Outline for a 3-hour seminar designed for K12 teachers in Taiwan
I'm editing this page during class.
ADDIE
Analysis > Design > Development > Implementation > Evaluation
The ADDIE model represents a generic, generalized, and flexible method for creating training and educational materials. The following is a greatly abbreviated explanation of the ADDIE model written with an eye towards K12 educators. Historically, ADDIE has been used more for adult learning, and so the K12 teacher may find it helpful to adapt this model to their unique needs.
Analysis
Analyze the overall context of your situation, including:
- What is your desired learning outcome?
- Who are the learners? What are their characteristics with regards to the desired learning outcome?
- How much of a knowledge deficit is there? What background knowledge exists?
- What are their technical skills?
- What are their interests and motivations?
- Do they have computer access at home? At school? Can they use a computer?
- What tools are available to you?
- Internet
- Hosting services
- Software tools
- Take a complete inventory of what tools and services are available to you.
- How much time do you have to complete the project?
- In short, the point of the analysis phase is to identify your learners, your learning goals, and your tools. One of the biggest mistakes you can make when considering the use of technology in education is to use a technology that is not appropriate for your learners or the desired learning outcomes. That's why it's important to analyze your situation before making decisions regarding design.
A personal experience in K-6 setting
I taught 'computer class' in a K-12 school. In my role as the 'computer teacher' I had class for students in every grade from 1st grade through 12th grade. I was using the Moodle platform at the time, and one thing that became immediately apparent was that students below grade 4 were unable to handle the whole sign-on process that required the use of a username and password. Even when we tried to use the same password for everybody, it was still too much for them. Children in grade 4 and up had no problem creating an account on Moodle and signing on, but there was a clear cognitive difference between 3rd and 4th graders in this respect. I've not read any relevant research, but it would be interesting to consider this experience in light of various theories of cognitive development. Also, there must be a wealth of research on child computer use. -Dan R.
Design
The design phase is where you start visualizing your project. You've decided what tools you want to use and you have a general sense of the 'flow' of your project, but you have to put things down on paper before actually building anything. This is where you make a blueprint for your project. Typically, a paper and pencil (or pen) are your primary tools during the design phase.
- Storyboards
- Site maps
- Prototyping
Development
Now you create your project. Create all content and the delivery system.
- Usability testing: The think out loud method
Implementation
When you implement, or actually use, the learning materials you've created, keep a constant eye on how the learners are interacting with your materials. Take notes, especially regarding problem areas. What works? What doesn't? When were the learners confused or frustrated?
Evaluation
Evaluate your project, and make any changes to it based on the successes and failures of the implementation phase. ADDIE is an iterative process. In theory, your project never stops evolving and requires constant evaluation and redesign.
Tools and services
Platforms
If you decide that a computer is an appropriate tool to use for your project, there is an ever expanding number of platforms and tools available to you. The following list is far from comprehensive. Keep in mind when considering different tools that some are essentially synchronous while others are more asynchronous, and some are static and others are dynamic. What is important to you in your project? Communication? Multimedia? Flexibility? Text?
- HTML, i.e., a basic web site
- LMS
- CMC and collaboration
- Wiki
- Blogs
- Social sites
Open source tools
Not only do you save money by using open source software, but I've found that open source products are often better than their commercial counterparts.
- Moodle
- Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
A very powerful audio editor. Unless your are an audio engineer or serious musician, Audacity is everything you'll need in audio software.
- GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program - http://www.gimp.org/
GIMP is a wonderful tool. I find it much easier to use than the popular and very expensive competitor, Photoshop.
- Irfanview - http://www.irfanview.com/
Irfanview is a nice, lightweight, fast image viewing and manipulation program.
- Portableapps - http://portableapps.com/
A portableapp is a software package that you can run entirely from a USB stick. This has many advantages that we'll discuss.
- Firefox + addons - http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/. For addons see https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/.
Firefox is an excellent browser in its own right, but what makes it truly stand out is the number and variety of addons, many of them developed for education.
- Kompozer - http://kompozer.net/
Kompozer is a free, powerful HTML editor.
- Open Office - http://www.openoffice.org/
Open Office does everything that Microsoft Office does, only better. You can open and edit any Microsoft document in Open Office. It's also available as a portableapp.
Activities
- In groups of 2 or 3, discuss the following:
- Talk about your students. Discuss which of the tools we've talked about today they might be able to use, and which they certainly couldn't.
- Discuss how you've used technology in your teaching, and in general what your experience has been. Are you comfortable with technology? Why or why not.
- If time permits, think of a basic lesson, perhaps one that you've already taught. Then brainstorm if and/or how you could apply technology to enhance that lesson.
- If we have internet access, get online and explore some of the links above. Take a look at the Moodle page for Taiwan.
- If you have a USB drive with you, see if you can install a portableapp.
TAGS: seminar, CAI, computer assisted instruction seminar