Technological Instruction in the Digital Age the new design

The Technological Wave and The Stones.

It looked rather harmless, and it was slow-moving. But what we didn’t see was the monstrous wave it was ushering in. Technology blanketed the land like a giant snowstorm that would never end. Technology has so transformed the business and educational environments, that a whole generation has grown up around it. It’s like the elephant in the room; you can’t ignore it.

Learning & Instructional Design in the Digital Age

Moving rocks

Digging ourselves out of a digital storm on a daily basis has become the business norm. Shovel a little technology here, and pile a little over there. I listen as the newbies to the techno scene weigh in with their memorized quotes and rhetoric, yet they have never really dabbled on the dark side of technology, that place we can call the “Back End”.

“Front End” users navigate a keyboard with words, numbers, dashes, and pics, not noticing the back-end code running swiftly and silently out of their view. They don’t see the people working the magic to keep their systems running fast and network error-free. Nor do they see the developers, instructional designers, and engineers as they design and redesign systems and platforms. But let one piece of code or a hiccup happen on the network, and those same front-end users become instant rocks – unable to roll.

But let one piece of code or a hiccup happen on the network, and those same front end uses become instant rocks – unable to roll.

SOLUTIONS TO SUCCESS

In front of me is a pile of rocks. You may be a small pebble, or you may be a huge stone. But together you and I are no more than a pile of rocks. That is our total sum. It is now time to get this pile of rocks rolling.

How to develop your online instructional course and get your students learning (stones rolling) is challenging for all of us in education. What we do know is that it’s about helping guide students through the learning process. We as instructors become the guides (the back-end developers), allowing the student to work through the problem to an end solution. Students don’t want to hear that they can’t use technology. For those who say “they don’t know how to use technology”, my answer to them is “Let’s show them how”!

For those that say “they don’t know how to use technology”, my answer to them is “Let’s show them how”!

We don’t necessarily have to know all the back-end details and design of a system to be able to use the product. What we do need to know is that our students will rely on us to show them how to use the system wisely and with a purpose.

* Guide a student, and help them gain the skills they will need to be successful, and they will remember you.

*Direct a student, and control the outcome, and they will forget you.

The Technological Wave and The Stones. If technology is going to blanket the land, we need to make sure the designs that come from this never-ending storm are beneficial to all the rocks in the pile.

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Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of a creative storm, the winds swirl and sky drifts from color to color. The storm warnings ebb and flow from one imaginative moment to the next. Bringing warm inspiration to the cold business world, and the significance of color to educational design.