Final Reflection: EDET 650 InternshipShelby Elise Simmons
EDET 650 Internship Dr. T. C. Smyth December 10, 2012 In my final reflection, I have decided to use the major components of the Internship contract to discuss and evaluate my internship experiences. As this reflection also provides a detailed justification and explanation for my Final Report, I have included screenshots and links to evidence that may overlap with the artifacts presented in my final report. |
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Learning Goals and Objectives
Objectives from Digital Life 101
Prior to beginning the internship, I identified areas of Instructional Design, professional development, and content mastery that I wished to improve upon and opportunities to meet the needs of my organization. After discussing ideas with my direct supervisor and professionals within the Colleton County School District, I became convinced that using my internship experience to design an Internet Safety website and online instruction for parents would allow me to develop and refine my skills, knowledge and ability to:
- Define technical and curricular specifications for video development
o Design/Create content suitable for internet streaming/download
o Design/Create content suitable for television broadcast
- Design paper and internet based assessments:
o To determine compliance with CIPA
o To determine mastery of SC Internet Safety Curriculum for grades k-12
o To assess parents’ understanding of Internet Safety and ability to apply standards/suggestions and comply with AUP
- Design/Identify distance (web or TV based) resources suitable for children
- Design distance (web or TV based) instruction suitable for parents
- Design and implement web/TV based instruction for parents
- Apply ADDIE Model of Instructional Design to plan web based instruction for parents
- Apply ADDIE Model of Instructional Design to plan web based instruction for students
I have used underline effects to identify changes or deletions from my original objectives, this convention is used throughout the reflection. In retrospect, I realize that it would have been wiser spend more time clearly identifying how I would evaluate my success and narrow my objectives. Thinking about my perspective at the time, I wanted to “kill as many birds as possible with one stone,” not just two birds which should be more than enough for anyone! In light of the ADDIE model of instructional systems design, I should have taken my needs analysis beyond what I wanted and what the district wanted and focused more on the limitations for completing the project. In reality the greatest limitation for this project was not expertise, motivation, or physical and technological resources, it was time. Because I was overly optimistic about the level of collaboration for this project and underestimated the amount of time that would be needed to complete the objectives and produce the identified deliverables, time-management and prioritization became a critical skill. As other circumstances, outside of my control, developed within my office, I became overwhelmed by my job responsibilities and lost the perspective and balance that would have allowed me to follow my initial project timeline.
The Midterm Report was an opportunity to re-focus, identify successes, and take advantage of opportunities for improvement. At that mid-way point, I realized that I needed to narrow my objectives and prioritize, so I decided to limit my content development and design activities to modifying content for adult learners and multimedia learning. I selected Adult Learning as a focus because I am a certified elementary level educator and am most used to working with and planning lessons for children. Since last year was my first year as the Parent Involvement Coordinator for my school district, developing content for an adult audience was a new skill that I needed to continue to develop.
In earlier course work, I learned more about Adult Learning Theory and for this project, I reviewed resources on the applications of that theory in developing instruction (USDA, White, P., Selwyn, N.). From the USDA I found specific suggestions like recognizing the motivations of my audience and providing tasks that are related to real-world experiences (USDA, N.D.). I also shortened the lessons and gave learners more control over the pace, sequence, and even aspects of the content of each session. White and Selwyn (2012) highlighted that the adult learners were most likely parents under age 55 looking to help their children with schoolwork or more tech-savvy individuals, so while I did work to make all of the instruction accessible, I also chose design and content features that would appeal to those groups. My local collaborators and internship supervisor have reviewed the website and content and seem to agree with my analysis, while also identifying areas for future improvements.
I look forward to continuing to work on the internet safety website after the internship is over because I do believe a series on the topics of Cyberbullying, content creation, Internet searching, and evaluation of resources would be highly beneficial for parents and students in our district. Beginning in January 2013, I will share the responsibility for programming the School District’s local cable access channel and believe that the website and television channel will be able to support one another in increasing the technological skill and savvy in our community.
