Section 4: Human Performance Technology

1. This year our students received a grant that allowed them each to get an iPad (I teach 8^th grade math). A current human performance problem in on my campus this year is using the iPads that were distributed to our students productively in the classroom setting.  I too am guilty of not using them to their full potential.  I have found a few useful apps that allow my students to take notes directly onto pdf files.  I’ve also briefly tried nearpod, which is an app that will allow you to send lessons to students that allow them to respond to the teacher.  I gave up on it, because it would not work at first.  I will come back to it and try again.  We’ve been to a few trainings on how to use iPads in the classroom, but honestly none of the trainings really provided us with good apps that would match our content areas.  Most of the apps that I find are more geared towards elementary grades.  Also, students tend to want to use texting apps and contribute to social networking sites, rather than use the iPad for educational purposes.  They spend time playing games and the battery is low sometimes by the time they get to my class.  I think that instead of trying to instruct teachers on how to use the iPads, we need trainers to come in to our classrooms and actually use the iPads with our students.  Maybe our teachers would then feel more comfortable taking over.  I think that would provide for a better learning experience.  I would rather see how someone else uses them in a classroom setting.  I could then take those ideas and expand upon them.
2. Performance support systems are systems that provide what performers need, when they need it, and how they need it.  Performance support systems take the form of both on-line and off-line resources.  Some examples of performance support systems include printed resources, handbooks, and job aids. 
   
   I think that performance support might be helpful to solve the iPad problem. I believe that many of the teachers at my school do not implement the use of iPads into the classroom because they, themselves, do not know how to use iPads.  If someone were to come up with detailed instructions on how to use certain apps that would be useful in the classroom, then I think teachers would be less reluctant to use them.  Since not many resources have been provided, I think most teachers feel as it if takes too much time to search for apps that are meaningful to their content area.  Maybe even a data base could be created by the district providing us with quicker access to relevant tools, apps, or websites that could be used in conjunction with the iPads.  Also, as mentioned above, more training on how they can be implemented into classroom use without off task behaviors would be helpful.
3. Knowledge that would be helpful to solve the problem from above would be tacit knowledge because this type of knowledge includes what makes performers more productive, more insightful, and smarter than others. Tacit knowledge in the situation with the iPads would be knowledge that people know about educational apps by asking questions, attending trainings, and gathering information over time.  Explicit knowledge also might be helpful because, teachers need to know how to operate the iPads themselves.  This type of knowledge could come in the form of manuals or user guides.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Maybe the best way to collect tacit knowledge would be through social media, a blog, or web 2.0 tools that teachers could use to share thoughts or ideas.  I think that in order to collect what data teachers have to offer, the district or even a teacher would create a blog or thread that would allow teacher’s to communicate over the internet and share sites or apps that have been used in their classrooms.  This would allow for teachers to share their thoughts on their own time without having to worry about meeting with colleagues.  This would also allow for teachers to collaborate and tell what worked for them and what did not work.  Explicit knowledge has always been available.  It should be collected through searching databases on the web or even visiting apple’s website for information on how to use iPads in the classroom.
4. Within my job, I’ve been to conferences which have incorporated the use of communication by using websites that allow the participants to provide feedback or questions through texting their responses to a website that can be displayed for everyone to see.  That would be considered as web 2.0, which allows participants to be an ongoing part of the learning process.  I’ve also been to trainings that provide hands trainings, which included the speaker guiding us through how to create manipulatives for teaching certain mathematical concepts in the classroom.  I think that students sometimes need that visual or hands on experience to connect what is happening in math to why it happens.  These types of learning experiences could and have been shared with numerous others through conferences. 
   
   
   The knowledge gained though these experiences could be codified and managed online.  The sessions could be recorded and put online so that they could be easily shared through websites like Youtube.  Participants of the trainings could create a blog or Facebook posting sharing their ideas and thoughts on the learning that they participated in.  I think these types of learning experiences should be replicated so that others can learn and take ideas from them.  In my opinion, sometimes we have to break away for formal types of learning to better reach our audience. Sometimes a blog, a wiki, a museum, or anything that gets the learner outside of a classroom setting can help students or workers make connections if they apply knowledge to real life situations.  

Section 3: Evaluating, Implementing and Managing Instructional Programs and Projects

1.  ADDIE model

 

This model was developed by the Florida State University.  This model consists of five steps. 

Step 1: Analysis Phase.  In this phase the instructional problem is clarified, goals are established, the learning environment is identified, and learner’s previous knowledge is identified.  Questions that will be asked during this phase will identify the learners, what the new behavioral outcome is supposed to be, the learning constraints, and how is the evaluation going to be delivered?

