file for your second editor.

If you see something highlighted without an explanation, that means there’s something grammatical that I couldn’t ignore. (I’m very anal-retentive about these types of things :- )

Course Design Project Part #1

I’m pretty sure that Dave wanted this part in the past tense. “At the beginning of this semester, I planned…”

What do you want to design? I would like to create a web site that shows easy to create recipes for children to make.

What is it that you want these things to achieve? I want children to create delicious food for themselves and loved ones. I want to achieve a good, fun, experience so children will look up more recipes on the internet to make in their kitchen.

What is the virtue from a teaching, learning and or training perspective of design what you have described? Food is a universal social gathering, everyone has to eat and most people love to eat. To create food yourself can be an experiences of lasting memories, such as creating a gingerbread house or making cookies.

Who are the learners that you have in mind? Children are my primary audience. Specific ages?

What are the steps in your design plan? I like to thumbnail lots of ideas after that I like to make a list, then a game plan for a course of action. I talk to my friends and family about my topic ideas and get there input. I babysit lots of children, so I would like them to show me their favorite website, and I will ask them why they like the website and see the different layouts that are out there.

What are the strengths of the design plan? The strengths of this design plan is that I have a passion for food and I love cute artwork, such as Lisa Frank and Sanrio. I really enjoy adorable design. For strength I have many years of working with children, and I am very intuitive when it comes to designs children like.

What are your concerned about this design plan? My concern is how quickly I can learn the new programs that I have never experienced before.  I really hope that my final development or my process will be good for this class.

Course Design Project Part#2

This transition was strange to me. I totally thought you were making a mistake in bringing in your project from 486.

Revised Plan: Aspects of Babysitting

Develop a website that will instruct my babysitters in the proper way of handling various babysitting settings. The presentation will comprise of a downloadable PowerPoint presentation that will show several phases of the babysitting process. After that the learner will be able to use what they have picked up from the presentation and apply it to their unique working environments.

Introduction: The babysitting webpage will comprise of informative pictures that connect to the learners. These images will not just make the website visually attractive to the eye but will also support the process of distinguishing different babysitting situations. The website will also contain external links such as to YouTube for further video tutorials with babysitting. Learners will be able to utilize the information remembered from the website and develop their own ability to make suitable decisions from the unpredictable aspects to babysitting.

Interactive Multiple Choice Response: To incorporate users to actively engage in the course material the website will have a multiple-choice quiz. This quiz will have the learner physically react and review the important information for babysitters to know before going out working in the field.

Interactive Exercise: Students will also work with material that will make the learners ask questions about who they are as a professional and as a babysitter. Students will be urged to find even more resources to aid them babysitting. When they find other online means this will give my learners more independence and confidence in finding helpful tips and techniques to further their craft.

Towards the End: Students will repeat the exercises on the website for recall retention. The learners will be prompted to recall the purpose of the gained knowledge.

Feedback: There will be a questionnaire for the learners to assess if the lesson delivered was helpful. This will help further develop the website to reach the maximum potential. Considering the students viewpoint of their personal experiences of the course will result in better design for upcoming students.

Discussion Board: An online discussion board will be included in the lesson plan for the babysitters. This will give the learner a feeling of human connection and interaction by creating an intimate environment for learners to connect with each other.

How has your design plan (or your thinking about your design plan) evolved to reflect the “best view” of the relationship among technology, media and the goal of your design? If your design plan did not change, describe how your initial plan already reflected “the best view” regarding the relationship among these elements.

My babysitting design plan was not radically changed by the different readings. Some of the reading may have influenced my ideas and brainstorming process. I would have to say that “the best view” that reflects my design plan is (Collins 2004) with applying real world examples and approaches to learning. It looks as if you are going with constructivist theory here? Be clearer as to what theory you plan on pursuing.  I always considered my audience and the reading level of my target group. I feel that I need to have a target age group and gender in order to really not be generic in my presentation of my content. It’s like the saying “you can not make everyone happy” even though it would be great to share babysitting to people of all ages and both genders I feel it is more realistic and my website would be more visits if I hone in on a particular target audience. What particular target audience? Can you be more specific? Age 13 female??