- Define technical and curricular specifications for video development
o Design/Create content suitable for internet streaming/download
o Design/Create content suitable for television broadcast
- Design paper and internet based assessments:
o To determine compliance with CIPA
o To determine mastery of SC Internet Safety Curriculum for grades k-12
o To assess parents’ understanding of Internet Safety and ability to apply standards/suggestions and comply with AUP
- Design/Identify distance (web or TV based) resources suitable for children
- Design distance (web or TV based) instruction suitable for parents
- Design and implement web/TV based instruction for parents
- Apply ADDIE Model of Instructional Design to plan web based instruction for parents
- Apply ADDIE Model of Instructional Design to plan web based instruction for students
I have used underline effects to identify changes or deletions from my original objectives, this convention is used throughout the reflection. In retrospect, I realize that it would have been wiser spend more time clearly identifying how I would evaluate my success and narrow my objectives. Thinking about my perspective at the time, I wanted to “kill as many birds as possible with one stone,” not just two birds which should be more than enough for anyone! In light of the ADDIE model of instructional systems design, I should have taken my needs analysis beyond what I wanted and what the district wanted and focused more on the limitations for completing the project. In reality the greatest limitation for this project was not expertise, motivation, or physical and technological resources, it was time. Because I was overly optimistic about the level of collaboration for this project and underestimated the amount of time that would be needed to complete the objectives and produce the identified deliverables, time-management and prioritization became a critical skill. As other circumstances, outside of my control, developed within my office, I became overwhelmed by my job responsibilities and lost the perspective and balance that would have allowed me to follow my initial project timeline.
The Midterm Report was an opportunity to re-focus, identify successes, and take advantage of opportunities for improvement. At that mid-way point, I realized that I needed to narrow my objectives and prioritize, so I decided to limit my content development and design activities to modifying content for adult learners and multimedia learning. I selected Adult Learning as a focus because I am a certified elementary level educator and am most used to working with and planning lessons for children. Since last year was my first year as the Parent Involvement Coordinator for my school district, developing content for an adult audience was a new skill that I needed to continue to develop.
In earlier course work, I learned more about Adult Learning Theory and for this project, I reviewed resources on the applications of that theory in developing instruction (USDA, White, P., Selwyn, N.). From the USDA I found specific suggestions like recognizing the motivations of my audience and providing tasks that are related to real-world experiences (USDA, N.D.). I also shortened the lessons and gave learners more control over the pace, sequence, and even aspects of the content of each session. White and Selwyn (2012) highlighted that the adult learners were most likely parents under age 55 looking to help their children with schoolwork or more tech-savvy individuals, so while I did work to make all of the instruction accessible, I also chose design and content features that would appeal to those groups. My local collaborators and internship supervisor have reviewed the website and content and seem to agree with my analysis, while also identifying areas for future improvements.
I look forward to continuing to work on the internet safety website after the internship is over because I do believe a series on the topics of Cyberbullying, content creation, Internet searching, and evaluation of resources would be highly beneficial for parents and students in our district. Beginning in January 2013, I will share the responsibility for programming the School District’s local cable access channel and believe that the website and television channel will be able to support one another in increasing the technological skill and savvy in our community.
Responsibilities and Tasks
Activity from Digital Life 101 Lesson
To achieve my objectives, I identified the following responsibilities and tasks:
- Identify/Synthesize curriculum standards appropriate for lesson development
- Create/Develop a website for online lessons for parents based on SC Internet Safety Curriculum Standards for grades k-12
- Create/Develop webpages with resources for parents and students based on SC Internet Safety Curriculum Standards for grades k-12
- Design and Develop TV content for lessons for parents and resources for children
- Identify/Modify/Create paper and online assessments based on curriculum standards
- Develop methodology for determining and tracking CIPA instructional compliance
After reviewing the deliverables, discussed further later in this report, I feel confident that I met the responsibilities and tasks I initially identified. While, I do believe there is always room for improvement, I can document the time I spent reviewing state standards, writing or finding lesson plans, comparing and contrasting standards and lesson plans to evaluate their appropriateness for the project, and modifying the plans to transform them to a multimedia format that could be broadcast or used online. Rather than creating entire units of content consisting of several lessons each, I synthesized the related content and standards in to representative lessons for each of the required content strands.
Again, I do recognize that in some specific areas of responsibility I “bit off more than I could chew,” because I was not able to fully implement content for parents and children, however each lesson is suitable for older children or has activities that can be completed by a family at home. Additionally, upon further communication with the Library Media Specialists within the district and the Technology Department, I determined that the district had already chosen a method of identifying compliance that would not be compatible with the system I was developing. The incompatibility consisted primarily in that I would not be allowed to update school or district records if students completed my training and that I would not be able to implement in time to meet the established deadlines for student compliance. Knowing that I would not fully integrate my program during this school year was disappointing, however in retrospect, I now have enough time to fully evaluate my program and develop it in a manner that may allow for full integration next school year. I am also going to complete training on using school management software at the district level, including PowerSchool.
