Competency 8: Apply Technology to Solve Instructional

Problems
Artifact: EDCI 56800 Web-enhanced Lesson Plan
Artifacts assignment detail (provided by the instructor):
As the primary course activity, you will design and make plans to implement and
evaluate a 21st century lesson involving student use of relevant Web 2.0 tools.
Designing a lesson that integrates Web 2.0 tools is similar to creating any other
kind of lesson. It requires preparing your learners, engaging them in interesting
and doable learning activities, providing the resources and guidance needed to
complete the activities, and creating assessment tools. The difference is, of
course, that a Web-enhanced 21st century lesson uses Web 2.0 resources and
involves learners in authentic student-centered activities.
Individual components of the lesson, developed throughout the term, include:

Part A: Driving Question (Focus on What the students/trainees will learn)

Part B: Lesson Activities (Focus on How and When the students will learn)

Part C: Assessment Measures (Focus on How you will know What the students
learned)

Artifact Overview:
In this artifact, I present a Lesson Plan for a critical, soft skill, Time Management.
Based upon the concepts presented by Stephen Coveys First Things First and
using web-tools, participants are guided through a short course to focus on and
make steps towards improving their time management skills.

Competency 8a
Plans and designs effective learning environments and experiences supported by
technology
Within this assignment for EDCI 56800, the focus was to design a course
incorporating technological and web-based tools. Using tools such as YouTube for
videos, Google Drive for cloud storage, Wordie for concept activation, and webconferencing for live-dialogue, participants actively engage in various technology
environments in order to train synchronously and asynchronously. It is the
combination of these environments which allows professionals to maintain their
work-life balances.

Competency 8b
Applies technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation
strategies
Using both formative and summative evaluations, participants in this course will
be required to submit assignments for grading, participate in group evaluations,
and receive formative feedback from an instructor to measure performance
improvements. All of these activities are conducted using technology, such as
Google Drive and web conferencing. Using this method, learners can efficiently
provide assignment artifacts and the instructor can effectively respond in a
quick, turn-around fashion.

Competency 8c
Demonstrates understanding of social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding
the use of technology and applies it in practice
There is an expression commonly used that technology is only as good as its
designer. The same is true when it comes to the implementation of technology
for the purposes of training and development. While I have seen many cool
factors built into courses, these seductive features are not always practical and
can be limiting to the learners experience.
When designing this artifact, I was consciously aware of two key factors related
to the use of technology. First, that the environment was limited to certain tools
and second, motivation to use the tools could be an issue.
In the artifact, I specifically address the motivational aspect of technological use.
While intended to be a more efficient means for submitting assignments,
formative evaluations, and live discussion, not always will a learner use the
suggested tools. Placing a strict requirement to use all features can be a turn-off
for a learner. I learned this while working for a distance educational provider. The
company tinkered around with making live-virtual sessions required and they did
not receive positive feedback. This I kept in mind when I designed this course.

Continued Learning
Within this artifact and course, I was able to tap into new technological tools to
help present and integrate learning outcomes. Prior to, I was not aware of the
myriad options in the market. While some are free, I elected to formalize my
experience by purchasing Adobe Captivate. (Thank you Student Edition!). Since,
I have created supplemental deliverables for these courses and am using it for
my Practicum project.
Going forward, I hope to learn more about the web tools and other software
programs such as Adobe Illustrate, Flash, and Storyline. However, I would prefer
these licensed products be covered by my employer.