How has a consideration of learning theory influenced your design plan? This discussion will require you to declare (or compare/contrast the strengths and weaknesses of a large theoretical framework- behaviorism, cognitivism, or constructivism.

I would like to apply (Collins 2004) constructivist methods working with real world problems. Oh, here’s your large theory! JI believe that would truly enhance my learners’ ability headed I don’t know what this means for watching children. Having real world situations will feel more realistic and babysitting is not just sitting there writing and reading. Looking after children requires movement and quick thinking. There is no hard fast way to teach this area in a meticulous structured approach. I think that you could really expand this section by explaining more what types of situations you will explore. Why was constructivist the best choice for your situation? Only real-world application? Why did you throw out the other 2? Could you use any part of the others? Why? Why not?

 How has consideration of creativity in this course influenced your design plan and/or the way that you understand your own design plan?

The creativity portion of this course is a very different approach than my experience with in the Studio Arts/Fine Arts program. The different choices of this creative plan are very structured and can be repeated. The creativity in this course also influenced how I approached design, usually I just jump right on in, but this course made me take it slow and really think out how I will approach my learners. I am not just “showing information” I am “teaching” my learners. That is a big difference, I think when I first took this course I came in thinking, “Oh I’ll just design websites” but actually there is a whole aspect to be considered when actually trying to connect with users on the Internet. Displaying information is the easy part, but to successfully integrate relevant content in a way for my learners to recall the information at a later date is the challenging part. I did not realize that I had to spend so much of my time considering just how I will find ways to integrate technology and media to my learners directly.

How are you going to help your learners be creative with the material presented? It seems to me that in babysitting, the babysitter needs to have all kinds of creative tricks up her sleeve in order to keep the children happy and safe. I believe an appropriate citation here would be Carsons’ brainsets.

How has micro-theory and accompanying instructional strategies influenced your design?

Micro-theory moved my design to the next level by really trying to provide “real world” applications for my learners to absorb. I decided that I needed my babysitting situations and my video links to be a functional piece of relevant information to the learner. The situation for a babysitter in each setting when taking care of children can prove to be a challenge. It is important that when the learner goes through the course of my website that she will utilize what she understood and be able to adapt that experience to the job. So, what micro-theory are you using? Can you explain it? How exactly will you use it? Here’s a chance for you to take several of those articles we read and make some synthesis that Dave wants us to achieve in this section. Did you look at several micro-theories? Why did you not choose some of the ones you looked at?

 How has a consideration of student assessment changed your design plan? If your design plan already appropriately considered assessment, describe why your initial plan is sufficient in light of what you have learned.

Having to consider the portion of the student assessment gave me the pressure of personal  accountably for the quality of my babysitting website. When I first approached this project I did not really give much thought about my learners evaluating my course on the web. This made me reflect that I need to focus much more on my content rather than the aesthetics of my web design. Shows evolution The portion I have fun with is the physical layout of my design. For me the content is the annoying part (other than learning the software programs). With this in mind I know that I must spend more time on my weakness, which is how to engage my learners more interactively. I felt like I accomplished this through the last eight weeks of class. Reading the articles and doing the learning logs forced me to really push my thinking of educational theory. Here’s another place where you could add a little synthesis of articles by showing your evolution.

[I’m pretty sure that Dave would love to have more citations in this part. This is written after my initial glance through without reading. Because there is only one reference, I’m pretty sure there is no synthesis of the readings.]

References:

Collins, J. (2004). Education techniques for lifelong learning: Principles of adult learning.

RadioGraphics, 24(5)  1483-1489.

 Course Design Project Part #3

What does design sound like?

Should this be first person since it’s all about Marlene and how she sees things? (I didn’t want to use “you” because it didn’t make my point as well.)