A review of my annotated bibliography shows the curricular material, including lesson plans, tip sheets, and activities, that I reviewed and/or referenced in the development of the content for online instruction (Common Sense Media). More important than the content, in my mind, is the justification for the content (Jones, L. M., Mitchell, K. J., Finkelhor, D., 2012). I decided to add an extensive separate lesson/session on Cyberbullying based on research on the topic and the survey results from parents who all indicated a need and desire for information on this topic. I was able to work with a team for the Cyberbullying component, and unlike some previous team/group educational or work experiences in the past; I truly respected the skills and contributions of each member of my team for EDET 722.
I believe that the experience of working with a team that communicated well has helped remove the bitter taste of disappointment that I am accustomed to associating with teamwork. Using the ADDIE model and working with a design team has given me positive experiences and concrete tools that I will use in future projects. Some tools/methods include developing a communication plan in advance that includes specific times, dates, and media; discussing and documenting roles and responsibilities for each team member at the beginning of the project; and using technology to document each stage of the development of the project and each team member’s contribution to success.
- Identify/Synthesize curriculum standards appropriate for lesson development
- Create/Develop a website for online lessons for parents based on SC Internet Safety Curriculum Standards for grades k-12
- Create/Develop webpages with resources for parents and students based on SC Internet Safety Curriculum Standards for grades k-12
- Design and Develop TV content for lessons for parents and resources for children
- Identify/Modify/Create paper and online assessments based on curriculum standards
- Develop methodology for determining and tracking CIPA instructional compliance
After reviewing the deliverables, discussed further later in this report, I feel confident that I met the responsibilities and tasks I initially identified. While, I do believe there is always room for improvement, I can document the time I spent reviewing state standards, writing or finding lesson plans, comparing and contrasting standards and lesson plans to evaluate their appropriateness for the project, and modifying the plans to transform them to a multimedia format that could be broadcast or used online. Rather than creating entire units of content consisting of several lessons each, I synthesized the related content and standards in to representative lessons for each of the required content strands.
Again, I do recognize that in some specific areas of responsibility I “bit off more than I could chew,” because I was not able to fully implement content for parents and children, however each lesson is suitable for older children or has activities that can be completed by a family at home. Additionally, upon further communication with the Library Media Specialists within the district and the Technology Department, I determined that the district had already chosen a method of identifying compliance that would not be compatible with the system I was developing. The incompatibility consisted primarily in that I would not be allowed to update school or district records if students completed my training and that I would not be able to implement in time to meet the established deadlines for student compliance. Knowing that I would not fully integrate my program during this school year was disappointing, however in retrospect, I now have enough time to fully evaluate my program and develop it in a manner that may allow for full integration next school year. I am also going to complete training on using school management software at the district level, including PowerSchool.
A review of my annotated bibliography shows the curricular material, including lesson plans, tip sheets, and activities, that I reviewed and/or referenced in the development of the content for online instruction (Common Sense Media). More important than the content, in my mind, is the justification for the content (Jones, L. M., Mitchell, K. J., Finkelhor, D., 2012). I decided to add an extensive separate lesson/session on Cyberbullying based on research on the topic and the survey results from parents who all indicated a need and desire for information on this topic. I was able to work with a team for the Cyberbullying component, and unlike some previous team/group educational or work experiences in the past; I truly respected the skills and contributions of each member of my team for EDET 722.
I believe that the experience of working with a team that communicated well has helped remove the bitter taste of disappointment that I am accustomed to associating with teamwork. Using the ADDIE model and working with a design team has given me positive experiences and concrete tools that I will use in future projects. Some tools/methods include developing a communication plan in advance that includes specific times, dates, and media; discussing and documenting roles and responsibilities for each team member at the beginning of the project; and using technology to document each stage of the development of the project and each team member’s contribution to success.
Deliverables
Activity from Scams and Schemes Lesson
To demonstrate achievement of my objectives, I will submit for my internship portfolio:
- Unit Lesson Plans for the 4 strands/topics identified by SC Internet Safety Curriculum
- Sample of Video content for parents (DVD, file, or links)
- Completed Internet Safety instruction website (links, screen shots, or html files)
- Assessment development rubric and resulting assessments (electronic copies)
- Completed work samples/compliance documentation/parent comments
- Progress Reports, Timesheets, 3-10 page Reflection paper (format determined by advisor)
Despite the variety of obstacles I have had to overcome, I am confident I will deliver good examples of all of the deliverables I have identified for this project/internship. I believe I can demonstrate that all of the products for this project are of good quality and adhere to the design and instructional principles I have chosen to employ. As identified by Mayer, R. E. & Moreno, R. (1998) and Um, E., Plass, J. L., Hayward, E. O., & Homer, B. D. (2012) I have changed the color scheme of the website to be positive and upbeat, I have paired images with summarizing text and narration, and I have combined direct instruction with projects and activities that allow learners to construct meaning in realistic contexts.
