Challenges that arise in the midst of design projects, then, are not so much obstructions to progress, though they may be frustrating in the moment, as they are the events that enable innovative learning and professional growth over time
To be designers we have to be learners. We learn from the challenges that arise in the process. Failure and challenges are not the end but a way to keep innovating and creating.
This means, for example, that while traditional approaches may sometimes be totally rejected in favor of innovations, they may also, at times, be seen as having potentials that allow them to be repurposed into new resources that facilitate new practices, even if in limited circumstances
I think this is important to remember- just because something new comes up does not me we need to abandon everything else we have used and learned. We can reuse practices and ideas with a new spin.
Maintenance learning is clearly important, as it permits adaptation to circumstances using the accumulated accomplishments of others, including those of prior generations
Maintenance learning: using what we know and know works in certain circumstances. Innovative learning: using the unfamiliar.
lows them to publicize their thoughts without fear of rejection, and the willingness to engage in risk-taking that allows them to work outside their comfort zone and engage in tasks in which success is not certain.
This is one of my goals as an educator and one day instructional coach- to create an environment that allows risk taking without fear.
exploring, thinking through analogies and metaphors, examining ideas in new ways, observing, elaborating, inferring, extrapolating, and generating remote associations
In our PD this week we talked about DOK (Depth of Knowledge) levels. These would fall in level 3 and 4 where students are actually analyzing and creating material. It takes a while for students to get to that level but they enjoy that work more.
As ideas are generated, thinkers work with what they know and/or want to know to refine their ideas until they have something of value and worth. The movement between generating and refining ideas involves thinkers using analytical and evaluative measures to focus their understanding of the content and developing an outcome that most clearly and comprehensively addresses the identified problem or need.
This is a process I am constantly working towards with my students. We are starting to push inquiry based learning and so students need to be able to work with the material in order to answer the questions we ask.
“excellent at remembering and analyzing other people’s ideas, [they were] not very good at coming up with ideas of their own”
I think this is true- my 8th graders are great at copying ideas and telling me what things mean but as soon as I tell them to put the it in their own words or create something from it they are lost and frustrated.
they must rely on subject-matter specialists to provide the content information. This can be a constraint on the creativity of any designer.
I think this is important to take into consideration when creating my lessons- the better I know the content and what goes into it, the more freedom I have to create lessons and connect ideas.
ask learners what they like and dislike about instruction, but the predominant use of the data is not to make the instruction more interesting per se, but to make it more effective.
This is interesting- I would think that you would use the data to make sure learners are engaged because if they are engaged they are learning more effectively. But because effectiveness is the end result then the designers are not creating more engaging material by trying to find the most "fun" way of doing things, but rather deciding how it can be more effective and choosing tasks that reinforce the information and in return create something more interesting.
“real world ” it is the client who sets the parameters for what will be characterized as an acceptable product. Our client may place a premium on creative instruction, just as our critics insist, or they may be much more into other aspects of the instruction, such as effectiveness and efficiency
I don't think I fully realized the role the client plays in exactly the type of ID. I knew they gave parameters but seeing it laid out like this really clarifies that some want engagement while others was effectiveness at the cost of interest sometimes and that is what we are dealing with.