EDUC 645 COURSE OVERVIEWDr. Minnie Ladores

Welcome to our Class!

This course covers models of Instructional Design, with a focus on using technology in creating well-designed web-based instructional materials.

Instructional Design is a fascinating field of study. There is nothing more rewarding than planning for instruction, developing that plan, and seeing it come alive in the classroom. Most inspiring is when we observe our students engaged with the materials we have created.

This course will provide you with knowledge and skills for designing instruction. Keep an open mind and enjoy!

Time Crunch

It will run pretty fast. We have five weeks to cover materials for a 3-credit graduate level course. We will maintain the 15 sessions we usually have over the course of a semester but keep it within 5 weeks.

A 3-credit course normally requires 36 contact hours plus time for independent work on assignments.

In this course, you will be working 100% independently. Assignments will require at least 36 hours of your time.

Course Requirements

A 3-credit course normally requires 36 contact hours plus time for independent work on assignments.

In this course, you will be working 100% independently. Assignments will require at least 36 hours of your time.

Course Requirements

There will be a 50/50 cut between knowledge and skills.

Modules

There will be 3 modules per week to be made available on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

In each module there will be assigned readings and technology lab work.

Readings

The first week will be online readings. The rest of the course will be devoted to textbook chapter readings.

After each reading, post a write up of thoughts, comments, and reflections. Writing prompts will be provided for each set of readings. Post your write-ups on your own page on the class wiki. (I’ll tell you more about the wiki later.)

Textbook

This is our course textbook, written by a somewhat young author. However, Julie Dirksen has extensive experience in designing eLearning and her book is an interesting read. Her major audience are adults, so a little bit of adjustment is needed if you’re designing for younger learners.

Tech Projects

Since this is a course on educational technology, 50% of class work will be on technology projects. In most cases it will be one project a day.

There will be 10 projects.

Projects should be embedded on your page on our class wiki.

The Big Project

Eventually, you will create a big project which is an eLearning course you will design.

This eLearning course will be housed in a Google web site. It should be made of at least 3 modules, with at least 3 mini-lessons/learning activities per module.

Suggestion: Think of a topic for your eLearning course now so all the tech projects you make could be something you can use with this big project.

Project Write-ups

All tech projects should be accompanied by a short write up (about 100 words) on what the project is about and how you plan to use this project in your teaching.

The Big Project has to be accompanied with a write-up as well. This write-up should demonstrate how you synthesized and applied what you have learned from this course.

Are you worried?

Don’t be.

We’ll take it one step at a time.

I will also be around on Mondays and Wednesdays, 5 – 6 pm, to work with you on projects if you need to. If my virtual office hours don’t work with your schedule, we can make a special arrangement for an individual conference, okay?

Instructional design is an amazing field. This is one area of our profession where educators can be their most creative. I’m looking forward to working with you!

Enjoy the course!