The video components of these lessons were intended to include skits and case-study-like learning prompts that would be reported in a TV News/NCIS type learning/inquiry environment. When the process of writing, recording, and editing those videos broke down, I decided to narrate slides to create videos for the primary content for each lesson. This decision, I now realize, was made much later than it should have been. While I am proud of what I have accomplished given the time and resource constraints, I see how making this decision earlier could have improved my overall product by giving me more time for editing and review. As I continue to improve the website I will eventually have more video content that will meet the initial vision I described earlier.
- Unit Lesson Plans for the 4 strands/topics identified by SC Internet Safety Curriculum
- Sample of Video content for parents (DVD, file, or links)
- Completed Internet Safety instruction website (links, screen shots, or html files)
- Assessment development rubric and resulting assessments (electronic copies)
- Completed work samples/compliance documentation/parent comments
- Progress Reports, Timesheets, 3-10 page Reflection paper (format determined by advisor)
Despite the variety of obstacles I have had to overcome, I am confident I will deliver good examples of all of the deliverables I have identified for this project/internship. I believe I can demonstrate that all of the products for this project are of good quality and adhere to the design and instructional principles I have chosen to employ. As identified by Mayer, R. E. & Moreno, R. (1998) and Um, E., Plass, J. L., Hayward, E. O., & Homer, B. D. (2012) I have changed the color scheme of the website to be positive and upbeat, I have paired images with summarizing text and narration, and I have combined direct instruction with projects and activities that allow learners to construct meaning in realistic contexts.
The video components of these lessons were intended to include skits and case-study-like learning prompts that would be reported in a TV News/NCIS type learning/inquiry environment. When the process of writing, recording, and editing those videos broke down, I decided to narrate slides to create videos for the primary content for each lesson. This decision, I now realize, was made much later than it should have been. While I am proud of what I have accomplished given the time and resource constraints, I see how making this decision earlier could have improved my overall product by giving me more time for editing and review. As I continue to improve the website I will eventually have more video content that will meet the initial vision I described earlier.
Schedule and Milestones
My original schedule for completing the internship and the website project was twelve weeks broken into three sections, with implementation coming in the final section. After learning more about ADDIE models and working in a group project I realized that there would, and should, be more overlap across the processes in the model (Strickland, A. W., Designing Digitally, 2012). While evaluating my progress for the midterm report, I modified my original timeline to reflect my new understanding of the nature of the process and created distinct time for each process that overlapped with the process before and after it. In my final report I will illustrate how the process actually worked in practice. The two timelines are detailed below.
While there were many challenges to overcome, a good plan, careful evaluation, and a willingness to change helped me travel from unproductive paths to a successful journey to my intended destination. While all of the products are not as I originally envisioned them, each component meets the required objectives and, rather than being set in stone, can be used and improved over time to meet the changing needs of the district and parents.
Because I was able to meet my short-term objectives of self-improvement as well as the objectives of my project, I feel that this internship was very successful and will continue to benefit all involved.
Original Timeline
Weeks 1-2: Needs Analysis, Resource Acquisition - Identify/Synthesize curriculum standards appropriate for lesson development - Develop methodology for determining and tracking CIPA instructional compliance - Identify/Modify/Create paper and online assessments based on curriculum standards - Determine technical requirements and identify actors and video production assistants (if needed) Weeks 3-7: Design and Development - Write Unit Lesson Plans, Screenplay/Storyboard, draft online content - Design and Develop website for online lessons for parents based on SC Internet Safety Curriculum Standards - Design and Develop webpages with resources for parents and students based on SC Internet Safety Curriculum Standards - Design and Develop TV content for lessons for parents and resources for children Weeks 8-12 - Implement instruction, Collect Documentation - Assess Instruction, edit, improve, re-design based on evaluation of instruction - Finalize deliverables and complete reports |
Midterm Revised Timeline
Weeks 1-4 Analysis Weeks 3-6 Design Weeks 5-8 Development Weeks 7-12 Implementation Weeks 9-12 Evaluation Weeks 11-12 Internship Reports |