EDUC 525: Multimedia in Instructional design

This summer, I have had the pleasure of taking EDUC 525, Multimedia in Instruction Design. Through this course, I have gained a great deal of knowledge about the importance and value of technology within effective instruction. While I have always used technology, I did not previously consider myself extremely "tech-savvy", and this course has helped to change that. I now feel not only informed about the myriad options available for incorporating multimedia in instructional design, but I feel empowered and inspired.
 
In today's educational climate, we are called to know our students, to cater our instruction to the diverse ways in which they learn best. To leave technology out of daily instruction would be to commit an egregious error of omission. Students today accept multimedia as part of the very fabric of their day, and to exclude tech from the classroom would be akin to speaking an ancient language and expecting kids to understand. Not only does the use of technology within effective classroom instruction meet our students "where they live", but it creates a diverse array of learning opportunities in a colorful and collaborative learning environment. 

I have enjoyed the assignments throughout this course, as they called for learning by doing, rather than just reading or listening. Interacting online with my small group taught me so many valuable and applicable techniques for file sharing, peer editing and collaborating. I will be transferring this knowledge to my classroom, undoubtedly. Online meetings, the DDD-E model, peer review and editing, screen captures, creation of graphics and animation, podcasts and voice threads all contributed to a unique and important learning experience for me through this course, and I hope to create the same indelible impression when I utilize these tools in my classroom. 

The 2008 NETS-T Standards state that we should 1) facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity, 2) design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments, 3) model digital-age work and learning, 4) promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility and 5) engage in professional growth and leadership. The assignments in this course, and the innovative and intelligent group of women with which I was placed, made these five standards come to life, and it was an experience I will value going forward in my professional life. I look forward to incorporating many of the multimedia strategies I've learned into my own instruction, to create diverse, engaging and coherent lessons, activities and assessments that will stay with my students long after they leave my classroom.