Week 11 Reading Response

Chapter 27 – Competencies for Instructional Design and Technology

Having goals in mind when trying to accomplish any task is essential if one is to achieve any sort of success. This is why I was not surprised to see a whole chapter in Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology dedicated to various competencies in the field, nor was I surprised to see how long the lists were. When I first started teaching, I was handing the “New Teacher Handbook” and was a little overwhelmed to see pages and pages of professional development goals and expectations. Now, as a more experienced teacher, I understand and support the need to have some common expectations for all those who plan to be considered successful in the field of education.

Many of the goals listed in Chapter 27 are nearly identical, if not in wording but in theory, to those that can be found in our “Teacher Handbook” for our district. I found myself recognizing each type of competency listed and automatically relating it to those in my field. Several of the competencies are listed in my own professional development plan that teachers are required to complete at the beginning of each year and submit to our building principals. The following are some of the competencies from Chapter 27 that I most identify with as areas I am working to develop and how they are related to my own teaching goals.

1) Communicate in visual, oral, and written forms (p. 275).
I am always trying to activate the best learning in all my students and this includes appealing to the many different types of learners in my classroom. It is essential for all people, young and old, to have access to materials that teach in a variety of modes, and it essential that I am always aware of my own teaching style and how I can improve on it by incorporating the many types of learning activities that are necessary for all students to learn (auditory, kinesthetic, etc.).

2) Plan and promote organizational change (p. 275).
At first I didn’t pick this as one of the competencies I would most like to develop in my field as an educator, but the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like something I would like and need to work on. So many things within a school district or a community (especially small ones) are kept the same just because it is the way it has been done for years. I would like to help be responsible and active in positive change in my school community; which is often harder than it sounds because of the politics that go along with being an educator. All of us (teachers, administration, parents, etc.) all have a vested interest in our students, which creates many strong opinions and ideas. I would like to be a positive face in changing things for the better.

3) Use media and technology to enhance learning and performance (p. 275).
For obvious reasons (we are all taking this class) I am always looking to enhance my student’s learning with the use of media and technology. However, I am also interested in sharing my knowledge and love of technology with others (especially those that feel like they can never learn or use it themselves – which is often many of the more experienced teachers in my building) so that they can see and begin to use technology themselves in a way that promotes more effective and productive lessons and activities. My hope that this would begin a trickle-down effect and the knowledge and use of technology would spread wider and wider.