Design sounds like flipping through different radio stations in your car.  You are driving to your destination and do not have a gps or map-quest directions printed out. You know what you want, but you don’t know how to get there. You want to calm down that nervous feeling deep inside your chest pounding, so you turn to a station with heavy metal, but that’s too much, than you turn to jazz but your not in the mood. The current “now” stations are not your style, and you turn to the alternative station but that’s a bit too old. Driving through design takes many twists and turns, many stations end up going nowhere, that’s the beauty of design, the ability to change and adapt to different situations needed to get you into the mode and mindset of where one needs to go. I like that you are clear on how you perceive design here. When you get to that “it song” your mood changes. You feel the wave lengths of your brain connecting to the rhythm of the music, and there you go, you have found the feeling you need to feel something. huh? The passion starts to enter your body and then you get so excited! Your awake! Your not falling asleep at the wheel. You no longer feel lost. You now are driving to an adventure that you don’t know what you’ll “hit” (no pun intended) With design you feel the focus and the drive, nothing else matters, you have that feeling that you know what you want. You hear your voice singing to the music that is your own sound from yourself, your own voice, each voice is unique just like a fingerprint. With design you hear clarity from the HD radio you no longer hear the garbled AM station anymore. There are no commercials filling your head with unnecessary garbage.

Of course there is the sounds of your children fighting in the backseat, and your baby crying, you know they are there in your heart but those sounds are the sounds you are designing for. The sounds of your family, those little voices are the reflections of you.

“Designing an educational intervention in this class is like __________”

Going on a job interview, the feelings are apprehension, excitement, nervous energy that keeps you awake at night. When you are asleep you suddenly wake up and have to work on getting prepared. You need to find out how to get to the location of the interview. Picking out your clothes. Trying out different fragrances and accessories to make the best impression. Practicing your handshake, typing out your resume and revising it again and again. Then you start to wonder, am I going in the right direction? Is this what the boss would like? Am I making a connection with the people in the office? Is my breath okay? Does my hair look to greasy? What should I say? How should I act? The feeling of not knowing how you will be received by the other person you have never met is like showing your design to a group of strangers that will grade you.

When you enter the waiting room, you begin to size up other people in there, are they better than you? Which one is the prettiest? Smartest? Better resume? Then it’s is your turn to walk into the room and make the first impression. Game on! If you choose this one, you need more connection to design.

When I design, I am a __________. Comedian!

I have an audience that I need to connect with. When I go through the process of finding good material I am always on the look out for inspiration. I go through my day to day actives and find a fresh look. Irritations and set backs become universal stories that I can communicate to my audience. Sometimes my audience gets what I am saying and sometimes it’s just silence. When I get laugher I know I going the right way. I am connecting with other human beings. I am showing them my personal design that they can relate to. I have made a connection with each person in the room with each other in that one moment, everyone is laughing or smiling. I got there attention. Each person will perceive my funny stories in their own personal way. They have their own memories and own perceptions of my jokes. Some will be on the same page as I am, others will not understand. It’s okay though because when I do hit a home run I feel like I design true art. I know I have the influence and  focus of the people in the room. I really like this one, I can see so many places to expand to fill it out on your understanding of design, the design process, and of course strengths and weaknesses of this metaphor.

Sketch a cartoon of a design in action.

My sketch idea was based on the “Game of Life” board game. In the start of the game, one has two choices: to either go straight on and becoming a designer through doing it yourself, while the other choice is going to university to study design.

You will find bumps in the road such as “feeling overwhelmed move back two spaces”

Extra day for online web assignment move up one space.

There are cards that one needs to pull and answer correctly to get the the end of the board game. For example:

Does your topic fall more on the behaviorist or constructivist approach?

Do you think the person next to you has a project that is more of Clark’s or more of Kozma’s approach?

While the path to becoming a designer is one that is difficult and full of unexpected detours, there is always a constant movement towards becoming better. This one has loads of potential, too. Especially if you draw it out like the game and include some “opportunity” cards the players would pull.

