Course Description

This course introduces K12 teachers to the systems approach to instructional design. (Note: Another section of this course is also offered during the year for a general audience. If you are not a K12 teacher, you are advised to take this other section.) The major components of instructional development models will be presented. This course provides introductory information and application of skills and techniques necessary in the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of instruction (often referred to as the ADDIE framework).

Teachers will find instructional design useful for enhancing their current classroom practice. The knowledge and skills you will learn in this course will complement, extend, and enhance those you have already acquired and developed. However, the process of instructional design is particularly useful for developing efficient and cost-effective solutions to novel instructional problems. Teachers who are, or who aspire to be, leaders in their schools or districts will find instructional design approaches particularly useful and important for developing new curricula, such as for special school initiatives or for in-service training for school personnel. It is your choice whether your course project focuses on your classroom or a school/district initiative.

It is also important to note that this course emphasizes the development of materials-centered instruction (as opposed to teacher-mediated), that is, materials and resources that are developed to be the primary means by which instruction is delivered. Said another way, there is no emphasis in this course on improving your "live performance" in, or management of, the classroom. When done appropriately, the result of materials-centered instruction is effective, stand-alone instruction which can be economically replicated and distributed. Trends in online learning and innovative classroom practices, such as the flipped classroom and online education, are well suited to this point of view.

Course content will be based on a strong foundation of instructional and learning theory. Contrasting views and perspectives of instructional design will be considered, such as those based on very different learning philosophies (such as objectivism and constructivism). The philosophical foundation of this course is not that there is one theory of learning or one procedure for design, but rather perspectives and approaches that work best for a particular context, audience, and content.

Finally, it should be noted that this course does not teach skills or techniques for developing educational media, even though some development of prototypes is required. Tools such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Google Apps, Screencast-O-Matic, and the like are more than sufficient to create these prototypes.

Please note that this course syllabus is a general and tentative plan for the course. Revisions may be necessary, but these will be announced by instructor and duly noted in updated versions of this syllabus.

Course Objectives

At the end of the course, each participant will be able to:

• Build an instructional design project that improves classroom practice or supports a school/district initiative;
• Write learning goals and objectives by conducting a needs analysis of learner, task, and situational characteristics;
• Create a lesson design by constructing an instructional strategy planning sheet that meets the objectives of one or more lessons and integrates media effectively into each lesson;
• Write appropriate assessment instruments for the lesson;
• Conduct an appropriate evaluation of the instructional design project by identifying and following formative evaluation procedures;
• Choose to follow instructional design procedures; and
• Choose to have a satisfying experience and maybe even enjoy yourself.

UGA Academic Honesty Policy

All academic work must meet the standards contained in "A Culture of Honesty." Students are responsible for informing themselves about those standards before performing any academic work.

Accommodations

This course follows the regulations outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act. Call UGA Disability Services at (706) 542-8719 (voice) or (706) 542-8778 (TDD only) for information about architectural access and to arrange for sign language interpreters, assistive listening devices, large print, audio, or Braille. Students requiring special accommodation should contact the instructor as soon as possible.

Other UGA Policy Statements

UGA students working in schools are considered "mandatory reporters" under state law. This means that you are required by law to report suspected child abuse (for instance, if a student tells you about abuse or you suspect it based on a student's physical appearance or behavior). If you suspect child abuse, you must report this immediately to the school principal/site director, your UGA instructor, the UGA Police at 706-542-2200, and the Department of Children and Family Services at 1-855-GACHILD.

Required Readings

Book

Carr-Chellman, A. A. (2016). Instructional design for teachers: Improving classroom practice (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. Click here to go to the book's listing on Amazon.

Articles

Rieber, L. P., & Estes, M. (2017). Accessibility and Instructional Technology: Reframing the Discussion. Journal of Applied Instructional Design, 6(1), 9-19.

A few more articles are planned to be added to the second half of the course.

Required Technology

• High-speed Internet access.
• Your own laptop or desktop computer. (Mobile devices are not sufficient.)
• Access to Microsoft Office and PowerPoint, or the Google suite of apps.
• Screencasting software (such as QuickTime or Screencast-O-Matic) and access to a video web server (such as YouTube).

