In my mind, I try to start to visualize the different possibilities of presentation. I guess, in essence, I am choosing a format. Should I make a PowerPoint? Should I make a video? Should I just write a paper? Should I make a play? Should I make a slide show with my voice? Is there any other possible way to deliver and communicate what I experienced? Should I make a website? Should I make a Wiki? I will be asking the questions as follows:
What will be engaging to my audience?
How much time do I have for the presentation?
How detailed should I explain each aspect of curling in consideration of my audience's attention spans?
What is my audience expecting me to deliver?
What is my instructor expecting me to deliver?
What are my capabilities?
What has past experiences taught me about utilizing each of these mediums?
Do I feel like experimenting with something new?
Can I make the experience appealing to all types of learners: visual, kinesthetic, etc.
Reflection Moment: Learners will need have skill sets to be able to produce the products. Many of these formats fall under media. Parts of media literacy should be a part of information literacy. If I get a job as a media literacy librarian, I will try to make this connection to information literacy.
If I were to make a final product for this research assignment, I would choose a PowerPoint presentation and talk about curling. At some point in the presentation, I would try to get a curling starter block. I would bring in a curling stone and demonstrate how to shoot a rock. I would have the audience get off their seats if they want and follow along as we go through the motions. The presentation would appeal to various learning styles:
"Regardless of the disadvantages, a PowerPoint can present opportunities to accomplish multiple instructional goals at the classroom or individual learning level, and slides can offer the potential of meeting the needs of students with different learning styles." (Yu & Smith, 2008).
Would Journal Blogging a Research Assignment Be Useful
My experience with this journal was very good. It made me stop and think about each step. But, then again, I do like introspective learning. Yes, I think that allowing a person to journal their experience would be good for the verbal learners and communicators. I, also, think a blog would be beneficial to the experiential learners. It may not be very beneficial to the visual learners, unless they could make a YouTube diary instead of blog. Unfortunately, in order to do something like that, they would have to be further along than grade school. So, age may play some a role in whether a journal would be useful. This blog took a lot of time to make. If the goal was to make an actual research paper, Tallman states that it take two to three weeks for a good student to perform the I-SEARCH (Jent, 2004). With the addition of a blog, the learner better get an additional week. Ask yourself: how many teachers are going to allow for that amount of time? Here lays the hidden enemy of instructional design. How does one quantify the amount of time the learner is going to take for an assignment?
Taking this one step further; looking at the article "Blogging It into Them: Weblogs in Information Literacy Instruction," an attempt to teach information literacy utilizing blogs was made and was considered "... neutral effort." Granted this was not the same process as what we used here for this assignment, but I do see some of the same problems as they stated in their study that would be seen at the college level. Here is a quote from one of the students “I was mostly past my lit[erature] research phase." (Coutler, 2006). Yes, I still believe it should be done, but I want to see it done earlier! Middle School and High School would really be good places to start. The college where I work is a two-year college, and the other day the writing fundamental teacher (the writing teacher that teaches the students that cannot enter college-level writing) talked about how they want to teach her class over the summer in only three weeks!
WARNING! WARNING! TIRADE IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN! PLEASE DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED!
OH MY GOSH!
So, how am I supposed to talk to a writing teacher about properly doing a research paper along with doing a journal that will take three weeks. Welcome to enemy number two of the instructional designer, administration and political movements to get classes done in shorter amounts of time. I realize that this is not the case everywhere. This is one of the reasons I am trying to find a position at another college. My college does not believe in information literacy courses. I have been trying to push it, but I am not getting anywhere. The Dean states "Paul, if it is not part of the curriculum, students are not going to take the course. Besides, they get that information in writing class." Worst, yet, tell that to a person who replays information visually in their mind over and over. Change the channel! Change the channel! I will not believe that an information literacy class is not needed; that is SOOO not the case. I see the value of an information literacy class. I will not, must not, listen to the dean. I will not give up; I will keep trying.
References
Coulter, P., & Draper, L. (2006). Blogging It into Them: Weblogs in Information Literacy Instruction. Journal Of Library Administration, 45(1/2), 101-115. Retrieved on 02/04/2013 from
http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy2.ulib.iupui.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=llf&AN=502973545&site=ehost-live.
Jent, A. (2004). My I-piphany: A Graduate School I-Search. Knowledge Quest, 32(4), 32-35. Retrieved on 02/04/2013 from
http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy2.ulib.iupui.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=508036713&site=ehost-live.
Yu, C., & Smith, M. L. (2008). PowerPoint: Is It an Answer to Interactive Classrooms?. International Journal Of Instructional Media, 35(3), 271-282. Retrieved from 02/04/2013 from
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