Review of EDLD 5318 Instructional Design in Online Learning

Creating a course and curriculum sounds like a daunting task, especially when it is done as an online course. However, the past few weeks have opened my eyes to show that it can be overwhelming but manageable that can open the creative mind of everyone involved. The course I originally planned was going to based around my innovation project of the Sense Arena Virtual Reality hockey training system. But it is difficult to base an education class around a project that is actually more hands-on training physically for a game, than it is academically for a classroom. This is when I decided I was going to go through a with an idea that I have had for a while on developing a curriculum about the history of ice hockey and its game theory.

The first idea of the class started out as being more of a book reading class on different coaches and game theorist from the starting point of ice hockey. The class structure was going to be group project based with lots of discussions and theories of what is the best way to evolve the game. This would enable the students to understand the game more and develop what we refer to as, “hockey sense.” Quickly I noticed that my target audience of 6^th-12^th graders would have a hard time comprehending the subjects mentioned in the books as they have never experienced most of the techniques covered in the books. Interest would have been lost quickly. This is the time that I started to pull back and look at the course and think about what the next step would be.

Looking at the resources I have in my own personal pulp and digital libraries I found a documentary series from Canada called, “Hockey: A Peoples Game”. I knew immediately with the target audience that visual story telling would be the way the students would learn. I felt the students needed to still understand some game theory and important figures in the game and didn’t want everything to be from a video and audio format. Ken Dryden’s book “Game Change: The Life and Death of Steve Montador, and The Future of Hockey” came to mind as a great book for the students to read as a class. I had recently finished the controversial book and believed that the students would benefit tremendously from the information Mr. Dryden provided for them do their group projects on. The book covers the topic of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in ice hockey which has not only plagued the sport of ice hockey but sports in general. The predetermined groups would work on a project that covers topics from the book while also focusing on educating the public outside of the virtual classroom.

I have been quite pleased with how the course came together in just a short time. Hat Training Academy has been a dream of mine for a few years now. The idea of implementing ice hockey training (or specific sports training) and traditional classroom learning, with a virtual learning platform, has been a project I have been looking into. This section has shown to me that it is very doable. While creating a class from scratch is difficult, the ideas and topics of the classes is what makes it so much fun.

Many of theories have come across over the years when it comes to instructional design. There are several that have been incorporated into the course. The first one of these is the Situational Cognition Theory which states where, “situated cognition emphasizes the web of social and activity systems within which authentic practice takes shape.” (Wilson, Myers, 1999) Also I took into account, was Cognitive Flexibility Theory. “By cognitive flexibility, we mean the ability to spontaneously restructure one’s knowledge, in many ways, in adaptive response to radically changing situational demands…This is a function of both the way knowledge is represented (e.g., along multiple rather single conceptual dimensions) and the processes that operate on those mental representations (e.g., processes of schema assembly rather than intact schema retrieval).” (Spiro, Jehng, 1990) This theory not only allows us creativity on the online aspect and also allow the students to think outside of the box when it comes to the traditional norms of head injuries when it comes to reading and working on the Game Change book. However, be that this course is always evolving, in the future we could look at different theories incorporate the learning strategies.

When first starting with the final decision of the course, I knew what my final goal was going to be for the students. The goal was to open their minds to the future of hockey. By showing them and telling them about the history and past of hockey, the students would be able to plan what could be the future of the game and educate people about safety concerns, ultimately making them safer players. With setting up the end goal, I was able to work backwards to the very start of the course. From lesson 1 to the final projects, the assignments and assessments continue to increase in critical thinking and activities. To have a student “show up” to class is not the goal. To have students engage with others students and analyze information that is given to them is. Using the UbD plan allows even the ones who “show up” to participate with the group discussions and feedback. Having the UbD is the so-called skeletal system of the course which is where all the support is.

Having online courses is the future of education. While some are still hung up on working in the traditional brick and mortar schools, online offers not only a wealth of knowledge but an endless supply of information. While there are the drawbacks to having online education with the costs of computers and equipment, the reward and payout is priceless. Imagination can run wild now virtually. Students can be inspired by other students in a different country or ones that don’t speak their native language. Why so many people are resistant to change to me is incredible. Why!?!? If our job is to educate and teach, why can’t we learn more so we can still teach and educate! After Covid-19 traditional school will not be the same. There are those who support a blended tech and those who oppose it. It is 21^st century and technology has advanced so much that surgeons use computers and robots to perform surgeries. Why can’t let students use computers and robots to learn skills now?

This course has allowed so much for me. It has allowed me to be comfortable with online learning management systems. Seeing what I would need to do if I ever setup a class for online. How fun it would be to do it. Even though I don’t run a class online, I do video feedback on hockey training and game situations via online. It is so much fun to set at a computer and instead of telling the person what they did wrong, I can draw on the screen what they could have done instead. And these people live in other states and different parts of the world. This is what it is all about, sharing information.

Sources:

Spiro, R. J. & Jehng, J. (1990). Cognitive flexibility and hypertext: Theory and technology for the non-linear and multidimensional traversal of complex subject matter. D. Nix & R. Spiro (Eds.), Cognition, Education, and Multimedia. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Driscoll, M. (2000). Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Galant, M. (n.d.). Vygotsky’s cultural/cognitive theory of development. Retrieved August 28, 2002, from Cortland College, Educational Psychology Web site: http://facultyweb.cortland.edu/~ANDERSMD/VYG/VYG.HTML

Lefrancois, G. R. (1994). Psychology for Teaching. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.