Introduction
Any educator, regardless of their background, has a specific way of approaching the design of their lessons. This approach is influenced by both the personal characteristics of this educator and by the theories and models that they use as a guide. In the contemporary environment, where classrooms are diverse and students have grasped an understanding of complex topics such as justice, race, critical thinking, and others, educators face the challenge of developing an ID model that would allow them to address complex topics and make these explanations accessible for the students. This paper will consider the instructional design (ID) from multiple perspectives, present a devised personal ID model based on the ED 6025 contents, and apply it to an education scenario.
Instructional Design (ID) Model
Currently, various ID models allow an educator to create the best learning environments considering the different steps that will lead to the desired learning outcome. One definition of ID is the design and guidelines that help an educator organize adequate education scenarios for the learners (Gunawardena et al., 2019). Generally, an ID model has to be suitable both for the educator, the purpose of a lesson, and the students that are receiving the lesson.
An important insight that I received over the course of EDTC 6025 is the need to devise a personal ID model. By examining the different options of how ID can be developed, I have learned to look at lesson design from various perspectives. Moreover, as a result of this course, I have come to understand that ID is not merely a process of creating instructions; it is the framework for thinking.
My ID is devised from the assessment of a modern-day classroom. Mainly, educators today have to work in an environment where the students have different ethnicities and come from different cultures; for some, English may not be the language they speak at home. This approach is the basis of my ID framework—the lesson has to be tailored toward the variety of viewpoints and perspectives that students may have due to their backgrounds. This also prompts me to think about the limitations of my knowledge about diversity since, although I am learning and trying to know more about different cultures, I also want to be aware of the gaps in my knowledge. One way of addressing these gaps is through communication and engagement; students have to feel free to share their opinions or ask questions over the course of the lessons. Through this process, I will update my knowledge as an educator, and the students will learn about the topic in question.
Since there are multiple models of instructional design, an educator may struggle to choose one approach. For instance, ADDIE is an abbreviation of analyzing, designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating stages of the ID (Gunawardena et al., 2019). At each step, an educator revises their plan, and one can use ADDIE in a non-linear manner. Another approach is using sociological and psychological theories, which help an educator understand the capabilities of different age groups. For instance, Piaget’s stages of cognitive development explain the different skills and capabilities that students develop over the years (Gunawardena et al., 2019). This theory also helps one understand that some concepts may be too complex for some age groups and need to be simplified. In my ID model, I apply the elements of both ADDIE and Piaget’s theory; for example, I analyze the classroom first and determine what type of information the students can be competent with, considering their age group.
Additionally, my ID model incorporates the use of technology that aims to help students navigate the modern information-driven world. According to Gunawardena et al. (2018), technology has eliminated the barrier of time and space which existed within interpersonal communication. Moreover, it has affected every aspect of interaction, as well as learning. This is why integrating the use of technology is both helpful and necessary because, for example, by showing videos or pictures, the educator can enhance the learning process since the students see varied representations of a topic. Hence, the justification for integrating the technology element into my ID model is the environment in which the students will live and work in the future; there is a need to teach them how to leverage technology for the best learning outcomes. At the design stage, I collect information about the topic and think about the ways in which I can use technology to explain the topic better. The development stage of the ID implies creating a detailed plan of activities, questions, information, and homework that I will use in the classroom. After the implementation stage, I find it essential to evaluate the lesson, particularly the interpersonal communication with the students and the use of technology during the lesson, to improve the plan for the future.
Scenario
The scenario for this assignment is the education of elementary school students about justice. Following my ID model, the first step is reflecting on the specifics of the audience that will be the recipient of the education materials. In this case, these are elementary school students who are between 5 and 10 years old. The topic of justice is a complex one and can be approached from several perspectives, for example, ethics, laws, or social relations. However, elementary school students have yet to learn about these different perspectives, and the explanation of justice for them has to be based on the examples in their scope of understanding. Hence, using my ID model, the first step would be analyzing the characteristics of the classroom and applying Piaget’s theory to determine the type of information that can be comprehended by this age group.
Next, an educator using my ID approach would have to proceed to the design stage, where one has to think about technology use in the classroom. For the topic of justice, one may find a clip from a cartoon that demonstrates a situation where there is injustice. Next, to integrate communication and encourage students to share their opinions, considering the classroom’s diversity, an educator may create a set of questions, such as “how would you explain the notion of justice after seeing this clip?” The teacher may also encourage students to share their examples of just or unjust treatment they have experienced.
The educator would benefit from applying these two steps of my ID model because they would better understand the student’s learning capabilities. Moreover, this information is collected at the first stage of the process, when an educator reflects on the topic and uses Piaget’s stages of cognitive development to determine what concepts can be understood by the age group in question. Moreover, following the implementation, the next stages of the ID require the educator to think about the lesson, the benefits, and the downsides of the selected methods. In this way, one can improve the plan and make the lessons more engaging for the other students. Hence, this model helps the educator to understand the class dynamics better and enables continuous development.
The use of technology, which is an integral part of my ID process, also helps the educator. Mainly, by using an example of a cartoon, one can demonstrate a concept using the things that the students enjoy. The majority of elementary school students like to watch cartoons in their free time, and this integration will also prompt them to reflect on the topics uncovered in these films, as opposed to merely watching them for entertainment purposes. The integration of diversity is also integral to my ID, and an educator may benefit from asking the students about their views of justice because it allows them to simultaneously teach the students about the topic and consider the perspectives of other cultures and ethnicities. Hence, they will also learn to pay attention to the different views and respect the varied cultures that surround them.
Conclusion
In summary, this paper discusses the personal ID model and applies it to a real-life scenario. The first section is dedicated to my ID model, which is a combination of ADDIE and Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development. The second part of this paper is dedicated to explaining how to apply my ID model in a scenario where an educator has to teach elementary students about justice and the benefits of using this approach.
Reference
Gunawardena, G., Frechette, C., & Layne, L. (2019). Culturally inclusive instructional design. Routledge.