Step 2: Design Phase.  During this phase assessment instruments, learning goals, exercises, and lesson planning are the focus.  This design phase is meant to be systematic (a logical way of identifying and planning strategies to get to the targeted goal) and specific.  The steps in this phase are:  to document the designs instructional/visual design strategy, apply instructional strategies to behavioral outcomes by domain (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor), design the user interface, and create a prototype that includes a visual design.

Step 3: Development Phase.  This is where instructional designers assemble and create content that was blueprinted in the design phase.  This is where the storyboards and graphics will be designed.  Testers debug anything that needs to be fixed according to feedback.

Step 4: Implementation Phase.  During this phase learners are prepared and trained on the new tools that were created during the development phase.  Trainers will cover the curriculum, learning outcomes, the method of delivery, and the testing procedures. 

Step 5: Evaluation Phase.  The evalution phase consists a formative and summative evaluation.  The formative evaluation runs through the whole ADDIE process.  The summative evaluation is designed for criterion-referenced items and providing feedback from the users.

From the ADDIE model’s analysis phase, this is where I as the teacher would gauge where my students are.  I would learn about their previous knowledge to the topic at hand and identify what basics need to be covered before moving on with the concept.  I would also decide how the content would be delivered to my class (video, demonstration, lecture, etc.)   I would then take my materials and construct an engaging lesson, design (if any are used) graphics, or other visual aids that would be needed to teach the content.  I would also decide what printed materials would be needed for my class to practice the skills at hand.  I would then perform a formal and summative evaluation of the content that was taught.

Snyder Evaluation Model

This model is system-based and participatory.  There are three stages that the participants must go through which are called process, outcome, and short-cycle. Each stage builds on the learning that was accomplished during the previous stage.   In this model, activities are performed by the participants, and intended and unintended effects are observed.  The evaluator becomes the facilitator who guides the learners through the whole process.   One of the goals of this model is to allow the project to be understood, improved, and demonstrated.

During the process evaluation participants to discover how the activities contribute to their learning.  This step leads to changes in the way the project is conducted.

During the outcome evaluation participants use understanding created in the process evaluation to identify performance indicators.  Participants are looking for the indicators that show the most achievement of targets and deals that were identified in the previous stage.  These indicators are used to show how effective the project is.

During the short-cycle evaluation participants use the indicators to set up feedback about the project as a whole, so that the project can become a self-improving system.

What I really like about the Snyder Model is that the whole evaluation revolves around the idea of improving the project or activity as a whole.  I would use this model to take a project in class and if it doesn’t work, instead of scrapping the idea, making it better.  I would do this by taking feedback from my students on what worked and what didn’t work.  I think that allowing our students to provide us with feedback on lessons is just as important as us providing them with feedback on work that they’ve turned in.  Instead of just providing a grade, letting them know why they got something wrong or right is just as important.

  


2.   I think that instead of just focusing on comparing the results of which instruction leads to better results, we should be focused on if the new instruction leads to higher order thinking skills for all students.  The whole goal of new assessments across the country is to get students to perform better by thinking and creating their own learning.   

• The question is not are they performing better, but are they performing up to standards? 
•  Are they really where we need them to be and in line with the objectives that they are supposed to be learning?   
• Are we, the teachers, providing them with a quality education that they can take out and apply it in the real world?  
•  Are we connecting everyday learning with students’ lives and making it meaningful to them? 
• Did the teaching model perform the predicted outcome?   
• Was enough feedback provided to the participants?

  

3.   Situational leadership implies that not all situations and workers should be managed in the same way.  There are four phases to situational leadership.   Phase one is where I would clearly define my goals for the team.  I would be detailed in describing to them what I wanted accomplished within a certain amount of time.  For this project my goals for the team would be to create lessons that use technology in the classroom.  Recently our school received a grant that gave us the new TI Npsire calculators.  I would ask that my staff come up with lessons incorporating these calculators to be used in the classroom.  I would let them know that there are already pre-made lessons on the TI website and that they could look at those for inspiration.  I would also demonstrate how the handhelds could be used in the classroom in order to send and receive documents when used with the TI Navigator system, which we also received.   During phase two I would move away from giving directions and clarify any that have already been given.  I would also reward team players if they were innovative.  During phase three and four I would look at what types of lessons my team has created.   They could then describe or model how that lesson was to be used in the classroom.  Each phase would allow the team manager to take one more step away from the team and to let them eventually function on their own.

Managing resources is another important task of the team manager.  It’s important to understand that sometimes resources, money, workers, etc. will be limited.  Managers have to consider that before they work on a project.  The team that I want to create lessons for the TI Nspire calculators is what I will focus on for this discussion.  If resources were limited, in this case, 7^th grade teachers did not receive the calculators, I would have the 8^th grade teachers pair up with 7^th grade and share the calculators.  Students could also be paired up with a partner if resources were limited.    Usually, when schools buy in bulk, they receive a discount on the item’s price as well.