Description:  The team of Jesse Robinson, Bekir Mugayitoglu, Kelli Murphy, and myself designed an instructional module for training education professionals in the use of Kurzweil 3000.  This training is designed to implement technology supported learning, specifically by utilizing the reading and writing software for students with learning disabilities and students with vision impairment.  The artifact included is the Instructional Design of the training module, which includes the intellectual skills, NETS-T standards, and detailed descriptions of learning objectives for the four units included in the training.  Additionally, there are PDFs of instructional materials.  The graphic image for the technology used is linked directly to the products website.

 

Reflection:  The education profession requires a great deal of collaboration with other professionals and peers in order to effectively meet the needs of all learners.  Prior to beginning this doctoral program, I worked in an elementary school as a Title 1 teacher.  I believe this was the beginning of my understanding of how necessary it is for educators to work together, offering their individual gifts and experiences, to provide support to each other and the students we serve.  Communication and collaboration with the classroom teachers occurred regularly as we discussed our students’ needs and created a plan of action.  This planning though was generally informal and not necessarily focused.  I had attended professional development but had never designed or implemented a training myself.  The experience of following the Dick and Carey design to create an instructional design for professional development was eye opening.  As a team we attended to the many steps of this design.  To name a few of these steps, we were able to analyze our learners and the context for learning, plan tasks that were appropriate for accomplishing the performance objectives we created, and determine assessment frequency and assessment tools.  I truly appreciate the structure this systems approach provides and understand its affordances for preparing a sustainable model of instructional design.  This project was also my first introduction to this particular technology, the Kurzweil 3000.  As an educator of pre-service teachers, I have new knowledge that must be shared with my students to assist them in becoming leaders in this profession and implementing technology-supported learning.