Final Thoughts on Instructional Design

When I first started this class I pondered on why I needed to take this class, since I've been doing lesson plans for 15 years now, granted most of the time I do it in my head. Then we started breaking down a task, to the point of absurdness. Again, I wondered how this could be helpful, why we were forced to do this fruitless task.

As the semester continued forward, (as with my calculus classes years ago), things, purposes and the process started to make sense. When you set the idle on the carburetor on a car, you tighten the bolt down almost to the point of stalling the car, then you back off until you hit the right spot. Same with the breakdown in Instructional Design. You have to get to the point of absurdness so that you are positive you went too far, and then back off to a reasonable point. This has been useful to me in my position as School Technology Specialist. As I mentioned in our last presentation, I have had to send out e-mails explaining certain processes to the faculty. Processes that I know so well, without the practice of breaking it down (even if it is not on paper but just in my head) I would not see the steps to be able to decide if a novice needed to be told them or not. By the end of the semester I felt comfortable with the process and I felt a purpose for it.

And despite his evasiveness at times, I even enjoyed the professor.