Although not required, when you attend the live classes in Collaborate Ultra it is best to use a headset with a microphone designed for use on a computer (purchased in the computer section of your favorite electronics store. The built-in microphone that comes with most laptops usually results in poor sound quality (if only because you will likely forget to talk directly into the microphone).

Course Procedures

This is an all-online course with course content delivered primarily through asynchronous means. All of the course requirements (e.g. readings, software learning, project work, journal writing) will be done asynchronously using UGA's eLC learning management system. You access eLC at this web address:

http://elc.uga.edu

After logging in, participants then navigate to the course home page. Participants need to log into eLC frequently throughout each week to access all course materials and to check on updates. The instructor will also post news and notes using the eLC News feature, found on the course's home page.

We will also meet regularly in a synchronous, "virtual" live classroom called Collaborate Ultra. The purpose of these synchronous class meetings will be to answer questions, resolve problems or confusion, to enhance understanding of key concepts, and to simply get together socially to remind ourselves that we are a group of "real" people working together to pursue a lifelong goal. The plan will be to meet online in the Collaborate Ultra virtual classroom for 60-90 minutes on the following days at 6 pm:

• August 16
• September 6
• September 27
• October 18
• November 15

However, these dates are tentative. Dates may change and more live classes may be added as needs arise. Therefore, everyone needs to set aside 5:00-8:00 pm on Thursdays for this course. (That said, "life happens." So, if you are unable to attend a live class despite your good faith efforts to do so, please know that each live class session will be recorded. If you are unable to attend a live class, you are responsible to watch the recording as soon as possible. But, please know it is not the same as "being there.")

Communication among and between participants and the instructor is vital in any course, but particularly in an online course. The instructor will communicate primarily through two communications systems. The first is the UGA email system using each participant's UGA email address. Therefore, participants are required to check their UGA email account frequently. In addition, participants need to check their junk folder frequently as it is not uncommon for official email to be inadvertently tagged as junk. The only way to detect if this is happening is by manually checking one's UGA junk folder. (And, don't confuse the UGA email system with the email system contained within the eLC learning management system - these are two very separate systems. If you are confused about this, contact your instructor immediately.) The second is the "News" feature within our eLC course. Starting about day 3 of the course, all important course announcements, notes, and reminders will be distributed solely through the eLC "News" feature. So, you will either have to check the News feature at least once a day, or have all News items sent to you via email or through a text messaging service. Fortunately, this is very easy to do: After you log into eLC, click on the "notifications" option of your eLC account to set these preferences (look for your name in the upper right-hand corner of the eLC screen to access these options).

Course Evaluation

Grading Scale

Classroom Activities

Purpose: To stimulate thinking, ideas, and creativity related to instructional design with (hopefully) interesting and enjoyable activities.

A variety of class activities are planned for this course. If this were a face-to-face course, most of these would be conducted during the traditional weekly class meeting. Given that this is a totally online class, you will complete these activities on your own during a pre-determined time frame. This requirement is really just a professional expectation, that is, I expect you to complete them because they are part of the class culture. Points are assigned to this requirement just to emphasize their importance. As such, this is a "pass/fail" requirement - you get credit for this requirement only if you complete all of the activities in good faith.

Instructional Design Activities

Purpose: To give each person the opportunity to individually practice the particular instructional design skill being introduced and discussed at that time; each IDA is focused on helping everyone understand equally the particular skill and process highlighted in the IDA.

IDAs are designed to enhance, extend, and support course content. These are completed individually and are meant to give you some initial practice in each of the major themes of the course. You are allowed to invent data or hypothetical situations, reports, events, etc. because the purpose of each IDA is to give you some quick, initial practice applying the respective design skill. If you do not complete a specific IDA appropriately, you will have one opportunity to resubmit based on the instructor feedback.

Though you are under no obligation to do so, it is perfectly acceptable to refine any or all of the IDAs to make them part of your Instructional Design Project. Remember, these IDAs are designed to help you learn some instructional design fundamentals. In contrast, you will apply these skills when you build your instructional design project. So, it is not important that the topic be the same for the project and the IDAs.

