dbdc homework for 8th January

In January, we'll be looking at the instructional design of our courses. By “instructional design” we mean the ways in which we choose to convey the content of our courses—sometimes that will be lectures, sometimes classroom-sessions, it may be via seminars or labs. “Instructional design” can also include elements of finer-grained design, such as specific techniques for teaching specific content—SQL, data models, normalisation etc.

Things to think about:

• Why do I choose to teach using the methods I do?
• For what purposes do I use certain methods (lectures, labs, exercises etc.)
• Could I use different methods to achieve the same (or similar) end? If so, what would they be?

... and something to look at

http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/index.php

Although this is largely schools-based, it’s interesting for us. Partly because there are a lot of methods there. So there are some obvious questions, such as “do the methods fit the content?” and “do the methods help students achieve the learning objectives?” But take a look at the form of the presentations, too—do video clips make good artefacts? Would you include video in your portfolio?

This means there are things to bring with you on January 8th.

Some of these are concrete:

• An artefact that exemplifies the instructional design of your course (or an aspect of it), and
• A document that describes how you articulate the content of your course with its delivery (that is, why your instructional design is appropriate to your content)

Some are less tangible:

• Your thoughts on the relationship between your chosen artefact and your description
• An opinion on the Apple Learning Interchange site