1.
Week
6
Assignment
2
Critical
Thinking
Questions
EDU
655
Trends
&
Issues
Inst.
Design
&
Tech.
Online
Learning
Thomas
Wilson
Christopher
Sorensen
October
22,
2012

2.
Chapter 26 – Getting an Instructional Design Position: Lessons from a Personal History
What are the media production skills in highest demand for instructional designers today? What courses are
available for you that would strengthen this skill set? What projects could you complete that would
strengthen your portfolio? Who are the leading academics publishing in the field of media production in
instructional design?
The areas of media production most in demand are in e-learning and interactive multimedia. In the
MA in Learning w/Technology there are several course which give relevant experience in Media
Production, a few examples are: EDU 656 Technology Solutions For JIT Training & Learning,
EDU 626 Research Design & Methodology, EDU 697 Capstone: A Project Approach-all of which
provide requisite experience in Media Production Design. It appears that one thing which was mentioned
by Dr. Reiser was in Lesson 14 to develop an area of expertise, in my case I’d say that I’m blessed to
know an I.T. man (M.A. in Computer Science) whom works for Boeing and said to get in touch when
I was getting into the mid-point of my studies in LATW/T, and I’ve developed a liking for Web 2.0,
and intend to play (work) on projects involving graphics, animation, and other Web Development
tools. I’d like to work as a Corporate Trainer eventually. Techtrends is a widely read and highly
regarded IDT journal, the following are some names w/bylines in the issue researched (Vol. 56 2012)
Florence Martin, Raymond Pastore and Jean Snider
Punya Mishra and the Deep-Play
http://www.springerlink.com/content/8756-3894
Reading through the lessons the author offers, which three areas do you think you should focus your
attention on most? Prioritize a list of 10 action steps you could take to enhance your proficiency in these
areas, and thereby increase your probability of landing the job you want.
The first one was obvious focusing upon Media Production Skills in e-learning and interactive multimedia,
next acquire a Strong Set of Design and Analysis Skills, last but not less important acquire Some
Management Skills. Now those were 1-3 of the 10 action steps (as far as I’m concerned) next are
4. Develop a Strong Set of Communication Skills, 5. Develop an Area of Expertise, 6. Become Active
in Professional Organizations (I’ve been doing that for years) 7. Publish, Don’t Cherish- as I grow in
the profession I’ll be writing about my progress, failures (which will lead to breakthroughs in learning

3.
and new understanding) 8. Keep Up with the Literature in Your Areas of Interest 9. When Preparing
For a Job Interview, Find Out as Much as You Can About Your Potential Employers 10. Demonstrate
To Your Professors You Do Good Work (It’s a work in progress!)
Wiley Journal to get published in Computer Animation and Graphics
(one of my areas of interest which is on my career bucket list)
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-CAV.html
Chapter 29 – E-Learning and Instructional Design
Why has e-learning evolved beyond the need for differentiating labels? In what ways does this
evolution present both challenges and opportunities to educators?
Dr. James Dempsey says “Altough the internet remains the prime mover, over the years we
have changed the title, and the focus of this chapter from “online learning” to “distributed learning”
to “e-learning.” Not coincidentally, each of these is a less restrictive concept as technology has
progressed in power and ease of use, and research and praxis have continued to evolve accordingly”
Further on he continues “But to focus on the technology alone is to mistake the trees for the forest;
As with any learning environment, our efforts must always center on efficiently achieving learning
outcomes, and arranging creative robust design working in development and production teams”
In these preamble statements we can deduce that e-learning has become so much more than the
term itself, but is the methodologies and the product. In the part titled “Analysis of Learning Outcomes.”
He says another telling item otherwise missed in the text of this section “THE RICHESt LEARNING
EXPERIENCES ARE THOSE THAT GO BEYOND SIMPLE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE” I’ve
chided a sibling on that very topic I asked if what she wanted for her children were to be good Critical
Analytical Thinkers or to be “Good Monkeys” meaning that they’d have mastered the content but not
learned how to apply it? In the same vein here we see the opportunities are as he says instead of
just “having intentional learning outcomes if an instructional designer was to use Bloom’s (1956)
or Gagne’s (1985) taxonomies to achieve this result” instead he emphasizes “Yet e-learning
environments are delightfully saturated with opportunities for informal and accidental learning.”
(Reiser & Dempsey Ch. 29, Pg. 281-282 2012)

4.
To further illustrate the concept of social learning occurring (informal learning)
the following excerpt illustrates it quite succinctly.
SOCIAL LEARNING
Social learning is a fundamental shift in how people work—accelerating and broadening individual and
organizational reach.
For example, imagine a course in which learners can write embedded blog posts to share their own
best practices, techniques, or insights with other participants in the course. Imagine a course where
learners could participate in live discussions, or rate ideas and see the ratings of others. These types
of “social” technologies can be easily incorporated into traditional, formal training.
Social learning is learning with and from others. It occurs naturally at conferences, in groups—even
among old friends at a café— as well as in classroom settings, or among colleagues online who have
never met in person. We experience it when we go down the hall to ask a question and when we post
the same question on a blog anticipating that someone will respond.
In other words we’ve the option to design a learning landscape which is conducive to informal and
accidental learning.
http://www.astd.org/Communities-of-Practice/CareerDevelopment/~/media/Files/Certification/Competency%20Model/SocialLearning1.ashx
Assume you have been told to design a “Twenty-First-Century Learning Course” that incorporates the full
range of techniques and technologies that are used today (social networking, collaboration, Facebook, etc.).
What are the key characteristics for which you would design, and how would you design for intentional vs.
unintentional learning?
I would probably utilize a Wiki where there was designed into it the capability to allow plugins for
FaceBook, Linkdin, and select social and professional media. Embedding of videos, and allowing
for the participants to create their own PLE’s in their own space within the Wiki which would also
have Blogs for the formal and informal learning. It would include some free uses of TechSmith
products like Camtasia, Jing, Camtasia Studio, Screencast, etc. because then with the use of
webcam software we would have interactive collaboration in the design with discussions going
on about projects and have that as a integral part of the designed environment, and have forums
explicitly dedicated to the project where members could enter the chat rooms for real-time
working (synchronous) and the message boards could be used Asynchronously. The Instructor
would have an administrative role (guide-on-the-side) and student-peer guides, graduate students
would act as moderators.
Techsmith.com

5.
References
I
Techtrends
Brown,
Abby
(Editor)
(vol
56
2012)
http://www.springerlink.com/content/8756-­‐3894
II
Wiley:
Computer
Animation
and
Virtual
Worlds
(Virtual
Journal
to
Publish
Computer
Animation
Content)
(retrieved
from
internet
10-­‐22-­‐2012)
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-CAV.html
III
Trends
In
Instructional
Design
And
Technology
Reiser,
Robert
A.,
Dempsey,
John
V.
Editors
Ch.
29,
Pg.
281,
282
(2012
3rd
ed.)
Pearson
Publishing
ISBN
978-­‐0-­‐13-­‐256358-­‐1
IV
Social
Learning
Authors
unknown
(retrieved
from
internet
10-­‐22-­‐2012)
http://www.astd.org/Communities-of-Practice/CareerDevelopment/~/media/Files/Certification/Competency%20Model/SocialLearning1.ashx
V
TechSmith.com
(Video
Overview/tutorials
of
Content)
(Jing,
Camtasia,
etc.)
(retrieved
from
internet
10-­‐22-­‐2012)
http://www.techsmith.com/?gclid=CIGd9aWblrMCFQSqnQodsAEAiA

6.