Choose one representation and expand it to reflect everything that you are feeling. Don’t forget that Dave stated in the directions for this part “Regardless of the approach you take, you will have to annotate your representation of design.” So don’t forget to tell your reader how your representation describes design and the design process to you.

Part 4

How Things Have Changed

By the end of this semester, I have completely changed my view of design from where I started. Coming into the program, I brought my own personal view of design that I had formed as a graphic designer. The aesthetic and feel of the work is the way in which the message of the work is transmitted. The goal of the design is to be eye-catching, memorable, and convey a single message or idea. This past semester has been a gradual process for me of trying to figure out how to not only transmit a message, but to go beyond that. Now at the end of the semester, I see more clearly than ever before the difference between simply providing information and actually teaching that information. The process of teaching requires us to think about how we learn and to assess the actual progress of the learning. Shows evolution with specifics

One area of my design that I think I learned a lot is from the process that Edelson calls ‘problem analysis.’ Edelson states on page 109, “The design process often begins with a perceived problem or opportunity and an idea for how to respond to it. This initial hunch is typically elaborated through a combination of analytic processes, such as needs assessment and system modeling, and empirical processes of implementation and evaluation.” I see you cited Edelson as asked…don’t forget to put in the (2002) at the end of the quote. Actually, for APA, I think it should read Edelson (2002) states, “…” (p. 109) I could be wrong, I was never taught this format. I still like the little bitty raised numbers from the old days…easier to read context! Looking back, I think that my process was somewhat hazy through the entire design. I had an idea about a babysitter site, but I had not thought about it in terms of a problem that needed to be solved through my design. This way of viewing the process makes much more sense to me now. By framing it as a problem from the beginning, one is focusing on specific things that needed to be addressed. When I started my design, I did not have anything specific to teach, but more general thoughts. If you focus on specific problems it also makes the goals much easier to define, thus making it easier to evaluate your progress as you design. Shows evolution. I think you could probably link this to your part 2 here.

I also learned a great deal from showing my design to such a broad range of people. I was used to critiques from graphic design, but the experience of observing my friends, or children I babysit, navigate my design was very informative. While they appreciated the look and feel, it ultimately was all about their ability to quickly and easily understand the information that was being presented. In art, the critique could often become focused on very insular things that were only of interest, or even noticed, by other art students. The people who tested my design often quickly focused on problems that I could not really see. Watching them navigate the design was like seeing it for the first time again. I think that this stage was one of the most useful revisions that took place. Good link to your past—graphic design. Maybe you could go into more detail of how you learned from members of this class in regards to clarifying theory, microtheory, creativity, etc.

Ultimately, I think that I was successful in focusing my design towards a specific target audience. I think the look and layout of my design is inviting to that audience and is pleasant to view. I am also pleased with the content I managed to get up, such as a podcast. I always have found it difficult to digest lots of text, so I appreciate it when a site has some kind of audio component. I think that my content has improved, but could be improved upon. How? I think you could go into some specifics here. And maybe even link them back to the other parts.  I found some sections difficult to fill without turning it into a wall of text or a list. Looking back, I think I might focus on ways to get learners to interact with each other more. I tried to add this by putting more questions on each page that would help encourage discussion in the forums. Given the wide variety of problems my babysitters could face during their job, I think that their contributions to the site would end up, over time, being one of the most valuable aspects of the site. Because not all readers in this class are familiar with the site you created in 486, you probably want lots more specifics in how things have changed.

How I Have Changed

The one aspect of myself that has changed the most (and was the most difficult), was having to learn how to read. While I learned to read as a child, I realize now that I never really knew how to read on a deeper level, especially academic writing. I tried to avoid reading as much as possible in school. I always hated classes like English and History. I would sit and look at the words, but never retain anything. Nice personal reflection. In a way, art was the best place to get away from reading. Teachers cared more about what font you were using than grammar or research. So entering into this course, it quickly became clear to me that I was a very poor reader. I had great difficulty reading any of the articles and an even harder time trying to write specifically about any of them. It was not so much that I did not understand them, though that was sometimes the case as well, but that I did not even know how to approach it. I had trouble finding sentences to talk about, and then I found it difficult to really add anything to what a sentence said. Even if I did have something to say, I always felt it a struggle to actually get the thoughts in my head transferred into writing. Writing to learn? J

