Worlds Collide: Instructional Design v. Social Media Lessons

 Whelp, it finally happened. The two courses I am taking this summer connected. I knew they would eventually, for me. Maybe it should of happened sooner, but alas, we all learn at our own pace, right? 

I am taking Introduction to Instructional Systems along with eme6414 this summer and I JUST turned in my rendition of an instructional model. While reading the manuscript in progress by Dr. Dennen I made many, MANY connections. Not only between my two courses, but also my current teaching position. When constructing my own, personal, "perfect" ID model I kept thinking about all of the unexpected things that happen when planning a lesson - much like Dr. Dennen discussed in her draft. Everything always looks good on paper........then you implement, and all hell breaks loose. Here is an example:

    I was a hybrid teacher the 2020-2021 school year. That is, I was teaching about 25 kids in person and about 16 kids online. At first, I tried to do both at the same time – 100% FAIL. So, my partner and I decided to combine all of the kids at school and teach them “regular style” – don’t laugh, that’s literally what we called it. While one of us taught the in-house kiddos, the other taught the digital kiddos and then we switch. Easy enough, right? Not really. We DID not have the in-house kids do the exact same thing our online friends did. We had to design lessons for our online kids that mirrored our in-house lessons as closely as we could, but also include some online tools for them to access the content. The online kids needed EXPLICIT directions, daily. Even when listing them on the page as

1.     Do this

2.     Do that

3.     Now this

4.     CLICK HERE

They are ten, so even the most explicit directions fall to the wayside and randomly clicking things is the M.O. for 5^th graders, in case you didn’t know.

My point is, Dr. Dennen’s emphasis on being flexible really resonated with me. When incorporating online tools on any level, you must be extremely flexible with your expectations. A lot of time, things happen that are out of your control and sometimes the best made (lesson) plan falls short of your expectations and that is OK. It is more than ok. Keeping an open line of communication and giving your learners options can help you to incorporate online tools successfully. Also, ALWAYS, always, test out your lesson – beginning to end – as the student. I have found that when I do this, I notice small mistakes or things that may be confusing to my tiny learners.

Dennen, V. (2022). Instructional Design and Development for Social Media Lessons [unpublished manuscript]. Department of Educational Psychology & Learning Systems, Florida State University. 

P.S. I am going to a Stick Figure concert tonight, and I haven't shared a song with y'all in a while so here is one for you, since yesterday was the first "official" day of summer.