Informal Activity - Learning from Media

As the name suggests, this is meant as an informal, fun assignment to gain some experience of what it feels like to learn from instructional media without assistance or benefit from a teacher or trainer. Your task is to identify a subject or topic on which you have genuine interest in learning, find and go through instructional materials designed to teach the topic, then write a brief written reflection (about 200 words) about the experience. You are free as well to choose the scope of the learning experience and the type of instructional materials. However, you are encouraged to experience a range of media, such as "self-help" or "how to" books, videos, and the Internet. (Don't overlook the public library as a valuable resource.)

Instructional Design Project

Purpose: To apply and practice all of the instructional design skills and techniques you've learned in an authentic project.

Each person will design instruction lasting approximately one hour. Note that this includes the time needed to administer all evaluation instruments. (Most people overestimate the amount of content they need to cover.)

The instructional design project will be evaluated based on a project report that documents all of the phases carried out in the design of your entire course.

Project Options. As mentioned above, you can choose to build a project that improves your classroom practice based on your existing curriculum or you can design instruction to support a school or district initiative. If you have another idea for your project that is consistent with the instructional design process, contact the instructor to propose your idea.

Project Deliverables. The instructional design project consists of two deliverables: 1) a written report; and 2) a video presentation of the project (10 minutes maximum).

For the video presentation, you can use whatever tool you like such as QuickTime, Camtasia, Jing, Screencast-O-Matic, or one of many other similar screencasting tools. Then, upload it to a video server (such as YouTube) and submit the URL according to the instructions explained during class.

Steps to Completing the Instructional Design Project:

1. Design and develop your lesson.
2. Implement your lesson.
3. Evaluate your lesson.
4. Write an evaluation report.
5. Organize all your design documents into a cohesive whole.

Independent Project Report Outline

There are no minimum length requirements – you decide what space you need. But, here are some general expectations:

• Title Page
• Brief summary (1 paragraph)
• Description of the need (1-2 paragraphs)
• Instructional Goals & Objectives (1 page)
• Description of the Lesson (2 paragraphs)
• Evaluation Report (2 pages)
• Appendices (all design documents)
  • Lesson Design
  • All Lesson Materials (in a form ready for another teacher to implement easily):
    • Detailed description of all the lesson steps and procedures aligned with the objective/s.
    • All resources, materials, and handouts required to implement the lesson.
  • Copy of the Assessment Instrument

Back Up Your Project Work Frequently: Be sure to back up your project work frequently. The most experienced designers expect their hard drives to crash tomorrow, so they take all the necessary precautions today.

One of the most important principles to backing up is to be sure that you are backing up your project to a hard drive separate and external to the computer on which you are doing your project work. Simply making a copy of your project on your computer is not sufficient. If your hard drive crashes you may not be able to recover any files from it.

You are also strongly advised to keep a copy of all material, responses, discussion postings, etc. submitted to eLC. The "cloud" is a beautiful concept, but sometimes it has a tendency to "rain."

Policy on Late Assignments

A goal of this course is to reduce anxiety and increase enjoyment in the creative instructional design process. Consequently, there are no penalties for assignments turned in a little late. After all, life has a habit of intervening once in awhile. Here are the procedures you need to follow:

• If you will be late in turning in any assignment, I expect you to send an email to me by the time the assignment is due to let me know it will be late. Include in your email your best estimate as to when the assignment will be submitted (hopefully, this will be the very next day).
• The only time you risk incurring a late penalty for not turning in an assignment on time is when you fail to communicate the situation to me.
• Note that there is a 72 hour limit for each late assignment. You will not receive credit for an assignment that is turned in 72 hours after it was originally due.

It should go without saying that you should take advantage of this late assignment policy sparingly. It meant for the occasional time when something in your personal life interferes with your completion of the course requirements.

Course Calendar

This is the official course calendar. Use this calendar to plan and manage your course work. Unless noted otherwise, anything labeled as "Class Activity" or "Instructional Design Activity" is due by the end of the day (11:59 pm) on Thursday of that week. For readings, you should begin the readings scheduled for a week on Monday and finish reading them by Thursday, 6 pm. (if we have a live class that week I will expect you to have finished the readings by the start of class.) Of course, reread as needed, especially to guide you in any of the activities.

Class Activities | Instructional Design Activity