I actually found that it got much easier to read once I stopped thinking so much. While reading these articles, I realized I spent as much, if not more, of my energy on thinking, “What does it mean?”, “Would should I be saying about this?”. Instead, I just tried to read it, sometimes multiple times, and just understand it without worrying about having to write about it. This allowed be to better absorb the article. I also think my writing improved a bit from all the reading, as well as going to the Writing Center here at SIUE. I still find it somewhat painful to write, but I think that it has helped reading and re-reading how other people write and try to sound similar to that. Very personal reflection…it shows me a great deal of who you are. Brave!

As for my design, I feel that I also learned a lot from the process. Creating something that has to be used, instead of viewed, really altered the way I even begin to approach design. There is are a lot more complicated things to consider when people actually have to navigate a design. Color, placement, and a variety of aesthetic concerns are similar to graphic design, but the actual content of the design has been much more complex than I expected. As I considered content that needed to be added, I started to realize that each topic, for example appropriate games, has a wide variety of possibilities, as well as being different depending on the age group. It seemed that each aspect of the design grew as I considered it, and it became my job to try and figure out the most important aspects of the design were and how they would benefit my learners. Nice specifics in this paragraph

In the end, I think the thing I am the most pleased with is that I really do see my “authentic self” in my design. I have spent a lot of time taking care of children, as a babysitter and as a daycare teacher, but I always see this site as something that is also for a group of specific young girls that I have taken care of for years now. They are all about to become teenagers and will not need, or want, me taking care of them soon. So this design was very personal, since they are planning to babysit for some money, and I know that helping them start will be one of the last things that we do together. On another level, I think that the feel of the site also matches my bubbly, out-there personality. I have tried to put myself into the design, and hope that the people who know can feel the “Marlene” in the site when they use it. Nice conclusion!

I feel that this paper is a very rough draft. You have a good start. Now do loads of revising. I think that you can add more specifics in all parts of the paper. I think I said in Part 2 that I felt that more use of the readings would be good. As you look back at the different articles, if you didn’t highlight or write notes, see if you can come up with a couple of thoughts about that specific article that struck you. Does that thought have anything to do with how your design changed? Why? Why not? How did the whole Clark/Kozma thing influence your choice of media? Or did it?

Make sure that you have some sort of transition between each of the parts. The way I did it, and I’m not sure that I’m right, was to write a short intro to each section. I don’t know that it was smooth, but that’s what I was going for. It was a little startling to go from your Part 1 about cooking into your Part 2 about babysitting. I felt you were getting our classes mixed up. That could just be because I’m in both 486 and 500 with you. If you are looking for a good example of transition, read Lynette’s paper she did an excellent job. Her first intro paragraph is really good in showing how to give an overview of the paper.

Your part 4 was the greatest strength. You did a good job of creating connection to the reader and yourself. It showed many specifics of change throughout the semester. To make it even better, try to do some connecting back to your part 2 and 3 (I need to do this in mine as well…should have read the peer editing before I submitted my paper!)

Thank you so much for allowing me to edit your paper. I have enjoyed going through the process with you.

Rhonda

Clark, R. E. (2001). The media versus methods issue. In R.E. Clark (Ed.), Learning from media: Arguments, analysis, and evidence (pp. 205-217). Greenwich, CN: Information Age Publishing.  

Collins, J. (2004). Education techniques for lifelong learning: Principles of adult learning. RadioGraphics, 24(5) 1483-1489.

Kozma, R. B.(2001). Kozma reframes and extends his counter argument. In R.E. Clark (Ed.), Learning from media: Arguments, analysis, and evidence (pp. 179-198). Greenwich, CN: Information Age Publishing. 

Edelson, D. C. (2002). Design research: What we learn when we engage in design. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 11(1), 105-121.